Rio Tinto and BHP are confronting class action lawsuits alleging that they created environments where female staff suffered systemic sexual harassment and gender discrimination at their Australian mining sites.

Two class action lawsuits were filed in the Federal Court of Australia, accusing the mining giants of knowingly placing women in high-risk situations and retaliating against those who filed complaints, according to the law firm JGA Saddler, which is representing the plaintiffs.

According to the Brisbane-based law firm, the two mining giants have employed confidentiality agreements to silence female employees from speaking out about sexual harassment in the workplace.

These lawsuits are supported by global litigation funder Omni Bridgeway.

JGA Saddler lawyer Joshua Aylward stated: “BHP and Rio Tinto 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.”

Aylward emphasised that the class actions aim to empower women who have been too intimidated to speak out due to fears of job loss or workplace retaliation.

JGA Saddler anticipates that "thousands of female workers" from both companies will join the class actions.

Responding to the allegations, BHP released a statement expressing regret and offered a full apology to anyone impacted by harassment.

The company also emphasised its $500m (A$781.15m) investment aimed at enhancing the safety and security of accommodation villages.

Meanwhile, Rio Tinto acknowledged the filing of a claim and stated: “We do not tolerate any form of sexual harassment or sex-based harassment.”

A report released recently by Rio Tinto disclosed that 39% of its surveyed workers had experienced bullying in the past year, an increase from 31% in 2021.

BHP reported 417 incidents of sexual harassment for the year ending June 2024.

The issue of sexual harassment and bullying among female fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) workers in the mining sector was spotlighted two years ago in a report by the Western Australian Parliament titled Enough is Enough.

The report detailed numerous shocking incidents including inappropriate touching, sexual coercion, assaults and unsolicited explicit material.