If you think getting a plumber when your pipes leak at home is hard, you’ll understand the bigger problem for mining: a severe skills shortage which means that Australia’s mines, including our world-class coal mines across NSW and QLD, are facing a talent crunch.
The equation which results in a skills deficit is simple: too many professionals retiring in coming years, and too few people interested in a rewarding mining career to replace them.
As demand for talent intensifies along with growth in global markets for our top-quality coal, our sector needs to work hard to grow the talent pipeline while thinking outside the box for solutions.
To give one example of the skills shortage, nearly half of mining engineers are expected to retire within the next decade yet hundreds of foreign engineers living in Australia are forced to drive Ubers or accept other work below their level of expertise for a living.
Employing Australians will always be the first priority of the minerals industry.
Mining provides more than 290,000 direct jobs across all states, territories and commodities. And for every direct job, there’s another six in supply chains and related industries.
That’s a massive total of 1.25 million jobs in direct and indirect jobs across the country – with projections indicating up to 35,400 jobs are to be added by 2028.
Skilled workers are also delivered through the TAFE and training system which supplies job-ready talent through apprenticeships, traineeships, and targeted upskilling programs.
In addition to growing our workforce at home, we need to complement that by unlocking the power of our skilled migration system to give skilled migrants a bigger part in reducing this looming talent shortage.
Skilled migration fills urgent workforce needs, complements domestic training and supports long term growth.
Without skilled migration, mining labour shortages especially in critical and hard to fill specialised roles would put project timelines, export earnings, and the broader national economy at risk.
Skilled migrants are small in number – just 1.24 per cent of the Australian minerals workforce – but their contribution is critical.
Since June 2020, numbers have more than doubled, rising 122 per cent from 1,700 in 2020 to 3,880 in 2025.
With an average remuneration of $149,600, the highest of any industry, these roles underscore the economic value of skilled migration.
Skilled workers are in hot demand across Australia. Aside from mining, the list of high-paying sectors seeking workers is long: big road and rail projects, the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, defence, advanced manufacturing, AI and cybersecurity.
Meanwhile, Australian mining cannot find enough people to fill critical roles: mining, geotechnical and processing engineers, metallurgists, geologists, electricians, mine surveyors, diesel fitters and drillers.
Our skilled migration intake might be intended to align with industry needs, but the reality is different: slow updates, credential barriers, and settlement constraints.
The MCA has made it clear to a Federal Parliamentary committee inquiring into skilled migration that our skilled migration intake needs to be much better matched with verified industry needs.
We should be reducing delays in processing, simplifying requirements and modernising administration.
Regional agreements could give states and territories flexible nomination quotas directly tied to verified local shortages and settlement capacity.
And there’s a lot more we can do to make the most of existing migrant talent by accelerating credential recognition and introducing targeted industry incentives for work experience placements and structured mentoring.
The lesson for Australia is clear: a more agile and targeted skilled migration system will secure the skills that drive innovation, lift productivity and reinforce the nation’s position in the global economy, particularly in mining where leadership is critical to long-term prosperity.
Tania Constable
CEO, Minerals Council of Australia
