A Federal Labor government could act to ban WA miners from forcing workers to share rooms in mining camps after WA unions successfully pushed through amendments to the ALP’s platform opposing contentious practices in fly-in, fly-out work arrangements.

The amendments do not put a time line on legislation for the move, but reset Labor’s stance on FIFO work. It now opposes mining camp arrangements that include workers sharing rooms between swings and even between shifts, known as motelling, hot-bedding and double-bunking.

The latter is widely hated by FIFO workers and double-bunking was the source of industrial turmoil at Chevron’s Gorgon project after its use was introduced.

Labor’s new platform notes that FIFO arrangements have a place at “genuinely” remote operations, but demands a future Labor government act to eliminate the practises.

A second motion called for better mental health support for FIFO workers, with Australian Manufacturing Workers Union State secretary Steve McCartney telling the conference suicide rates in the industry were too high. He accused miners of seeking to hide the problem.

“They only count them if a worker takes their life on the job,” he said. “They don’t count them if it happens in the camp, or if a worker is home off swing.”

WA’s big miners would not comment on the resolutions yesterday, although Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Elizabeth Gaines said the company did everything it could to ensure site-based employees had permanent accommodation set aside and offered “comprehensive” support to its workforce at work and off swing.

Labor leader Bill Shorten avoided a damaging battle over industrial relations on the final day of Labor’s national conference in Adelaide yesterday, with only minimal changes to the Labor platform after union leaders elected not to bring on a public fight over aspects of its policies.

But he remains under pressure to release full details of Labor’s platform, after shadow industrial relations minister Brendan O’Connor conceded some form of industry-wide bargaining laws might be needed to fulfil Labor’s promise to boost the incomes of lower-paid workers.

Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O’Dwyer accused Mr Shorten of doing a “secret deal” with unions.