Executive summary

In the context of Australia’s debate over energy policy, comparisons are sometimes made between the number of jobs provided in the coal mining industry compared to the renewable energy sector. Comparisons of employment between the two industries are problematic given the significant differences in activities undertaken and their respective use of labour and capital.

Different data sources provide a range of estimates for coal mining employment in Australia. Some sources show falls in employment in the sector in the past 5 to 10 years while others show an increase.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has also provided estimates for employment in renewable energy activities from 2009–10 to 2018–19. ABS Census of Population and Housing (Census) data also sheds light on employment associated with electricity generation from renewable and non-renewable sources (including coal) in 2016 and 2021.

Coal mining employment

• The ABS Labour Account data series shows 34,300 people were employed in the coal mining industry across Australia in 2021–22. This is 12,200 or 26.2% less than the peak of 46,400 achieved in the sector (using this series) in 2013–14. There were 36,000 jobs in the coal industry in 2021–22 which accounted for 0.2% of the 14.9 million jobs recorded in all industries.
• The ABS Australian Industry data series shows 37,335 people employed in the coal mining industry at the end of June 2021, which compares with a peak of 45,016 at the end of June 2012. This constitutes a fall of 7,681 or 17.1%.
• ABS Labour Force survey (LFS) data shows 44,600 people were employed in coal mining across Australia in November 2022 (based on 4 quarter moving averages of original data).[1] This is 11,200 or 20.1% less than the peak of 55,800 achieved in May 2014.
• LFS data shows 26,800 people were employed in the coal industry in Queensland (using the same methodology) in November 2022 and 14,300 were employed in New South Wales (NSW). Coal mining employment has fallen in both states between May 2014 and November 2022, with the fall being much more pronounced in NSW. Coal mining employment fell by 12,400 or 46.4% in NSW and by 900 or 3.3% in Queensland.
• ABS Census showed 49,616 people employed in coal mining in Australia in 2021. This is an increase of 3,121 or 6.7% from 2016 when 46,495 people were recorded in the industry. Census data shows 26,029 people were working in the coal industry in Queensland in 2021 and 20,770 were working in NSW.
• The biggest regional concentrations of coal mining employment in 2021 (using Census data) were in Mackay–Isaac–Whitsunday at 13,335 (up 3,380 or 34.0% from 2016), Hunter Valley at 10,056 (up 1,232 or 14.0%) and Central Queensland at 7,349 (up 679 or 10.2%).

Summary of coal mining employment and jobs estimates

na = not available; FTE = full-time equivalent.

Note: Employment is the number of people working in coal mining at a point-in-time. Jobs are those job placements in which the occupant receives remuneration in wages, salary, payment in kind, or piece rates over a financial year. This excludes self-employment jobs held by owner managers of unincorporated enterprises.

• ABS Jobs in Australia data shows 50,800 jobs recorded in coal mining during the 12 months of 2019-20. This is an increase of 7,400 or 17.0% compared with 2018–19. A substantial increase in coal mining jobs was recorded in WA (up from 6,600 to 11,600). Jobs in Queensland increased by 1,900 or 10.5% while jobs in NSW fell by 1,000 or 6.1%.
• Mine and quarry safety data released by the Queensland Government Department of Resources, Safety and Health, shows 37,970 people were working in operational coal mines in Queensland in June 2022. This data source shows in the 5 years to June 2022 employment in the coal industry in Queensland grew by 7,018 or 22.7%.
• The Coal Services[2] Annual Report of 2021 showed 21,979 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers in coal mining production activities in NSW in June 2021. This source showed FTE employment in coal mining production activities increased by 2,591 or 13.4% in NSW in the 5 years to June 2021.

Employment in renewable energy activities and electricity generation using fossil fuels

After a period of decline between 2011–12 and 2015–16 employment in the renewable energy sector has risen rapidly since.

• Data collected by the ABS shows there were 26,850 FTE jobs in the renewable energy sector in Australia in 2018–19, up by 15,370 or 133.9% since 2015–16. In the period between 2015–16 and 2018–19 growth in employment in renewable energy activities was strongest in large scale solar (up more than tenfold), followed by wind (which more than quadrupled), and installation of roof top solar photo-voltaic (PV) (which more than doubled).
• ABS unpublished data shows 5,750 FTE jobs in ongoing operational renewable energy generation activities in 2018–19 (as opposed to installation), with hydro accounting for the most jobs (at 3,060).

ABS Census data shows Australia recorded a substantial fall in employment in fossil fuel electricity generation across Australia between 2016 and 2021 (down 1,435 or 17.8% to 6,630), and large increases in employment in both hydroelectricity generation (up 606 or 54.5% to 1,718) and other (renewable) forms of electricity generation (up 1,002 or 115.7% to 1,868).

• Across Australia employment in renewable electricity generation (hydro plus other) accounted for 34.3% of total employment in electricity generation in 2021, which compares with a 19.2% share in 2016.
• Around 52.3% of employment in electricity generation using fossil fuels is based in non-metropolitan areas. By comparison, 60.5% of employment in electricity generation using renewables was based in capital cities.

Introduction

In the context of Australia’s debate over energy policy, comparisons are sometimes made between the number of jobs provided in the coal mining industry compared to the renewable energy sector. However, comparisons of employment between the two industries are problematic given the significant differences in activities undertaken and their respective use of labour and capital.

This statistical snapshot provides estimates for employment in the coal industry and the renewable energy generation sector. The purpose of the paper is to highlight the different employment estimates that are available for each industry sector and to establish whether any trends exist over time.

Coal mining is highly capital intensive with fewer people required to operate the large machinery used to extract coal deposits. The coal industry is composed of thermal coal extraction which is used in electricity generation and metallurgical coal extraction which is used in steel making. Some thermal coal is used for local electricity generation, but a significant proportion is exported, and much of the metallurgical coal that is extracted is exported overseas. The employment estimates that are available do not distinguish between thermal and metallurgical coal mining activities.

