The State Government has released its first statewide audit of the coal sector’s skills, saying it will form the basis of the first work of the new Future Jobs and Investment Authority.
Minister for Natural Resources Courtney Houssos said the audit covered the state’s four coal-producing regions: the Hunter, the Central West, the Illawarra and the north-west. About 25,000 people are directly employed in coal mining in NSW, and about 15,000 of them work in the Hunter. She said that was why the Hunter would be the first division stood up under the Authority, given the supply chains that depend on the industry.
Ms Houssos said the audit showed coal workers were highly skilled and had valuable skills for businesses already in the region or looking to invest.
“We’ve now got a clear document that says this is the existing skill set,” she said, adding that it would help when investors were looking to invest in areas such as advanced manufacturing. She said the audit would be released publicly for local government, community groups, unions and others to use.
The Authority has about $23 million in annual operating funding, and a $170 million Future Jobs and Investment Authority Fund has been established to help attract investment.
Mining and Energy Union Northern District president Rob Williams welcomed the audit as a useful foundation.
“These aren’t just jobs that can easily be replaced. These are jobs that are well-paid,” he said.
He said the Authority needed to bring appropriate industries to local communities, and that without replacement jobs “our local communities, in effect, will die.”
