This page provides information and data on the Coal Mining sector, which is a component of the Mining, Drilling and Civil Infrastructure industry.
The Coal Mining sector includes both open cut and underground coal mining with black coal reserves concentrated in New South Wales and Queensland; and confirmed brown coal reserves located in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria. In 2009, the value of the Coal Mining sector to the Australian economy was $38.2 billion per annum; however, this figure decreased to $16.1 billion by 2016. The Coal Mining sector is dominated by large organisations reflecting the significant investment costs required to maintain a viable operation within the sector.
Vocational education and training (VET) is required for a range of Coal Mining sector related occupations such as:
Nationally recognised training for Coal Mining is delivered under the RII - Resources and Infrastructure Industry Training Package.
For more information on Civil Infrastructure, Drilling, Extractive Industries and Metalliferous Mining sectors, please visit the respective pages. For information and data on training qualifications that apply to multiple sectors within the Mining, Drilling and Civil Infrastructure industry please visit the Resources and Infrastructure Cross Sector page.
Information sourced from the most recently available Skills Forecast, the Mining, Drilling and Civil Infrastructure IRC's 2019 Skills Forecast.
All data sources are available at the end of the page.
The Mining, Drilling and Civil Infrastructure IRC was not required to submit an annual update to their 2019 Skills Forecast during 2020. As such, the version published in 2019 remains the most recently published Skills Forecast for this industry.
Coal Mining IRC
Please note: any employment projections outlined below were calculated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics prior to COVID-19.
The employment level in the Coal Mining sector increased more than threefold over the period from 2000 until 2012. Over the following eight years, despite some fluctuations, employment levels have declined overall. However, the employment level is projected to increase from 52,700 in 2020 to around 58,300 by 2024.
Drillers, Miners and Shot Firers make up 32% of the Coal Mining industry sector workforce. The employment level in this occupation is projected to increase by nearly 10% until 2024. The other two vet-related occupations in this sector, Metal Fitters and Machinists and Other Building and Engineering Technicians are also projected to increase, by around 4% and 15% respectively.
There were approximately 2,390 enrolments in Coal Mining related qualifications during 2019, an increase on the previous year where there were roughly 2,300 enrolments. Completions remained stable between 2018 and 2019, with approximately 220 completions in each year.
During 2019, the majority of enrolments (56%) were in the Certificates II & III & IV in Underground Coal Mining/Operations, which had the intended occupations of Miner or Mine Deputy. Most of the remaining portion (40%) were enrolled in the Certificate IV in Surface Coal Mining (Open Cut Examiner), with the intended occupations of either Safety Inspector or Mine Deputy.
For enrolments during 2019, most of the training was delivered by private training providers (96%) and most subjects (72%) were funded via domestic fee for service arrangements. About 67% of students who enrolled during 2019 resided in Queensland and 24% in New South Wales.
Most of the training was delivered in Queensland (77%), with New South Wales making up the remaining 23%.
Apprenticeship and traineeship commencements were fairly stable between 2018 and 2019, with roughly the same number of commencements in each year. There were approximately 100 completions in 2019, a sharp increase from around 20 in 2018. As at December 2019, 60% of apprenticeship and traineeship training was recorded in New South Wales and 40% in Queensland. All (100%) apprentices and trainees were training towards the intended occupation of Miner.
For more data specific to your occupation, industry or training package, visit NCVER’s VET Students by Industry. If you are prompted to log in, select cancel and you will continue to be directed to the program.
For more data specific to your region visit NCVER’s Atlas of total VET.
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The Mining, Drilling and Civil Infrastructure IRC's 2019 Skills Forecast identifies the top priority skills for the Coal Mining sector as:
The top generic skills listed in the Skills Forecast in order of importance to the industry are:
According to the job vacancy data, the top requested skills by employers were planning and communication. The most advertised occupations in the Coal Mining sector were Other Miscellaneous Labourers and Other Building and Engineering Technicians. The top employers for workers in this industry were Peabody Energy Corporation and Whitehaven Coal.
The Skills Forecast identifies several key issues affecting skills and training needs within the Coal Mining Sector:
For insights on the broader Resources industry, please visit the Mining, Drilling and Civil Infrastructure cluster page.
Below is a list of industry-relevant research, organisations and associations. Hyperlinks have been included where available.
Future of Work: The Economic Implications of Technology and Digital Mining – Ernst & Young Australia
The Future of Work: The Changing Skills Landscape for Miners – Ernst & Young Australia
Australian Explosives Industry and Safety Group (AEISG)
Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry & Resources
NSW Department of Industry - Resources Regulator
Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy
South Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA)
Tasmanian Department of State Growth
Victorian Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions
Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety
For industry associations and advisory bodies specific to Civil Infrastructure, Drilling, Extractive Industries and Metalliferous Mining sectors, please visit the respective pages.
Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA)
Australian Mining Association (AMA)
Mine Managers Association of Australia (MMAA)
Minerals Council of Australia (MCA)
Mining, Equipment, Technology and Services Growth Centre (METS Ignited)
NSW Mining and Petroleum Competence Board
Queensland Coal Mining Safety and Health Advisory Committee (CMSHAC)
Energy Skills Queensland (ESQ)
Industry Skills Advisory Council Northern Territory (ISAC NT)
Resources Industry Training Council (RITCWA)
Resources and Infrastructure NSW Industry Training Advisory Body
Department of Employment 2020, Employment Projections, available from the Labour Market Information Portal website
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2020, Employed persons by Industry group of main job (ANZSIC), Sex, State and Territory, November 1984 onwards, 6291.0.55.003 – EQ06, viewed 1 August 2020 https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/6291.0.55.003May%202020?OpenDocument
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2017, 2016 Census – employment, income and unpaid work, TableBuilder. Findings based on use of ABS TableBuilder data.
Training data has been extracted from the National VET Provider Collection, Total VET Students and Courses from the following training package or qualifications:
RII - Resources and Infrastructure Industry Training Package:
This includes superseded qualifications and training packages.
Data covers a range of selected student and training characteristics in the following categories and years:
Total VET students and courses data is reported for the calendar year. Program enrolments are the qualifications, courses and skill-sets in which students are enrolled in a given period. For students enrolled in multiple programs, all programs are counted. Program completion indicates that a student has completed a structured and integrated program of education or training. Location data uses student residence. Subject enrolment is registration of a student at a training delivery location for the purpose of undertaking a module, unit of competency or subject. For more information on the terms and definitions please refer to the Total VET students and courses: terms and definitions document
Low counts (less than 5) are not reported to protect client confidentiality.
RII Resources and Infrastructure Industry Training Package apprentice and trainee data has been extracted from the National Apprentice and Trainee Collection, including:
Generic skills data have been extracted from the Mining, Drilling and Civil Infrastructure IRC's 2019 Skills Forecast.
Job vacancy data have been extracted from Burning Glass Technologies 2020, Labor Insight Real-time Labor Market Information Tool, Burning Glass Technologies, Boston, viewed July 2020, https://www.burning-glass.com.
Data shown represent most requested generic skills and occupations according to internet job postings in Australia between July 2017 and June 2020 filtered by ANZSIC and ANZSCO classification levels listed below.