Employment in coal mining is restricted to regions in which there are viable deposits of thermal and metallurgical coal whereas employment in renewable energy has the potential to be far more widespread. For example, coal mining employment is highly concentrated in regional parts of Queensland and NSW, with smaller deposits found in Collie in Western Australia (WA).

Renewable energy production activities are quite varied, ranging from larger scale solar, wind turbine and hydro electricity generation, to smaller scale installation of photovoltaic panels and solar hot water systems in private dwellings and businesses. Large scale renewable energy projects require relatively few people to maintain and operate whereas smaller scale rooftop solar installation is much more labour intensive.

As a result of these differences, caution is advised in making direct comparisons between the two sectors. Nevertheless, it is interesting to observe trends in employment in both these sectors as they have responded to changing domestic and international demand for different sources of energy.

This first section of the paper examines the contribution of the coal mining industry to the national economy and compares the various estimates available for employment and jobs in the sector.

The second section of the paper examines the emergence of the renewable energy sector and its growing contribution to total electricity generation. This section includes employment estimates for both renewable and non-renewable sources of electricity generation over time.

Coal mining industry

Coal mining contribution to the national economy

Coal mining is a relatively small employer in industry share terms but contributes significantly to the Australian economy in terms of export revenue.

Australia produced 172 Mt (Million tonnes) of metallurgical coal in 2021–22 of which 163 Mt was exported. Australia also produced 246 Mt of thermal coal of which 196 Mt was exported. Exports of metallurgical coal were worth $67.6 billion in 2021–22 while exports of thermal coal were worth $46.3 billion.[3]

Total exports of coal were valued at $114 billion in 2021–22 which accounted for 19.1% of the value of total exports of goods and services from Australia. This compares with an 8.5% share of total exports of goods and services in 2020–21 when coal exports were valued at $39.2 billion.[4]

While production of coal increased slightly in 2021–22 compared with the previous financial year, prices of coal increased significantly in the months following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. [5] The average export price for high quality metallurgical coal increased from $145 per tonne in 2020–21 to $455 per tonne in 2021–22, while average export price for thermal coal increased from $83 per tonne to $236 per tonne during the same period.[6]

The coal mining industry accounted for 0.8% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Australia in 2021–22 (measured in chain volume terms). By comparison iron ore mining accounted for 6.2% of GDP and the whole mining sector (including exploration and support services) accounted for 10.3%.[7]

The ABS Australian Industry publication showed coal mining received $51.8 billion in sales and service income in 2020–21 while industry valued added (IVA)[8] in the sector amounted to just over $16 billion. The coal mining industry accounted for 1.2% of total industry value added generated in selected industries in the private sector in 2020–21.[9]

National coal mining employment estimates

The ABS provides several estimates for employment in the coal mining industry. Some ABS estimates are derived from survey data or the Census, while others draw on businesses data. Additional employment estimates are available from state government departments and an industry association committed to ensuring worker safety in the industry. The differences in these estimates are highlighted in the following section.

ABS Labour Account

The ABS Labour Account data series shows there were 34,300 people employed in the coal mining industry across Australia in 2021–22 (see Figure 1).[10] There were 36,000 jobs in the coal industry in 2021–22 which was equivalent to 0.2% of the 14.9 million jobs recorded in the economy. The level of employment in the coal industry recorded in 2021–22 was 12,200 or 26.2% down on the peak of 46,400 achieved in 2013–14, but much higher than the level recorded in 2000–01 (at 21,400).

The coal mining industry share of total jobs in the economy has ranged from 0.2% to 0.4% between 1994–95 and 2021–22, with the share being as high as 0.4% between 2011–12 and 2013–14. By comparison, the whole mining industry accounted for 1.4% of total jobs in all industries in 2021–22, while industries such as Retail trade contributed 9.9%, Construction contributed 8.5% and Health care and social assistance contributed 13.5%.[11]

The advantage of the Labour Account data series is its use of a combination of household, business and administrative data rather than just household survey data used for the Labour Force Survey (LFS).[12] Enterprises are allocated an industry classification [13] according to the type of activities in which they are directly engaged.

The employment estimates by industry provided in the Labour Account also include people whose main job may be in another industry (i.e. they include multiple job holders). Consequently, it is a more accurate representation of how many people work in the industry. In contrast, the Labour Force survey only provides industry employment estimates for people in their main job. However, Labour Account data does not provide any regional or state and territory estimates, or estimates of full-time and part-time employment, or employee access to leave entitlements.

Figure 1    Number of people employed in the coal mining industry, annualised data, 1994‍–‍95 to 2021–22

Source: ABS, Labour Account Australia, (Canberra: ABS, March 2022), (balanced annual estimates).[14]

ABS Labour Force Survey

Another source of data for industry employment is the ABS Labour Force Survey (LFS). Figure 2 plots an overlaid 4-quarter moving average of LFS original estimates with the more volatile original quarterly estimates.[15]

The 4-quarter moving average series shows a steady fall in employment between the mid-1980s and early 2000s before a steady increase in employment through to a peak of 55,800 achieved in May 2014. Movements in employment have fluctuated considerably since, with the most recent estimate being 44,600 in November 2022.

The sample size of the LFS is approximately 50,000 residents living in approximately 26,000 dwellings. Industry employment estimates from the LFS may be influenced by subjective perceptions and judgements of survey respondents as to the industry in which household members work.[16] For example, the estimates may not capture all labour hire workers or service contractors that are used in the coal mining industry, in addition to direct employees, due to confusion as to whether the labour hire company or their host mining company is the employer.[17]

Figure 2    Employment in coal mining in Australia—original estimates and average of preceding 4 quarters, 1984 to 2022

Source: ABS, Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, (Canberra: ABS, June 2022), Datacube EQ06, 4 quarter moving averages of original data.

