NSW mining offers rewarding careers for a whole range of people in high-skilled jobs in mining regions, rural locations and in our big cities. That’s because it takes a lot of people in a lot of different jobs to keep our NSW mines working.
There are more than 40,000 men and women working in mining jobs across NSW. And there are thousands more working in businesses that supply our mines and benefit from mining too.
NSW mining makes an important contribution to our state and national economies, and it’s an exciting industry to work in.
Some of the professions in the mining industry may even surprise you. Our industry employs a vast range of jobs; everything from engineers and accountants to electricians, and even drone operators!
Education
There are big opportunities for students looking to pursue a career in mining.
The NSW mining industry is an attractive option for young people starting their career. The sector offers highly-skilled roles, provides plenty of training opportunities and the opportunity to lead a fantastic lifestyle in great regional towns across NSW.
Our industry also has an average weekly national income of over $2,600. Mining pays its workers the highest full-time salaries in Australia. Source: ABS Statistics
We have various initiatives to encourage students into the minerals industry. You can find information on potential careers through the following resources:
- Mining Industry Training Packages
- PRIME (Pathways to Resource Industry and Mining Employment) - A Partnership with RDA Hunter
- Australian Earth Science Education provides a range of Earth and Environmental Science activities and resources for teachers and students from Kindergarten to Year 12.
- Teachers can make mining come to life in the classroom through Oresome Resources, which provides free educational resources for school kids and teachers with lessons about minerals and energy.
- The Minerals Council of Australia's More to Mining Careers Guide
- Careers Dinners
- The Department of Regional NSW's Mining Career Information Pack
- The Australian Government's Your Career website - mining industry section
NSW Mining Careers
Our member companies are often on the lookout for driven and talented people to join their organisations in a variety of roles and capacities.
View our member company recruitment websites for further information on open positions and pathways to a career in mining.
Seek.com.au is another useful resource for seeking employment in the NSW mining industry.
Future of work
With the increasing influence of technology changing the employment outlook for many industries, including mining, you might be wondering how this will impact mining jobs of the future.
A report, The Future of Work: the Changing Skills Landscape for Miners, from the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) suggests there will be increasing demand for Data and Digital literacy skills across all phases of the mining value chain that will affect most roles as the human-to-machine interface evolves and becomes more prevalent.
Changing technology doesn’t necessarily mean fewer jobs. It means different types of jobs will be needed for the future of an industry that is vital to our country and remains the biggest export industry in Australia.
The demand for data and digital experts opens up a variety of exciting highly-skilled mining careers.
These new roles will require experienced engineers, data and technology experts to support new safety and efficiency equipment, such as drone technology, sensors, autonomous vehicles and systems.
The digitisation and centralisation of data our industry is currently experiencing will improve workplace health and safety and further enhance working conditions. It’s an exciting future to be a part of, which will open many new career pathways for schoolchildren and the existing mining workforce.