6. Growing a skilled workforce

Why Australia needs a larger, and more skilled workforce

The critical minerals sector offers opportunities for people at all stages of their career and across job types. Australia’s mining sector employs more than 310,000 people (ABS 2026), and our resources and energy sector contribute around 11% of our GDP (Office of the Chief Economist 2025). 

To fully unlock the natural endowments of our critical minerals, Australia must harness and expand its workforce. The mining sector is facing persistent skills shortages across engineering, technical and regional roles. At the same time, demand for higher‑education aligned occupations is growing as the sector shifts towards critical minerals, automation, electrification and low‑emissions operations (AUSMASA, 2026). 

According to Jobs and Skills Australia, many jurisdictions have shortages across key professions, including:

• mining engineers
• chemical, geotechnical, materials engineers
• geologists
• hydrogeologists 
• metallurgists.

In addition to shortages of specialised technical skills, workforce challenges for the sector are driven by increasing global competition for talent and the need to scale Australia’s expertise, particularly in processing and refining critical minerals. The sector must also attract more young people and underrepresented groups, adapt to changing technology requirements and address workforce constraints in regional and remote areas. 

Despite these challenges, Australia does have notable, world‑leading expertise that we must build on. Our task is to build the depth of capability behind these leaders and invest in the pipeline of young people needed to sustain and scale‑up that capability. In areas such as refining and hydrometallurgy, Australia has internationally recognised, world‑leading scientists and researchers whose expertise is already developing new technologies and processing routes. However, at this time, this expertise is concentrated in a relatively small number of people and institutions. 

The Mining and Automotive Skills Alliance (AUSMASA) Joint Skills Council (JSC) has identified acute and emerging workforce gaps, while the Manufacturing Industry Skills Alliance (MISA) JSC highlighted ongoing difficulties attracting apprentices and replacing an ageing workforce. These workforce challenges constrain the sector's ability to build capability, increase productivity and scale critical minerals extraction, processing and manufacturing activities.

Future critical minerals projects will be increasingly technology‑intensive, with greater electrification, automation and use of artificial intelligence. There is a greater need for skills to fill these increasingly AI‑augmented roles. The current mining workforce faces significant skills challenges to meet this challenge, with acute shortfalls among new entrants, particularly for roles requiring programming, installation, mathematics, and troubleshooting (AUSMASA, 2026). This reflects the increasing diagnostic demands of modern mining equipment, especially for autonomous and remote operations. We are at an important juncture for Australia to expand the pool of highly skilled workers to address these changes and increase productivity and worker safety. 

Women only make up 23% of the mining workforce in Australia (Workforce Gender Equality Agency 2024). Women's participation in the sector can be affected by factors including remote locations, cultures that are not inclusive, job security, and a lack of flexible working options such as part‑time and job‑sharing arrangements. Addressing these barriers will be critical to attracting and retaining the workforce needed to support the sector’s future growth. 

The sector is also exposed to foreign interference risks, including through its workforce. Concentrated supply chains, complex markets and the evolving global industry can increase the risk of inappropriate access to commercial, technological or strategic information. Strengthening the workforce’s resilience to these risks helps protect sensitive information, including intellectual property, maintain investor confidence and support the sector’s growth.

Actions to grow a capable and efficient workforce

Critical commercialisation and capability enhancement

We will strengthen research, innovation and commercialisation partnerships to build domestic capability in critical minerals processing. We will do this by working with industry, research institutions and government agencies to develop new pathways to commercialisation and supporting the growth of Australia’s domestic processing capabilities.

Through the government’s Trailblazer Universities Program investment, the Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Trailblazer is building new research capabilities to drive commercialisation in the resources and critical minerals industries across Australia.

Skills

We are working through national skills and training systems to reduce workforce gaps and build the capability needed for critical minerals projects in Australia. This includes initiatives such as the Australian Apprenticeships Incentive System and Jobs and Skills Councils. These initiatives complement Australia’s National Skills Agreement 2024‍–‍2028, which provides up to $12.6 billion to expand and transform access to the vocational education and training (VET) sector. This supports training providers to deliver quality education and training and implement reforms that address critical skills needs. 

