BHP, Rio Tinto face sexual harassment class actions in Australia

Global mining giants BHP Group and Rio Tinto are facing class actions alleging widespread and systemic sexual harassment at Australian mine sites, law firm JGA Saddler said on Wednesday.

JGA Saddler said women who spoke out about the harassment were allegedly discriminated against by the miners and that it expects "thousands of female workers" at the two companies to join the class actions.

BHP issued a statement on Wednesday saying it apologised to anyone who has ever experienced any form of harassment at BHP.


"Sexual harassment has no place in our workplaces or indeed anywhere. We are committed to providing a safe and respectful workplace for everyone," said BHP.

A Rio Tinto spokesman said the miner was aware that a claim had been filed in the Federal Court on Wednesday.

"We treat all such claims with the utmost seriousness. We do not tolerate any form of sexual harassment or sex-based harassment. We take all concerns about workplace safety, culture and breaches of our values, or our code of conduct extremely seriously," the spokesman said.

In 2022, a Western Australia state government review into abuse at mining sites found unsafe working conditions for women in the industry, who had to frequently deal with sexual harassment and sexual assault.

"BHP and Rio Tinto have sent female staff to these sites knowing there was a high risk of personal danger, and then punished them with demotion, dismissal or discrimination when they reported it," JGA Saddler lawyer Joshua Aylward said in a statement. The class actions were previously reported by the country's national broadcaster, the ABC.