BHP's Sexual Harassment Disclosures Climb Amid Industry-Wide Lawsuits
BHP's annual report for the 2025-26 financial year, published 18 August 2026, confirms 113 reports of sexual harassment — the company's highest count since it began tracking these figures in 2023. That figure is up from 102 confirmed reports in the previous financial year. The company also disclosed that 109 workers lost their jobs or resigned following confirmed harassment reports, and that a further 104 reports went uninvestigated, either because there was not enough information to proceed or because the person who filed the report did not want to pursue it. (The Guardian, 18 August 2026)
BHP said most confirmed cases involved indecent touching, stalking, grooming (building trust with someone to manipulate or exploit them), and sexually aggressive comments or jokes. The company stated that an ethics team independent of its operational divisions investigates all allegations. The annual report also noted that 22 people responsible for racial harassment had their employment terminated or had resigned in the same period. (The Guardian, 18 August 2026)
These disclosures arrive under considerable legal pressure. Three separate class actions — lawsuits brought by a group of people with similar claims — are currently before Australian courts against BHP, Rio Tinto, and Fortescue, the country's three largest iron ore miners. The law firm JGA Saddler filed the cases, alleging that most, if not all, women working on remote mining sites have experienced some form of sexual harassment or sex discrimination. (The Guardian, 18 August 2026)
The class actions against BHP and Rio Tinto were lodged in late 2024. Fortescue became the latest target on 25 June 2026. (Reuters, 11 December 2024; Reuters, 25 June 2026)
A separate Reuters report from December 2024 quoted a lawyer asserting that BHP and Rio Tinto used confidentiality agreements — commonly known as NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) — to prevent female employees from speaking publicly about sexual harassment at work. That allegation adds a layer beyond the harassment numbers themselves, raising questions about how the industry handles disclosure and whether complainants are being silenced. (Reuters, 11 December 2024)
BHP has expanded its public reporting on sexual harassment over several years. In August 2021, the company disclosed having fired 48 workers for sexual harassment since 2019. (Reuters, 20 August 2021) Prior annual reports tracked total report volumes: BHP noted a 3 per cent increase in overall sexual harassment reports, from 417 in FY2024 to 429 in FY2025. (BHP, sexual harassment disclosures) The latest report's separation of confirmed reports (113) from those not investigated (104) gives a clearer view of how complaints are sorted and resolved.
BHP also reported that women made up 41.5 per cent of its workforce as of 30 June 2026, placing it among the more gender-diverse major mining companies. (BHP Annual Report 2026)
The broader context here is one of tension between workforce diversity and workplace safety. BHP's near-42 per cent female representation is a strong diversity figure for the sector, yet the confirmed harassment numbers suggest that bringing more women into the workforce has not been matched by a corresponding drop in incidents. The 104 reports that went uninvestigated — whether for lack of information or at the complainant's request — further complicate any straightforward reading of the 113 confirmed cases as a complete picture of misconduct within the company.
The legal landscape raises the stakes further. The JGA Saddler class actions span all three of Australia's iron ore majors and allege near-universal exposure to harassment among women on remote sites. If the NDA allegation gains traction in court, it could reshape how settlement and confidentiality practices across the sector are regulated. The convergence of mandatory annual reporting, rising incident numbers, and multi-company litigation places Australia's mining sector in a period of legal and reputational pressure with no obvious near-term resolution.
