Hunter Valley Aboriginal students get an inside view of working in NSW mining

A group of Year 12 Aboriginal students from around the Hunter Valley and Central Coast recently had the unique opportunity to experience a careers in mining tour in the Upper Hunter Valley.

The trip, held at a Coal & Allied mine, gave the students a chance to see what life is like as a mining employee and provided them with information about the different career pathways into the industry.

The trip included a tour of the operations where students were given the opportunity to see a working mine and training equipment as well as presentations, and Q&A sessions, from a wide range of employees about their individual pathways into the industry.

The field trip was facilitated by Aboriginal Employment Strategy (AES), a national employment organisation, in partnership with NSW Minerals Council and Coal and Allied.
\’This two day ‘real life’ site familiarisation has meaningfully engaged young Aboriginal people to better understand the mining operation, the breadth of career opportunities and the rigours of the mining industry,” said Cate Sims, Coal & Allied Aboriginal Relations Specialist.

”This initiative is highly complementary to our Aboriginal Employment Strategy and a range of existing initiatives and partnerships across our business and local communities.  As such, we are very happy to be the first to support the visit,” said Ms Sims.

According to Danny Lester, CEO of the Aboriginal Employment Strategy, the trip was a positive step towards achieving careers for Aboriginal youth.

‘Our level of expectation has been exceeded from this visit, several participants are now considering a renewed vision for their career paths and all the participants have a better understanding of the variety of occupations and careers within the mining industry, it is not just about digging holes,” he said.
The two day program was designed in response to the recent agreement with the NSW Government to develop a plan for increasing Aboriginal participation in mining.

The NSW mining industry cares about the community and we’re working hard to help increase Aboriginal economic participation so that we can all share in the benefits that come from the responsible development of mining.

Initiatives such as the field trip will assist Aboriginal students learn about the various pathways into the industry.