Called Mining Family Matters (www.miningfm.com.au), it is designed to offer friendship and professional support to families coping with the pressures of fly-in, fly-out rosters or life in isolated rural communities.

Adelaide-based mining mum Alicia Ranford came up with the idea when she had trouble finding information and services to help her two young children cope with their FIFO dad being away for extended periods.

“My husband is a mining engineer and in the past decade we’ve moved six times, including a stint in South Africa. I’ve had two pregnancies in outback mining towns, with no family backup and no obstetrics care,” she said.

According to Ranford, the main pressures faced by mining families include relocating – whether it is to a remote location or a new metropolitan city – leaving behind support networks, family and friends, and also the fly-in, fly-out lifestyle.

“It can be hard on a husband and wife, whether it’s the husband or wife going away, it can be really hard on a marriage and new relationships,” she told Australia’s Mining Monthly. “It can take a toll on children as well because the family unit is so different from a normal family unit where dad comes home every night at six and sits down for dinner.”

The website features a series of in-depth columns and question-and-answer sessions with resident psychologist Angie Willcocks and social worker Nicole Pietsch, covering the issues that mining families face. There also is an online forum to link families working through issues of isolation and extended time apart.

The website also features information on major mining towns – including testimonials from families who have lived there – a careers section, a guide to the top online shopping websites, and financial advice from insurance and investment professionals.

So far the site has been well received by the mining community, Ranford says.

“Since its launch we’ve had an amazing response,” she said. “We’ve had people contacting us, thanking us for starting up the website and for providing support. We’ve had a good response from mining companies who are going to distribute our e-newsletter to their workforce.”

Published in the March 2010 Australia’s Mining Monthly