Published in June 2006 Australian Longwall Magazine

As the skills shortage continues to impact on the available workforce in Australia, many mining companies are looking offshore to fulfil the labour demand. But this recruitment drive has allowed Coalroc to tap into the extensive labour resource of local communities.

Coalroc Contractors helped established the Indigenous mining company Yunaga Mine Services in 2003, to provide environmental rehabilitation, revegetation and general labour services to the Hunter Valley mining industry. In doing so, Yunaga also provided much needed employment and training opportunities for the local Indigenous community.

It was the success of this Indigenous mining company – which after three years of operation now employs 25 Indigenous personnel – that convinced Coalroc to begin the Bowen Basin recruitment program.

The new Bowen Basin recruitment program was established at the beginning of 2006 after consultation with local community elders and relevant local government authorities.

Coalroc projects coordinator Craig Bailey said Mackay had the added advantage of a strong Torres Straight Islander population as well as Indigenous Australians, which meant the pool of potential was much broader.

Bailey said through a structured training regime, the company was building a skilled workforce that was beneficial to all those involved.

The company currently has 17 Indigenous people working at mines in the Bowen Basin, performing such duties as wash plant maintenance and general opencut duties.

Anglo Coal is one mining company already benefiting from the program, taking on the skilled workers at its Oaky Creek coal mines and at Moranbah North.

“It has opened an avenue of employment in an industry that is driven by an intense need for experienced personnel, for a section of our community that tends to be overlooked,” Bailey said.

Participants in the program receive extensive training to ensure they become an active member of a crew. The training program is undertaken in conjunction with Extreme Training Solutions and is based on Coalroc’s own training packages.

“The outcome is to ensure these personnel are employable within the industry and hopefully change their whole focus on life,” Bailey said.

Training takes about six months to complete with competencies required by the training scheme and for specific client needs.

Bailey said Coalroc was now seeking funding from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and the Mining Industry Skills Centre. The funding will assist in building on the current program and introducing the idea to more clients.

“We are hoping this program will grow and dramatically reduce the unemployment rate among the local Indigenous community,” he said.

“Unlike other companies in the Bowen Basin who are trying to source labour from the United Kingdom and New Zealand, we have decided to tap the extensive resource that we have here in our own community,” Bailey said.