LFS data shows the coal industry workforce is predominantly male with 83.3% of people working in the industry in November 2022 being males working full-time hours. However, the female share of total employment in the sector has been increasing slowly from 3.9% in November 1985 to 15.7% in November 2022.[18]

ABS Australian Industry

Another source of coal mining employment data is the ABS Australian Industry data series. These estimates are produced annually using a combination of data collected directly from the annual Economic Activity Survey (EAS) conducted by the ABS, and Business Activity Statement (BAS) data provided by businesses to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). This data source shows employment in coal mining has fallen from a peak of 45,016 in June 2012 to 37,335 in June 2021 — a fall of 7,681 or 17.1%. In the 12 months to June 2021 employment in the sector fell by 2,124 or 5.4%.[19]

ABS Jobs in Australia

An additional data source is ABS Jobs in Australia collected from Australian Taxation Office (ATO) administrative data that is linked to the ABS Business Longitudinal Analytical Data Environment (BLADE). This data is sourced directly from employer records rather than household survey data which increases its accuracy. Some employed people may be working in multiple jobs in the same industry or in different industries.

These are not point-in-time estimates. They relate to the number of jobs recorded over a financial year. There were 50,800 coal mining jobs recorded over the 12-months from July 2019 to June 2020 (latest available data at time of writing). This compares with 43,400 recorded in 2018–19, which is equivalent to an increase of 7,400 or 17.0%. Coal mining jobs accounted for 0.3% of the approximately 17.9 million jobs recorded across Australia in 2019–20.

ABS Census of Population and Housing

ABS Census data shows 49,616 people were employed in coal mining across Australia in 2021. This compares with 46,495 working in the industry in 2016, equivalent to an increase of 3,121 or 6.7% over 5 years.

Occupations in the coal industry

Of those employed in the coal industry in 2021, 21,101 were working as Machinery operators and drivers (equivalent to 42.5% of total employment in the sector); 14,495 (or 29.2%) were Technicians and trade workers; 5,289 workers (or 10.7%) were Professionals, 3,853 (or 7.8%) were Managers and 2,351 (or 4.7%) were Clerical and Administrative Workers.

In the five years to 2021 the number of Technicians and trades workers in the industry grew by 1,013 (or 7.5%), Managers increased by 781 (or 25.4%) and Professionals grew by 750 (or 16.5%).[20]

The leading occupations in the coal industry in 2021 were Miners (14,808 or 29.8% of all workers in the industry), Fitters (General) (5,983 or 12.1%), Electricians (General) (2,639 or 5.3%), Truck Drivers (General) (2,369 or 4.8%), Mine Deputies (2,051 or 4.1%), Production Managers (Mining) (1,479 or 3.0%), Metal Fabricators (939 or 1.9%) and Mining Engineers (excluding Petroleum) (929 or 1.9%).[21]

Approximately 85% of coal mining employment was concentrated in non–metropolitan areas. Around a third of people working in managerial and professional occupations in the coal industry were working in greater metropolitan areas, along with a quarter of clerical and administrative staff. Well over 90% of Technicians and trades workers, Machinery operators and Labourers in the industry worked in non–metropolitan areas.

State and territory coal mining employment estimates

ABS Labour Force Survey

ABS LFS data shows employment in the coal mining industry is concentrated primarily in the states of Queensland and NSW, which accounted for 60.0% and 32.2% respectively of total employment in the industry in November 2022. This source shows 26,800 people employed in the coal mining industry in Queensland and 14,300 in NSW in November 2022 based on 4 quarter moving averages of original data. There were also 1,700 people employed in the sector in WA at this time (see Table 1).

Table 1     Employment in the coal industry by major state/territory, 1985 to 2022

Note: Shares in right hand columns may not add up to 100% due to rounding and exclusion of smaller percentage shares of total coal mining employment occurring in other states and territories.

Source: ABS, Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, (Canberra: ABS, June 2022), Datacube EQ06, 4 quarter moving averages

At the peak of coal mining employment in Australia (using this measure) of 55,800 in May 2014, there were 27,700 people working in the industry in Queensland and 26,700 working in NSW. Employment has fallen significantly in NSW since this peak (down 12,400 or 46.4%) while falling less markedly in Queensland (down 900 or 3.3%).

Over the longer term, the coal mining share of total employment in NSW has more than halved from 1.0% in August 1985 to 0.3% in November 2022 while the coal mining share in Queensland increased from 0.6% to 1.0%.

ABS Census

ABS Census data shows 20,770 people worked in coal mining in NSW in 2021 (up 1,881 or 10.0% from 18,889 in 2016), 26,029 were working in the sector in Queensland (up 808 or 3.2% from 25,221 in 2016) and 1,923 in WA (up 426 or 28.5% from 1,497 in 2016) (see Table 2).[22]

Table 2     Employment in the coal industry by state and territory, 2016 and 2021

Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, (Canberra: ABS, 2016 and 2021), by Place of Work (the geographic area in which a person worked in the week before Census night), using TableBuilder.

Jobs in Australia

The ABS Jobs in Australia data series shows Queensland accounted for the largest number of coal mining jobs in 2019–20 (at 20,200 or 39.8%) followed by NSW (at 15,500 or 30.5%) and WA (11,600 or 22.8%) (see Table 3).[23]

Coal mining accounted for 0.6% of all jobs in both Queensland and WA. WA recorded the biggest increase in jobs in coal mining with 5,000 more in 2019–20 compared to the previous financial year.

Table 3     Coal mining jobs by state/territory, 2019–20

Source: ABS, Jobs in Australia, (Canberra: ABS, November 2022).

Other estimates for coal mining employment in NSW and Queensland

More data on employment in coal mining in Queensland is available from the Queensland Government Department of Resources, Safety and Health, which collects information directly from Queensland mines on worker numbers on a quarterly basis. This source shows 37,970 people were working in coal mining in Queensland in June 2022. This compares with 30,952 working in in June 2017. In this 5-year period employment in the industry grew by 7,018 or 22.7%.[24]

Additional estimates for coal mining employment in NSW are available from the Coal Services Annual Report[25] which showed 21,979 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers engaged in coal mining production employment[26] in June 2021. This estimate is 682 or 3% less than the previous financial year, but 2,591 (or 13.4%) more than the estimate of 19,388 FTE workers recorded in June 2016.

