No qualifications, just drive and desire: New Acland coal mine hires

A Toowoomba region mine has hit a milestone of employing 250 full-time workers with the hopes of hiring another 50 in the coming months. Do you have what it takes?

New Acland Coal's recent new starters. Picture: (supplied)

A new group of fresh faced mine workers started at New Acland Mine as the company reaches the milestone of hiring 250 permanent full-time workers.

This year the mine increased their workforce by 150 full-time onsite employees, and with the hopes of hiring another 50 by the end of the next financial year, New Acland Mine general manager Dave O’Dwyer said.

“The starting salary under our EPA is $140,000 dollars a year for operators, it’s quite a lucrative industry to get into,” he said.

First of all people must be living in the area, be fit, with good communications skills, he said.

New Acland Coal's recent new starters. Picture: (supplied)

“They don’t have to have any qualifications and they can come from any background.”

The work can be demanding, with 12-hour night or day shift work with seven days on and seven days off, he said.

Thirty of the new 150 new workers employed this year were new to the industry, he said.

“We had school teachers, we had hairdressers, we have people that worked at banks and at Woolies.

“So to break into those roles, you don’t have to have any qualifications or experience, it’s about fit, and drive, and desire.”

The new hires come after the New Hope Group mine was given the green light after almost 15 years of controversy and protracted legal battles, and is still in ongoing court battles.

New Acland Mine general manager Dave O’Dwyer. Wednesday, October 30, 2024. Picture: Christine Schindler

While not yet working at full capacity, the mining group reported a net profit after tax of $475 million for the 2023-2024 financial year after increasing the coal production by 26 per cent.

While waiting on the land court process to go through, Mr O’Dwyer said they were treading cautiously about over-committing themselves.

“We want to reach 2.9 million tonnes (of coal) in this financial year, and that’s a big step up from the million tonnes last year,” he said.

The company was given the green light by the qld government to mine coal with licenses for water despite fresh legal ongoing battles with environmental groups.

“We do want to get back to the 5 million tonnes and we want to get back there as quick as we can,” Mr O’Dwyer said.

For more information about current job openings see here.

Originally published as No qualifications, just drive and desire: New Acland coal mine hires