FIFO: A Home Truth

Working away from home for weeks at a time can test the limits of a relationship, often leading to the breakdown of families. While it is a topic usually left unspoken in the resources industry, family lawyer Christopher Jones sheds some light on separation and offers legal tips.

There appears to be little empirical evidence to support the suggestion that the fly-in, fly-out lifestyle contributes to relationship and family breakdown.

However, there are a number of aspects of life for a FIFO worker that are impacted and which need to be managed carefully. This applies both for intact families and in separation.

This is particular important in separation, as family law matters are largely about the person and less about the law. The point being that the better the individual is able to cope with the emotion of separation, the better they will be equipped to achieve the best possible outcome for themselves and the children.

Of course, we all hope that the families of FIFO workers are able to withstand the rigours of this life and avoid any breakdown of the family relationship and unit.

THE PRESSURES AND WHAT TO DO

Some of the issues that arise for FIFO workers include:

Increased psychological distress at the return to home and departure to work points
increased negative influence of highly compressed work rosters as compared to less compressed work rosters
Stress from being away from family and friends
Increased susceptibility to depressive symptoms
Lack of daily interaction between the FIFO worker and children

For the partners of FIFO workers the issues that present are equally compelling. They include loneliness, isolation, trust and resentment.

“I have witnessed over the years a number of families struggle with the heightened pressures of the FIFO life. The usual pressures of family life are made greater and great care is required to combat the stresses involved.”

In my experience, both parents benefit from accessing resources in their local community specifically focussed on FIFO worker families. There are a number of support groups that operate face-to-face, and others that are available online providing resources, advice and a forum in which people can share their experiences.

I have spoken to many workers and partners that have taken the time to access these services and who have benefited from new skills acquired and connecting with other persons in similar circumstances.

The other key to best managing family life as a FIFO worker is to make sure that the emphasis is placed on putting the children first and considering their best interests. Time should be taken to facilitate their communication with the parent away working through means such as Skype, telephone and email or text.

Also, it is important to be alert to the fact that children may experience difficulties coping with being away from the FIFO parent. I believe that is important for both parents to be attuned to this and their child’s personality. They should looking out for any signs of changes such as increased anxiety or problems with behaviour at school as these may be the first such expressions of any difficulties coping.

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?

If despite all of your best efforts separation does occur, then there are matters, such as living arrangements for the children, that will need to be sorted.

You may be able to discuss and resolve this directly with your partner and no outside assistance. If however this is not the case, then you must attend mediation.

Mediation can be held with government or community funded organisations such as Relationships Australia or Lifeline. The costs are minimal however you will have to wait approximately 6-8 weeks before being able to attend the mediation. In the meantime, they will do an intake with each parent to understand more about your matter.

The alternative is that you attend private mediation with a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner. There a number of such practitioners who have a strong background and experience in family law, psychology or social work. Depending on the significant issues in your matter, you can select the best suited practitioner.

The cost is greater (estimated $3000 for the day) and are usually shared between the parents. Private mediation can usually be arranged to take place within two weeks depending on the availability of your preferred mediator.

If you are unable to resolve matters at mediation, then you will be issued with a s60I Certificate. This enables you to file proceedings in the closest registry of the Federal Circuit Court of Family Court of Australia.

The benefit of court proceedings is that a decision will be made for you. This is beneficial if the other party will not agree to your reasonable proposals.

The downside of court proceedings are the personal costs, uncertainty of outcome and the financial cost, if you retain a lawyer. In relation to property matters, the same negative aspects apply and mediation would be the preferred option to resolve such matters.

There is a growing movement also for dealing with both property settlement and children matters called Collaborative Practice. This involves a team of lawyers, mental health professionals and financial specialists helping separated couples to sort their cases without the need for court proceedings.

The commitment of all persons involved is to keep the matter out of court to avoid the possible damage to the participants and children.