Around 38% of the coal industry workforce in NSW were reported to be contractors.

Regional coal mining jobs and employment estimates

ABS Jobs in Australia

The ABS Jobs in Australia series is also a source of regional data for coal mining. The regions with 1,000 coal mining jobs or above in 2019–20 are shown in Table 4, along with the coal mining share of total jobs in each Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4) region.

Table 4     Ranking of coal mining jobs by SA4 region, 2018–19 and 2019-20

Source: ABS, Jobs in Australia, (Canberra: ABS, November 2022)

The Hunter Valley region (excluding Newcastle) in NSW had the most coal mining jobs at 6,000 in 2019–20, which accounted for 3.1% of all jobs in the region. Other regions with large numbers of coal mining jobs include Central Queensland (5,200 or 3.2% of all jobs in the region) and Mackay–Isaac–Whitsunday (4,500 or 3.2% of all jobs in the region). SA4s in the Perth region recorded the biggest 12 monthly increases in coal mining jobs.

Some of the regional jobs estimates provided by this data source for 2019–20 are much lower than regional employment estimates for 2021 that are available from the Census and discussed in the following section.

ABS Census employment

ABS Census data shows the biggest regional concentrations of coal mining employment in 2021 were in the SA4s of Mackay–Isaac–Whitsunday (Queensland) at 13,335 (or 14.4% of total employment in the region) and the Hunter Valley (NSW) at 10,056 (or 8.6% of total employment). Both regions experienced significant increases in coal mining employment between 2016 and 2021 with an increase of 3,380 (or 34.0%) in Mackay–Isaac–Whitsunday and an increase of 1,232 (or 14.0%) in the Hunter Valley. In contrast employment in coal mining fell in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie by 733 or 25.5% and employment in the industry fell by 662 or 33.1% in Illawarra.

The SA4 of Central Queensland had significant concentration of coal mining employment in 2021, at 7,349 (or 7.2% of total employment) and employment in the industry in the SA4 of Brisbane Inner City increased significantly from 856 in 2016 to 2,443 in 2021 (see Table 5).

Table 5     Major regions for coal mining employment, 2016 and 2021

Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, (Canberra: ABS, 2016 and 2021), by Place of Work[27] (Canberra: ABS, 2016), using TableBuilder

Renewable energy sector and fossil fuel electricity generation

Renewable energy contribution to total electricity generation

The renewable energy sector in Australia has a long history dating back to the building of the Waddamana Power Station in Tasmania in 1916, and the development of the Snowy Mountains Scheme between 1949 and 1974. The Tasmanian hydroelectric scheme currently has 30 power stations and a capacity of 2,600 megawatts.[28] The 9 power stations and 33 turbines of the Snowy Hydro scheme have a combined capacity of 4,100 megawatts.[29]

It is interesting to reflect that the renewable share of total electricity generation in Australia was as high as 25.7% in 1964–65 when electricity generation from hydroelectricity schemes operating in the Snowy Mountains and Tasmania was responsible for a significant share of total electricity generation in Australia. From this point electricity generation from renewables steadily decreased as a share of total electricity generation through to 2008–09 when the renewable share reached a low of 7.5%.[30]

This outcome was largely driven by the steady increase in electricity generation from fossil fuels such as black and brown coal, as generation from hydro remained fairly steady during this period, apart from during drought conditions. The renewable share has since increased sharply to 26.7% in 2020–21, reflecting the increase in renewable electricity generation and the decline in generation from fossil fuels.

Figure 3    Renewable share of total electricity generation in Australia, 1960–61 to 2020–21

Source: Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (2022), Australian Energy Statistics, Table O; International Energy Agency (2022), World Energy Balances.

Over the two decades to 2020–21 the share of total electricity generation accounted for by black and brown coal fired power stations has fallen from 83.4% to 52.8%, while the contribution from natural gas has increased from 7.7% to 18.7% (see Table 6). Generation from renewables increased by 52,960.2 GWh or 296.9% over the 20 year period, while generation from fossil fuels fell by 11,045 GWh or 5.4%.[31]

Table 6     Australian electricity generation, by fuel type; 2000–01, 2015–16 and 2020–21

Source: Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, Australian Energy Statistics, Table O, September 2022.

Note: These are the official estimates of total electricity generation in Australia. Estimates are derived from multiple data sources including the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and the Clean Energy Regulator (CER). These statistics cover all electricity generation in Australia. This includes by power plants, and by businesses and households for their own use, in all states and territories. This also includes both on and off grid generation.

The Clean Energy Council reported that renewable energy sources accounted for 32.5% of Australia’s total electricity generation in the calendar year of 2021, with small-scale solar adding 3.3 gigawatts of new capacity over 12 months. Large scale wind and solar also added an additional 3 gigawatts of capacity. Large scale wind accounts for the greatest share of renewable electricity generation (at 35.9% in 2021), followed by small-scale solar (24.9%), hydro (21.6%), large-scale solar (12.3%), bioenergy (4.3%) and medium-scale solar (1.1%).[34]

The Clean Energy Council also flagged that 68 large-scale renewable energy projects were either under construction or financially committed at the end of 2021. These projects were expected to add a further 9 GW hours of capacity to the electricity grid as well as creating 35,000 construction and operational jobs. Of these projects 42 were related to solar, 19 involved wind power generation and the remainder included bioenergy plants, hydropower projects and hybrid projects. Many of the jobs created will be in regional areas.[35]

Employment estimates for the renewable energy sector

In contrast to the coal mining industry, employment data is more limited for the renewable energy sector. This is due to the lack of unique industry classification for different forms of renewable generation activities, apart from Hydro-electricity generation (ANZSIC 2612), in the ABS industry classification system.[36] All other forms of renewable energy generation are grouped together in Other electricity generation (ANZSIC 2619).[37] As a result, it is not possible to extract separate employment estimates for the emerging renewable energy forms such as wind, solar, geothermal and tidal electricity generation from ABS data sources such as the Labour Account, the Labour Force survey and the Census.

