The Australian Government's announcement that crucial minerals-related occupations have been added to the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) is a significant step to secure highly skilled engineers and scientists for the mining industry.
MCA continues to see an effective, flexible and functional skilled migration framework as more important than ever, so that relevant skills are available for and applied to projects and opportunities across industry.
As Australia adjusts to a post-COVID environment, the role of skilled migration in accessing specialist and technical skills for the mining industry will be crucial.
The Australian resources sector employs about 243,000 people in predominantly high skilled jobs, with a significant proportion of these jobs being in regional and remote Australia.
The minerals industry employs over 3,500 mining engineers, almost 10,000 minerals geoscientists and close to 10,000 environmental scientists.
As opportunities across the minerals industry continue to grow, an additional 1,100 mining engineers are expected to be employed domestically up to 2024.
With mining engineering enrolments across Australia at an all-time low, the priority access to mining engineers from overseas will alleviate the pressure on the current domestic pipeline.
An employer of Australian's first and foremost, the minerals industry is discerning in its engagement of skilled migrants, leveraging skilled migration to address hard to fill experienced professional roles.
Approximately 0.7 per cent of the workforce is secured through temporary skilled migration, accounting for only 2.4 per cent of all temporary skilled workers in Australia.
The success of Australia's resources sector depends on a highly skilled workforce which includes access to traditional and emerging trades across Australia.
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