The rules of Collaborative Practice are:

The parties will negotiate in good faith to achieve a mutually beneficial and acceptable outcome;
The parties and collaborative professionals will agree to not commence court proceedings or threaten to do so;
If the parties cannot reach an agreement, then the lawyers cannot act for the parties in litigation; and
The parties will meet with the collaborative professionals to set goals, gather information, and develop options to explore resolution.

Both mediation and Collaborative Practice enable the parties to come to their own agreement rather than have a judge tell them what the arrangements will be. This may even be something different to what either of them wanted.

For this reason, the FIFO workers would benefit from the flexibility of such processes to resolve their matters, being able to properly consider their work rosters.

WHAT ELSE SHOULD I DO?

Look after yourself

The emotions of separation are many and raw. Do whatever it takes to recognise and deal effectively with how you are feeling. This might involve seeing a doctor or psychologist, meeting regularly with a close friend or family member to talk, or joining a support group. Either way, do not isolate yourself and feel like you have to deal with the journey on your own. The feelings are normal and will lessen with time.

As well as looking after yourself emotionally, you need to also look after yourself physically. This means eating well, getting enough sleep and doing away (as best you can) with destructive habits such as drinking or drugs.

Simply put, you are going to being making the most important decisions about your future and that of your children. You need to be the best person you can be in the circumstances to make those decisions.

Get legal advice early

Knowledge is power. A lawyer can tell you about what to expect in the process of resolving your matter and how best to prepare. They can answer important questions for example about whether you have to leave the family home on separation (the answer is no), or why it is important to keep a daily journal (this is essential to producing the best evidence to be used in court proceedings).

They can also objectively steer your matter to resolution without the subjectivity of your emotion. Importantly they can guide you against doing something that might jeopardise the best possible outcome for you.

A lawyer can also make sure that your matter continues to progress even when you are away on site working and that no correspondence or court appearance is missed due to your work schedule.

Be patient and don’t give up

I have seen a lot of men and women give up and walk away from a continuing role in their children’s lives and some from a share of the property pool. Rarely is this in the best interests of the child or for the individual.

On the back of my business card and office wall, I have typed the following reminder: “You have to fight through some bad days to earn the best days of your life”.

“In my opinion there is a too much at stake to not fight for the best possible outcome for you and the children.”

CHILD SUPPORT

In the absence of a private agreement between parents, child support is calculated by the Child Support Agency (CSA) and payable using a formula that takes into account each person’s income and the number of nights that the children spend with each parent. In some cases, the amount calculated may not seem to be fair to the paying parent or the receiving parent.

In these circumstances, it is possible to apply to the CSA for a departure order. The most common reasons for a FIFO worker making such an application are as follows:

The costs of maintaining a child are significantly affected by high costs of enabling a parent to spend time with, or communicate with, the child. A parent’s costs of maintaining a child will be considered high if the costs of spending time or communicating with the child is more than 5% of the parent’s adjusted taxable income for the relevant period. This is commonly used by parents that live interstate from each other.

The costs of maintaining a child are significantly affected by high costs of caring for, educating or training the child in the ways both parents intended. This most commonly applies to private school education. Both parents must agree to this type of education and it is just and equitable to both parents and the child.

The costs of maintaining a child are significantly affected by the high childcare costs for the child and if the child is under 12 years of age. In these circumstances, the child care costs must be more than 5 per cent of the parent’s adjustable taxable income for the relevant period. The costs must also be reasonable and necessary – for example, that they have been incurred for reasons of work or study commitments and the costs are reasonable (as per usual industry rates).

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

In June, the West Australian Parliament’s Education and Health Standing Committee handed down their report into FIFO and mental health recommending an industry-wide Code of Practice and development of workplace practices that are “supportive of good mental health and wellbeing”.

Some of the key issues addressed included:

The impact of fatigue on mental health
The impact of FIFO on personal relationships
The need for high quality and reliable communications technology in FIFO accommodation villages to facilitate communications with home

Hopefully the focus on improvements within the industry and FIFO will continue and the lives of hard working families will see a better quality of life for all individuals and families concerned.

IMPORTANT CONTACTS