To address this data gap, the ABS has provided experimental employment estimates for renewable energy activities from 2009–10 to 2018–19 using funding provided by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). The experimental estimates are not taken from the ABS Labour Force survey or linked employee-employer data sets. Consequently, they cannot be compared directly with employment in other industries such as coal mining. They are based upon information that is available publicly (including company annual reports, audit reports and company websites), an employment factor approach (based upon energy capacity and output of renewable energy infrastructure), and employment numbers provided by renewable energy operators themselves. A more detailed explanation of how the ABS calculates its employment estimates in renewable energy activities is provided in the Appendix at the end of this snapshot.

These experimental employment estimates are no longer being produced and it is unclear if funding to enable the production of estimates will be made available in future. This is problematic for analysts and policy makers hoping to observe and track future employment trends in the renewable energy sector.

The data collected by the ABS shows there were 26,850 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs in renewable energy activities in Australia in 2018–19, up by 15,370 or 133.9% since 2015–16 (see Figure 4).[38]

Figure 4    FTE employment in renewable energy activities, 2009–10 to 2018–19

Source: ABS, Employment in Renewable Energy Activities, Australia, (Canberra: ABS, April 2020).

In its methodology the ABS tends to interchange between the terms FTE jobs and FTE employment when describing the number of employees working in the sector.[39]

In the period between 2015–16 and 2018–19 growth in FTE employment was strongest in large scale solar (up more than tenfold), followed by wind power generation (which more than quadrupled), and roof top solar PV (up 121.5%) (see Table 7). Roof top solar PV accounted for the largest share of total FTE employment in 2018–19 (at 48.7%), followed by large solar PV (17.7%), wind (12.1%) and hydro (11.4%).

Data from the Clean Energy Regulator shows the number of rooftop solar PV system installations across Australia continued to increase steadily each year from 132,697 in 2016 to 377,285 in 2021, which would have stimulated further employment growth in the sector.[40] There had been just over 3.3 million solar PV panel systems installed in Australia between 2001 and November 2022 for either private dwellings or small businesses under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme.

Table 7     FTE employment by renewable energy type, selected years from 2009–10 to 2018–19

1. Includes solar hot water systems.
2. NPIs are non-profit institutions, that are institutionally separate from government and self-governing.

Source: ABS, Employment in Renewable Energy Activities, Australia, (Canberra: ABS, April 2020).

NSW accounted for the biggest share of FTE employment in renewable energy activities (28.9%) in 2018–19, followed by Queensland (23.6%) and Victoria (22.7%). FTE employment in renewable energy activities increased at the fastest rate in SA in the 3 years between 2015–16 and 2018–19, up 241.3%, followed by Victoria and NSW, up 185.9% and 165.4% respectively (see Table 8).

Table 8     FTE employment in renewable energy activities by state and territory, selected years from 2009–10 to 2018–19

Source: ABS, Employment in Renewable Energy Activities, Australia, (Canberra: ABS, April 2020).

Note: Estimates include workers involved in construction and installation as well as ongoing operations and maintenance.

Ongoing operational employment in renewable energy activities

Table 9 shows the number of ongoing FTE operational staff engaged in wind and solar, hydro and bio-mass energy generation and maintenance (as distinct from construction and installation) in selected years between 2009–10 and 2018–19. The estimates are a subset of the estimates provided in Table 7. The ABS has provided these unpublished estimates to the Parliamentary Library based on the data it has collected on renewable energy activities.

There were 5,750 FTE jobs involved in ongoing operational renewable energy generation and maintenance activities in 2018–19 with hydro being the biggest employer (at 3,060 FTE jobs). Ongoing operational employment in wind and solar increased by 690 or 164.3% between 2015–16 and 2018–19 (see Table 9).

The acceleration of employment in wind and solar in the last 3 years (2015–16 to 2018–19) is due mainly to the increase in large scale solar PV generation capacity completed over this time.

Table 9     FTE ongoing operational employment by energy type, selected years from 2009–‍10 to 2018–19

Source: ABS data on request, Employment in Renewable Energy Activities, Australia, (Canberra: ABS, April 2020).

Employment in fossil fuel and renewable electricity generation

Table 10 shows the number of people employed in different forms of electricity generation in 2016 and 2021 by state and territory as reported in the ABS Census of Population and Housing.

Table 10   Number of people employed in electricity generation by energy type by state and territory, 2021

(a) includes biomass, geothermal, solar, tidal and wind.
nfd = not further defined due to lack of information provided.
Note: The sum of individual energy types may differ slightly to totals shown in the right-hand column of the table.

Source: ABS, Census of Housing and Population, (Canberra: ABS, 2016 and 2021), by Place of Work, using TableBuilder.

A big fall in employment was recorded in fossil fuel electricity generation across Australia between 2016 and 2021 – down 1,435 or 17.8% to 6,630.

Fall in employment in fossil fuel electricity generation were more pronounced in Victoria (down 528 or28.1%) and NSW (down 428 or 25.8%).

However, employment in fossil fuel electricity generation did increase in Queensland (up 113 or 5.8%) and Western Australia (up 97 or 7.6%). Overall, the increase in employment in all forms of electricity generation across Australia in the 5 years to 2021 was modest at 200 or 1.9%.

Employment in hydroelectricity electricity generation increased by 606 or 54.5% to 1,718, while employment in other forms of renewable electricity generation increased by 1,002 or 115.7% to 1,868.

Employment in all forms of renewable electricity generation across Australia increased from 1,978 in 2016 to 3,586 in 2021—an increase of 1,608 or 81.3%.

Total renewable electricity generation (hydro plus other) accounted for 34.3% of total employment in electricity generation in Australia in 2021. This compares with a 19.2% share in 2016. Around 2.4% of employment in the industry could not be classified to either fossil fuels or renewables in 2021.