The government will use industry workforce planning to target the skills needed to scale domestic capability. We will also draw on analysis from Jobs and Skills Australia’s (JSA), and the Jobs and Skills Councils, including the AUSMASA and the MISA to better understand current and future workforce demands.

The government is investing in targeted programs to build the workforce needed for the energy transition and industries, supported by the investment and delivery architecture of the Future Made in Australia agenda, including:

• $626.9 million Key Apprenticeship Program – an expansion of the New Energy Apprenticeships Program, designed to encourage workforce growth and skills development in priority energy sectors by providing eligible clean energy apprentices and their employers with up to $15,000 in financial assistance per apprenticeship. 
• $54.5 million Building Women’s Careers Program – this funds 20 partnership projects to support women’s access to flexible, safe and inclusive training and employment opportunities across 4 key male dominated industries of construction, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and digital and technology which will support the broader Future Made in Australia skilled workforce agenda. 
• $31 million to Mobile TAFE – this meets local skills needs for remote First Nations communities. This could include training in resources, infrastructure and renewable energy, which are foundational to workforce needs in remote regions where critical minerals projects operate.

We will expand access to training that supports priority sectors. The government has made Free TAFE a permanent feature of the national VET system, investing over $1.6 billion to 2034–35 to support at least 100,000 places every year from 2027, underpinned by the Free TAFE Act 2025. 

These training pathways support domestic capability, the net zero transformation and Australia’s technology and digital capability. They will help build and contribute to the workforce needed for midstream processing and downstream manufacturing in critical minerals supply chains. 

In higher education, the government has invested in developing a pipeline of researchers skilled in university‑industry collaboration under the Increase Workforce Mobility initiative. This includes funding for the National Industry PhD Program and CSIRO’s Industry PhD Program to add 1,800 Industry PhDs by 2032. 

National Industry PhD Program projects align with government priority areas, including the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) priority to value-add in resources. This research specialisation supports ongoing investment in the commercialisation of university research and the creation of a skilled research workforce.

These initiatives are investing in people and places to build skilled workforces, capability for critical minerals processing, and secure well‑paid jobs that support economic resilience. These efforts aim to boost productivity by supporting workforce capability and ensuring we have the right skills in place as we accelerate technology adoption and improve workplace participation. 

Inclusive workplaces

Support for inclusive, safe and flexible workplaces will ensure the critical minerals sector can attract and retain the workforce it needs. Expanding participation broadens the available labour pool, helps address skills shortages and improves productivity. This is particularly important for the critical minerals sector as demand for skilled workers continues to grow.

The Community Benefit Principles, established under the Future Made in Australia Act 2024, will help ensure public investment, and the private investment it attracts, delivers benefits to local communities, workers and businesses. These principles encourage investment that creates safe, secure and well‑paid jobs, develops skilled workforces through training and skills development, and expands opportunities for workforce participation.

We will improve pathways into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and mining‑related careers. This will allow more Australians to access the opportunities created by the growth of the critical minerals sector. The government’s Pathway to Diversity in STEM Review identified ways to better address gender inequities and improve pathways into the opportunities and rewards of mining careers. The government remains committed to improving opportunities for all Australians to access and benefit from well‑paid jobs in STEM.

We will continue to prioritise safe and respectful workplaces. The Enough is Enough Report and the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Respect@Work Report highlighted unacceptable workplace behaviour and the need for more inclusive workplaces for women. All 55 recommendations have been actioned and are being implemented through strengthened workplace laws, a positive duty on employers, enhanced regulatory oversight, and industry measures to improve workplace culture and safety.

We will advance gender equality through Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality. In the critical minerals sector, gender equality and First Nations engagement and participation will form part of grant assessment criteria where appropriate. This approach signals the importance of inclusive workforce practices and supports improved data collection to track progress over time.