Eraring Power Station Closing — Redundancy Rights for 1,600+ Affected Workers

Eraring Power Station — Australia's largest coal-fired power station in the NSW Hunter Valley — is closing. Origin Energy has confirmed the closure, with operations now extended to 2029 (pushed back from the original 2025 date).

On 2 April 2026, the Fair Work Commission opened a major case (NZ2026/1) to coordinate worker support. This is a big deal — it means the FWC is treating this as a significant national workplace event.

The numbers are sobering:

• 220 direct employees at the power station
• 200 contractors on site
• ~1,400 workers in the supply chain — Myuna Colliery, maintenance, and supply businesses

If you're a permanent employee made redundant, you're entitled to redundancy pay under the National Employment Standards (NES):

• 1-2 years service: 4 weeks' pay
• 2-3 years: 6 weeks
• 3-4 years: 7 weeks
• 4-5 years: 8 weeks
• 5-6 years: 10 weeks
• 6-7 years: 11 weeks
• 7-8 years: 13 weeks
• 8-9 years: 14 weeks
• 9-10 years: 16 weeks
• 10+ years: 12 weeks

Many power station workers have been there 20+ years. Your enterprise agreement may provide more generous redundancy than the NES minimums — check your agreement or ask your union delegate.

Calculate your exact payout with our redundancy pay calculator.

This is the hard truth: if you're an independent contractor (not an employee), you generally have no entitlement to redundancy pay under the Fair Work Act.

However:

• If you're a contractor who is actually an employee (misclassified), you may have full entitlements — this is more common than people think
• If you're employed by a labour hire company, your redundancy rights are with that company, not Origin Energy
• The NZEA support programs extend to supply chain workers, not just direct employees

If you're unsure whether you're really a contractor or an employee, use our contractor calculator or call the Fair Work Ombudsman.

The Net Zero Economy Authority (NZEA) has recommended a support package under the Energy Industry Jobs Plan:

• Online jobs board specifically for affected workers
• On-ground coordinators in the Hunter Valley to help link workers with new jobs
• Redeployment assistance — help with resumes, interviews, and career planning
• Retraining support — many power station skills transfer to renewable energy, mining services, and construction

The support extends beyond direct power station employees to include supply chain workers at Myuna Colliery and maintenance businesses.

Beyond redundancy pay, you're also entitled to:

• Notice period: 1-5 weeks depending on age and years of service. Use our notice period calculator
• Unused annual leave: Paid out in full at your current rate
• Long service leave: In NSW, you're entitled after 5+ years (pro-rata) of continuous service
• Final pay: Must be paid within 7 days of your last day. Use our final pay calculator

For a worker on $90K with 15 years of service, the total payout (redundancy + notice + leave) could be $30,000-$50,000+ depending on accrued leave.

Even though the closure isn't until 2029, start preparing now:

• Check your enterprise agreement — it likely has better redundancy terms than the NES minimums
• Register with the NZEA — get on their radar early for retraining and job matching
• Talk to your union — CFMEU and ETU are active in the Eraring case
• Document your service — make sure your start date, role, and continuous service are correctly recorded
• Calculate your entitlements — use our redundancy calculator to know what you're owed