Some jurisdictions had much higher concentrations of employment in electricity generation using fossil fuels in 2021 including the Northern Territory (95.9%) and WA (90.1%). The fossil fuel electricity generation share of total employment in electricity generation in Queensland has fallen from 86.3% in 2016 to 74.0% in 2021, while the share recorded in Victoria fell from 84.9% to 63.3%. Tasmania relies heavily on hydroelectricity which is reflected in the sector’s 88.8% share of total electricity generation employment. SA experienced a more than doubling in the other renewable electricity generation share of total electricity generation employment from 20.7% to 42.6% (see Table 11).

Table 11   Percentage of share of total people employed in electricity generation by type and state and territory, 2016 and 2021

(a) includes biomass, geothermal, solar, tidal and wind.
nfd = not further defined.

Source: ABS, Census of Housing and Population, (Canberra: ABS, 2016 and 2021), by Place of Work, using TableBuilder.

Census data shows 45.9% of employment from electricity generation using fossil fuels is based in Greater metropolitan areas with 52.3% based in non-metropolitan regions. An additional 1.8% reported no fixed address as their place of work in the week before the Census night. In comparison 60.5% of employment in electricity generation using renewables was based in Greater metropolitan areas, with 35.9% based in non–metropolitan areas, while 3.6% reported no fixed address for their place of work in the week before the Census night. The high percentage of employed people in renewable forms of electricity generation in metropolitan areas is likely to be related to the labour-intensive installation of solar panels on private residences in more densely populated cities.

Other estimates for employment in renewables and projections for future employment

The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Institute for Sustainable Futures (the Institute) undertook some analysis for the Clean Energy Council in June 2020 in which it provided a current estimate for FTE employment/jobs in the renewables sector and projections for employment growth under a range of scenarios.[41]

Surveys were undertaken for large-scale solar PV and wind power, distributed solar PV, hydro generation and pumped hydro, battery storage, and the associated supply chains. Using employment factors derived from these surveys, estimates of renewable energy jobs from 2020 to 2035 were produced using three energy market scenarios and other inputs from the Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) Integrated System Plan (AEMO 2020) for the eastern states:

• Central Scenario: growth is determined by market forces under current federal and state government policies (i.e. business-as-usual with no additional policy)
• Step Change: strong policy commitments occur with ‘aggressive decarbonisation’ and growth in renewable energy.[42]
• High Distributed Energy Resource (DER): higher growth in rooftop solar and battery storage relative to large-scale renewable energy.

Similar to the methods used by the ABS to calculate FTE, the methodology used by the Institute to calculate employment estimates uses a combination of industry survey data and an employment factor methodology:

Simply put, an employment factor (full-time equivalent jobs/megawatt of installed capacity) is derived from industry surveys and applied to the level of installed capacity (MW) to estimate total employment. The employment factor is reduced over time to reflect productivity improvements.[43]

The authors estimate there were around 26,000 FTE jobs in the renewable energy sector across Australia in 2020 (prior to the impact of COVID-19). The report tends to use the terms ‘employment’ and ‘jobs’ interchangeably. whereas the ABS traditionally presents labour estimates where an ‘employed’ person may have one or more ‘jobs’. For simplicity, it may be interpreted that the estimates refer to the number of FTE jobs in the renewable energy sector.

Under the Step scenario that assumes strong policy commitments which are consistent with the Paris Climate Agreement in tandem with accelerated exits of coal generators, FTE jobs in the renewable energy sector peaks at around 45,000 in 2025, and them moderates to around 34,400 in 2035.[44]

Under the High Distributed Energy Resource (HDER), in which there is a higher growth in rooftop solar and battery storage relative to large-scale renewable energy, it estimates that FTE jobs remains relatively stable at around 30,000 between 2024 and 2027, but then accelerates, and could be as high as 45,000 in 2035. If this scenario eventuates employment in renewable power generation would be 19,000 or 73.1% higher than the current estimate of 26,000 for 2020.[45]

A Central scenario assumes the status quo whereby current federal and state government policies are allowed to continue unchanged and market forces determine growth in use of renewable sources of energy. Under this scenario FTE jobs would drop from 26,000 currently to around 15,000 in the mid-2020s and would not substantially recover to the 2020 level until around the mid-2030s.[46] The expectation that employment would fall under the Central scenario is based on a forecast hiatus in the industry associated with low levels of new installation. Employment was then expected to remain flat for the next five years. However, the increase in renewable capacity and generation noted earlier in this report in 2021 would appear to contradict this prediction.

The Institute projects that around two thirds of FTE jobs generated in renewable energy between 2020 and 2035 could be in regional areas, with some variation between states and territories depending upon their technology mix.[47]

In terms of the ability of renewable energy to replace jobs that could be lost in coal mining and electricity generation using fossil fuels in regional areas the authors’ state:

… renewable energy cannot replace the loss of jobs in coal mining - but the sector can play a meaningful role in creating alternative employment within a wider regional industry development strategy that builds a range of industries as the coal sector declines.[48]

Regions that mine metallurgical coal for steel production are likely to be less vulnerable to job loss than regions involved in mining thermal coal. However, the emergence of steel making technologies that are less reliant on metallurgical coal are likely to have an impact on demand for coal mining into the future. The Institute suggests the growth of ‘green steel’ technologies and electric arc furnaces in South-East Asia could reduce demand for metallurgical coal over time.[49]

In terms of additional data sources for employment in the renewable energy sector the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources is conducting a national energy workforce survey which will shed light on the types of jobs that exist in the energy sector, and the characteristics and skills of people working in the sector. The first survey of businesses in the energy sector is expected to be undertaken at the end of January 2023, with the findings being used to produce the Australian Energy Employment Report (AEER).[50]

Conclusion

There are a several estimates available for employment in coal mining using different data sources. Some sources show employment in the coal mining industry has fallen substantially since its most recent peak.[51] In contrast, ABS Census data shows employment growth of just under 7% between 2016 and 2021.

