The research will be sent to the NSW Treasury, as a pre-budget submission ahead of the 2025-2026 state budget. Submissions close today.
Key points:
- Coal royalties have averaged only 2.4% of NSW Government revenue over the last decade.
- In 2023-24, coal royalties were 4.2% of total NSW Government revenue, with global coal prices pushed up by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- All coal resources in NSW are publicly owned, and royalties are the price that mining companies pay the public to extract the resource.
- Royalties do not fund specific programs – they are grouped with the rest of government revenue. This means that over the last decade, coal royalties have funded only 2.4% of every teacher or nurse.
- No money has yet been spent from the Royalties for Rejuvenation Fund, the NSW Government program which theoretically redirects royalties back to coal-producing regions.
“Coal companies and politicians keep telling us that coal royalties are huge, and that they fund schools, hospitals, and regional communities all across the state. This report shows that these claims simply aren’t true,” said Rod Campbell, Research Director at The Australia Institute.
“Coal royalties fund a tiny proportion of every school, hospital or regional community. They are not propping up the economy.
“The NSW public owns coal resources, but they aren’t getting their fair share of coal mining revenue. The real money is flowing into the pockets of big corporations.
“What’s more, the public bears the costs of coal mining: health costs from air pollution, the costs of rehabilitating coal mines, and the costs of climate change.
“NSW is one of the biggest coal exporters in the world. With higher royalties, the NSW Government could fund all sorts of much-needed public infrastructure and services.”
