The mining industry across Australia has high rates of permanent workers – either employed directly or as permanent employees of service contractors.
Concerns about insecure mining positions are wrong.
Mining employment has trebled from 83,900 in 2002 to 264,700 in 2021 and overwhelmingly these jobs are permanent positions.
In 2021, 88 per cent of mining workers were permanently employed, up from 84 per cent in 2020.
In coal, 93 per cent of coal mining workers in Queensland and NSW were permanently employed, up from 87 per cent in 2020.
Where casual workers are employed in mining, their weekly earnings ($1,864) are more than three times the average for casuals across all industries ($592).
The mining industry pays the highest average wages ($144,000 a year, compared to $94,000 across all industries) and 99 per cent of mining workers earn above-award wages and conditions.
The mining industry successfully employs a range of agreement options to drive productivity and incomes. Mining companies tailor their employment arrangements to suit very different locations, ore bodies, production techniques, occupations and worker preferences.
To accelerate economic recovery, the industry created 6,700 new apprenticeships and traineeships in the last year alone.