The prospects for employment in coal mining are uncertain despite the likelihood of continued strong global demand for metallurgical coal used in steel making. Much will depend on the strength of demand for thermal coal in the short to medium term as Australia and other countries make decisions on their preferred energy mix between fossil fuels and renewables.

ABS data shows a significant fall in direct FTE employment in renewable energy activities between 2011–12 and 2015–16, but a strong recovery in the following three years to 2018–19 in response to the building of large scale solar and wind farms and high rates of take up of rooftop solar PV. However, employment estimates for 2018-19 were the last to be published by the ABS using this data source.

ABS Census data shows strong growth in employment in renewable energy electricity generation between 2016 and 2021, with an increase of just over 1,600 or 81.3%. In comparison, employment in electricity generation using fossil fuels fell by 1,435 or 17.8%.

There is potential for further growth in rooftop solar as the cost of producing solar panels continues to fall, as batteries and other enabling technologies improve, and in response to policy initiatives aimed at encouraging households to install rooftop solar. The rate of rooftop installations in future is also likely to respond to future changes in retail electricity prices.[52]

Prospects for increased employment in the renewable electricity generation sector will continue to be heavily influenced by the level of government support for the sector in the future and the rate of transition away from the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation.

Appendix

ABS Methodology for calculating renewable energy employment

The following information is taken from the methodology for the ABS publication Employment in Renewable Energy Activities.

Direct employment in renewable energy activities is related to the production of renewable energy, and/or by the design, construction and/or maintenance of renewable energy infrastructure.

The ABS used a range of techniques in compiling these employment estimates including sourcing information from annual reports, media reports and industry associations. The ABS also used employment numbers provided directly by institutions and organisations as well as an employment factor approach in deriving their estimates.

The employment factor approach looks at the amount of potential renewable energy produced by different sources as well as the generation infrastructure including the size and number of installations in determining employment estimates. Size is the amount of energy generated as measured in megawatts (MWs) for aggregated roof-top units, larger scale wind and solar operations. Employment factors indicate the number of annual direct full-time jobs created per physical unit of choice, for example, numbers of annual FTE employees created per megawatt (MW) of installed capacity of wind power. It is an estimation technique that has been used internationally to generate employment numbers associated with renewable energy activities

It could be assumed that the installation of more units on roofs of houses by small and medium-sized contractors or construction of large solar and wind generating plants will result in greater direct employment during the installation or construction phase.

Employment estimates for solar and wind sources of renewable energy relied heavily on the employment factor approach whereas all other forms of renewable energy generation rely on publicly available information from the producers themselves.

An additional renewable energy activity covered by employment estimates is employees of government bodies and non-profit institutions (NPIs). The ABS considers the estimates published are likely to understate the true levels of renewable energy employment within government and NPIs. It is likely that a significant number of these entities employ people engaged in work directly related to renewable energy. For example, more accurate estimates could include local council employees that develop and administer guidelines related to rooftop solar systems, or employees of state government agencies that manage environmental aspects of wind farm proposals.

Some government and NPI employees are engaged in climate change related work such as climate change policy development, advice, training and inter-disciplinary collaboration. Although renewable energy is a central consideration of climate change policy, these employees are not specifically engaged in renewable energy activities and are excluded from the FTE estimates provided by the ABS. However, the estimates do include research and development activities related to renewable energy undertaken by universities, often in partnership with outside entities.

• References

  [1]    Original data are estimates that have not been seasonally adjusted or trended.

  [2].   Coal Services is a health and safety scheme that provides services to identify, assess, monitor and control risks in workplaces in the NSW coal mining industry.

  [3]    Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Resources and Energy Quarterly, December 2022, p. .57 and p. 69.

  [4]    Australian Bureau of Statistic (ABS), International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia, Tables 1 and 12b.

  [5]    Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Resources and Energy Quarterly, December 2022, p. .50 and p. 60.

  [6]    Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Resources and energy quarterly: December 2022 – historical data [XLSX], table 24 (2).

  [7].   Australian Bureau of Statistic (ABS), Australian System of National Accounts (Canberra: ABS, 2021), Table 5.

  [8].   IVA is an estimate of the difference between the market value of the output of an industry and the purchases of materials and expenses incurred in the production of that output.

  [9].   Australian Bureau of Statistic (ABS), Australian Industry, (Canberra, ABS, 2022), Table 3. Selected industries exclude Finance and insurance and government enterprises.

  [10] The Labour Account employment estimates are balanced annual estimates to the end of June of each year.

  [11] Australian Bureau of Statistic (ABS), Labour Account, (Canberra, ABS, 2022).

  [12]  The Labour Account draws on data from the Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product; Quarterly Business Indicators Survey (QBIS); Economic Activity Survey (EAS); Survey of Employment and Earnings (SEE); Labour Force Survey (LFS); Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours (EEH) and Linked Employer-Employee Database (LEED).

  [13]. The industry classification for coal mining is taken from the ABS Australia and New Zealand Industry Classification (ANZSIC). Coal mining consists of business units engaged in open-cut or underground mining of black or brown coal.

  [14]. Balanced estimates result from incorporating data sourced from businesses and households.

  [15]. Original estimates are the actual estimates the ABS derives from the survey data. These estimates have not had a seasonal adjustment process applied to remove the effects of systematic calendar related patterns or been smoothed using a trending process. The moving 4 quarter average is used to smooth out volatility from quarter to quarter.

  [16]. ABS, Labour Force, Australia methodology, (Canberra: ABS, 2022).

  [17] Deloitte Access Economics, Economic effects of changes to labour hire laws, June 2019, p. 29.

  [18] Based on 4 quarter moving averages of original estimates from the ABS Labour Force Survey.

  [19]. ABS, Australian Industry, (Canberra: ABS, 2022). The data series uses a combination of data collected directly from the annual Economic Activity Survey (EAS) conducted by the ABS, and Business Activity Statement (BAS) data provided by businesses to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

  [20]  ABS, Census of Population and Housing, (Canberra: ABS, 2016 and 2021), by Place of Work (the geographic area in which a person worked in the week before Census night), using TableBuilder.

