Staying connected to the kids and avoiding fights over precious time together are two hot topics likely to be raised when frontline miners meet the Mining Family Matters team at Asia-Pacific’s International Mining Exhibition – AIMEX, to be held at Sydney Showground from August 20-23.
Mining Family Matters co-founders Alicia Ranford and Lainie Anderson have chatted with thousands of miners at Reed Mining Events’ premier series of mining industry exhibitions in recent years, and say fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) relationships and kids are always top of the agenda.
“We’re proud to support exhibitions such as AIMEX, because Reed Mining Events is committed to engaging with the mining industry at all levels,” Alicia Ranford says. “We especially love being involved in AIMEX because it gives us a great chance to chat with thousands of frontline miners from across Australia about the issues that are important to them – the pros and cons of mining life and how they work to overcome any challenges.”
The Mining Family Matters team will be heavily involved in the series of industry theme days run in conjunction with AIMEX 2013. High-profile speakers at the AIMEX 2013 theme days include the Australian Coal Association’s Dr Nikki Williams and Beaconsfield mine tragedy survivor Brant Webb.
According to Mining Family Matters, which will be on stand 8106 during AIMEX 2013, the top issues raised by frontline miners at mining industry exhibitions in recent years have been:
- Staying connected to the kids when a parent works away
- Overcoming jealousy and insecurity, particularly in the early months of FIFO
- Avoiding arguments about how to spend precious family time together
- Learning to adapt to new work environments and colleagues from diverse backgrounds
- Tackling loneliness
- Avoiding misconceptions about what life is really like on mine sites
“Exhibitions such as AIMEX 2013 are really inspiring because we get to chat with people right across the mining industry spectrum, from company heads and mine managers to human resources representatives and labourers out on site,” Alicia Ranford says. “It’s great to hear how positive people are about their industry – we always come away with loads of fresh ideas and advice for mining families, and new topics to discuss on the website.”
The Mining Family Matters website (www.miningfm.com.au) was launched in February 2010 to support families in mining, oil and gas. Featuring more than 750 pages of professional advice and practical strategies for families, workers and mining industry job seekers, the website now attracts more than 16,000 readers every month.
www.miningfm.com.au