Tradies swap swags for dongas on wheels to retain workers out bush

Dolly Thompson is a woman of few words, but what she does say makes you listen.She is an outback road worker who often spends weeks and even months living and working in some of the most remote corners of Queensland."I'm used to that kind of life, it doesn't worry me," Ms Thompson said."You're better off being out in the camp than what you are in town."The roadside workers can be deployed anywhere in a large remote shire about the size of Tasmania. (ABC Western Qld: Crispian Yeomans)She may have a point. With a population of about 360, the Barcoo Shire Council's mobile road train accommodation is a far cry from the rough-and-ready camps of the past.There is hope the mounted accommodation will attract more skilled workers to the bush and beat the competitive conditions of industries such as mining.The triple-trailer road train is currently set up on the Quilpie to Windorah Road, while the Barcoo Shire has another mobile camp home at Windorah and another further west towards Birdsville.The person in charge of this road camp is Jason Beilby, construction supervisor with the Barcoo Shire Council.Jason Beilby has been working in outback Queensland for decades. (ABC Western Qld: Jay Carstens)He has been working on Queensland's roads for about 20 years so he has seen and lived in very different accommodation."Ten years ago we were very rough camps," Mr Beilby said."We were living in the bush … and we found that to employ people we just had to upgrade, and that's fair enough."Today's road train accommodation is fitted with bedrooms and ensuites, kitchens, dining areas, laundries, and access to streaming services through personal and shared TVs.A kitchen within a mobile road train camp has all the sauces you need. (ABC Western Qld: Crispian Yeomans)"They've got every little mod con that you can find," Mr Beilby said.He said the workers enjoyed the more modern dongas which had helped attract more people to the job and retained them longer."We've got to employ people so we've got to give them good, comfortable accommodation," he said."Twelve hours out in the sun [and] you do want to come home to comfort, and that's a good sales point for employees to get them to come here and work."A mobile roadside camp set-up using triple-trailer road trains between Windorah and Quilpie. (ABC Western Qld: Crispian Yeomans)Mr Beilby said another welcome feature was that the accommodation could be packed up quickly and moved to the next location."We back the trucks underneath, they're all on cables. They just lift all the verandahs up, and we move. It's very simple," he said."[In] some places we're 300 to 400 kilometres from the nearest town so they're pretty self-sufficient."I think all shires should upgrade, but it depends on their structure. [Our shire] is the size of Tasmania."Roadside workers can stay on-site without having to drive hundreds of kilometres to accommodation. (ABC Western Qld: Crispian Yeomans)Community-driven ideas the engine-roomKeeping a secure workforce in remote towns can be particularly challenging compared to cities, or even rural communities, due to the distances involved.Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal's (FRRR) head of grants Jill Karena said that meant remote communities were often solving complex problems."Remote communities are not short of imagination and innovation," Ms Karena said."The distances are greater, the costs are higher, skilled workers can be much harder to access and keep, and the services often travel in-and-out."Ms Karena said the best ideas often came from those who lived locally, but added that outside support through funding could help "back that ingenuity".A spokesperson for the Barcoo Shire Council said the mobile workers' accommodation had improved its staff retention, having built triple-trailer road train accommodation camps since 2022.All roadside workers in the main camp have remained with the council for more than five years, while some, like Ms Thompson, have stuck around for more than a decade.There's plenty of skilled worker jobs in the west, but sometimes the mines get first dibs. (ABC Western Qld: Crispian Yeomans)"When I first come out I came out with my husband and learnt how to drive machinery and that," Ms Thompson said.She stayed, in part because of the community and work culture."They're fun to be with. They all help out," she said.