  [21] ABS, Census of Population and Housing, (Canberra: ABS, 2016 and 2021), using TableBuilder.

  [22]  ABS, Census of Population and Housing, (Canberra: ABS, 2016 and 2021), by Place of Work, using TableBuilder.

  [23]. The Jobs in Australia data series draws on the Linked Employer-Employee Dataset (LEED), which is built using ATO administrative data linked to ABS Business Longitudinal Analytical Data Environment (BLADE).

  [24] Resources Safety and Health Queensland, Qld quarterly mine and quarry safety data.

  [25] Coal Services Annual Report, 2020-21, p. 35.

  [26]  Production employment includes working proprietors and persons engaged as employees of the operator of the mine. The estimates also include employees of contractors undertaking work relating to coal production, coal preparation, overburden removal; drivers transporting coal from the mine to a preparation plant; and people engaged in administration/clerical work at the mine site.

  [27] Place of Work records the geographic area in which a person worked in the week before Census night.

  [28] ‘About us’, Hydro Tasmania.

  [29] The Snowy Scheme’, Snowy Hydro.

  [30] Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Australian Energy Update 2022 data for charts, Figure 18.

  [31] Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Australian Energy Update 2022 data for charts, Figure 15.

  [32] Bagasse is the dry pulpy fibrous material that remains after crushing sugarcane or sorghum stalks to extract their juice. It is used as a biofuel in the production of heat, energy, and electricity, and in the manufacture of pulp and building materials.

  [33] Biogas is produced from the anaerobic (oxygen free) digestion (or degradation) of organic matter. It can be made from a large variety of organic resources, including industrial waste, agricultural waste, energy crops, sludge from waste water treatment and biowaste. Biogas is a source of energy that can be converted into heat or electricity.

  [34]  Clean Energy Council, Clean Energy Australia Report 2022, (Melbourne: Clean Energy Council, 2022), p. 10.

  [35] Clean Energy Council, Clean Energy Australia Report 2022, (Melbourne: Clean Energy Council, 2022), p. 19.

  [36]. ABS, Australia and New Zealand Industry Classification (ANZSIC), (Canberra: ABS, 2013).

  [37]. Other electricity generation aggregates together Biomass electricity generation not elsewhere classified (nec), Electricity generation nec, Geothermal electricity generation, Solar electricity generation, Tidal electricity generation and Wind electricity generation.

  [38]. ABS, Employment in Renewable Energy Activities, Australia, (Canberra: ABS, 2020).

  [39]. ABS, Employment in Renewable Energy Activities, Australia methodology, (Canberra: ABS, 2020).

  [40]  ‘Postcode data for small-scale installations’, Small-scale installations by installation year, Clean Energy Regulator.

  [41]. C. Briggs, J. Rutovitz, E. Dominish and K. Nagrath, Renewable Energy Jobs in Australia: Stage 1, report prepared for the Clean Energy Council by the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), (Sydney: UTS, 2020).

  [42] A Step change is defined in business or politics as a significant change in policy or attitude.

  [43]. Briggs et al, p. 22.

  [44]  Briggs et al, p. 4.

  [45]  Briggs et al, p. 4.

  [46]  Briggs et al, p. 4.

  [47]. Briggs et al, p. 39.

  [48]. Briggs et al, p. 42.

  [49]. Briggs et al, p. 42.

  [50]. J. Rutovitz, D. Visser, S Sharpe, H. Taylor, K. Jennings, A. Atherton, C. Briggs, F. Mey, S. Niklas, A. Bos, S. Ferraro, F. Mahmoudi, S. Dwyer, D. Sharp, and G. Mortimer, Developing the future energy workforce: Opportunity assessment for RACE for 2030, (Sydney: UTS, 2021), p. 10.

  [51]. The ABS Australian Industry publication shows a decline in coal mining employment of 17.1% between June 2014 and June 2021, the ABS Labour Account shows a fall of 26.2% between 2013-14 and 2021-22, and the ABS Labour Force survey shows a fall of 20.1% between May 2014 and November 2022.

  [52]. R. Best, P. Burke and S. Nishitateno, Evaluating the effectiveness of Australia’s Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme for rooftop solar, (working paper, 1903, Centre for Climate and Energy Policy, Australian National University, Canberra, 2019), p. 2

• Licence

  © Commonwealth of Australia

  

  Creative Commons

  With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, and to the extent that copyright subsists in a third party, this publication, its logo and front page design are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia licence.

  In essence, you are free to copy and communicate this work in its current form for all non-commercial purposes, as long as you attribute the work to the author and abide by the other licence terms. The work cannot be adapted or modified in any way. Content from this publication should be attributed in the following way: Author(s), Title of publication, Series Name and No, Publisher, Date.

  To the extent that copyright subsists in third party quotes it remains with the original owner and permission may be required to reuse the material.

  Inquiries regarding the licence and any use of the publication are welcome to webmanager@aph.gov.au.

• Disclaimer

  This work has been prepared to support the work of the Australian Parliament using information available at the time of production. The views expressed do not reflect an official position of the Parliamentary Library, nor do they constitute professional legal opinion.

  For copyright reasons some linked items are only available to members of Parliament. All links are correct at the time of publication and are not subsequently updated.

  Any concerns or complaints should be directed to the Parliamentary Librarian at webmanager@aph.gov.au. Parliamentary Library staff are available to discuss the contents of publications with Senators and Members and their staff. To access this service, clients may contact the author or the Library‘s Central Entry Point for referral.

Related

Research Paper

Index of Victoria Cross recipients by electorate

By Bridget Moloney, Amber Kelleher, Teresa Ho

58 min read

Quick Guide

Military anniversaries 2025: a quick guide

By Melissa George

17 min read

Quick Guide

Anzac Day 2025 – Military history online resources: a quick guide

By Nicole Brangwin, Matthew O’Farrell

10 min read