Large Australian mining businesses take a median of 28 days to pay their small business suppliers, 3 days slower than the median of 25 days for all industries. The industry ranks 3 of 18, where 1 is the slowest payer.
Figures cover large Australian businesses paying their small business suppliers only.
Rank 3 of 18 by median days to pay, where 1 is the slowest. The dark bar is mining.
At the median entity, 25% of small business invoices are paid late, 1 point below the figure for all industries of 26%.
The middle half of entities pay in 18.4 to 36 days. A quarter take longer than 36 days.
188 mining companies entered external administration over September 2025 to August 2026, rank 15 of 18 by number of cases. This is a count, not a rate.
Businesses that sell to mining businesses can compare these figures with their own debtor days, or check how fast a single customer pays. Paidnice is debtor management software in Australia: it sends reminders and adds late fees on overdue invoices in Xero or QuickBooks. For the wider picture, read the accounts receivable statistics for Australia.
Exploration and other mining support services is the slowest subdivision at 33.1 days. Oil and gas extraction is the fastest at 23.2 days.
| Subdivision | Median days | Middle half | Paid late |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exploration and other mining support services36 entities | 33.1 | 27.8 to 44.1 | 33.6% |
| Coal mining47 entities | 26.5 | 17 to 32.4 | 13% |
| Metal ore mining64 entities | 26 | 19 to 35.8 | 26.2% |
| Oil and gas extraction45 entities | 23.2 | 15 to 32.7 | 22.5% |
Cite: Paidnice (2026). Australian mining payment times. https://www.paidnice.com/payment-times/au/mining. Source: Payment Times Reporting Scheme register (reports ending March 2025 to June 2026), ASIC insolvency statistics. Figures cover large Australian businesses paying their small business suppliers only.
Large Australian mining businesses take a median of 28 days to pay, and 25% of invoices run late. Paidnice sends the reminders and adds the late fees in Xero or QuickBooks, so you do not have to chase.
Large Australian mining businesses take a median of 28 days to pay their small business suppliers, 3 days slower than the median of 25 days for all industries. The industry ranks 3 of 18, where 1 is the slowest payer.
At the median mining entity, 25% of small business invoices are not paid within the payment term. Across all large Australian businesses the median is 26%.
188 mining companies entered external administration for the first time over September 2025 to August 2026, 15 of 18 industries by number of cases. This is a count, not a rate.
Australia has no general statutory interest on late business invoices, so the right to charge a late fee or interest comes from your terms of trade. Put the fee or rate in your terms and on the invoice before the work starts.
We took each entity's latest Payment Times Reporting Scheme report with a period ending March 2025 to June 2026 and grouped entities by the ANZSIC division and subdivision they reported. Each entity reports its own average payment time to small business suppliers; we take the median of those averages. Industries and subdivisions publish only with 20 or more entities. Insolvencies are ASIC series 1 counts over September 2025 to August 2026. The scheme covers payments to small businesses only.
Sources: Payment Times Reports Register (© Commonwealth of Australia, Payment Times Reporting Regulator, CC BY 4.0), ASIC insolvency statistics. Download the industry data (CSV).