PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The federal government has called a roundtable with industry bodies, miners and tertiary institutions to discuss skills in the sector.

Resources Minister Matt Canavan will lead discussions around meeting emerging challenges in the sector as well as enhancing, expanding and advancing the skills of workers to underpin the sector’s future prosperity.

“To ensure our resources industry and national economy flourishes into the future we must ensure the mining sector’s skills base stays sharp with a talented, well-trained and capable workforce. We need to make sure our educational institutions and workplaces are producing the right people with the right skills to meet the future needs of the sector, making it an employer of choice,” Canavan said on Friday. 

“Our mining equipment, technology and skills (METS) sector has grown significantly since the mining boom, with many of our mining services companies exporting their expertise overseas. It contributes more than A$90-billion to our economy each year, more than two-thirds of METS companies are exporters, with those exports worth more than A$27-billion a year.”

Canavan noted that the resources sector also employs more than one-million Australians, or one in every ten jobs, and is a major employer in regional communities and capital cities alike.

“Our resource and energy export earnings are also expected to reach a record high of A$278-billion this financial year - an increase of more than A$50-billion in value on 2017/18 figures, on the back of strong demand and prices for our iron-ore and natural gas.

“These are impressive figures and we need to build on that success through a well-trained, world class workforce. We are in poll position here and must grab the opportunities in front of us right now by creating the best possible educational and training opportunities for Australians.”

The roundtable discussion will focus on recommendations from the Resources 2030 Taskforce Report and a report by the Minerals Council of Australia on workforce skills. Outcomes will be considered as part of a reform agenda for the sector being developed by the Council of Australian Governments Energy Council.