Supporting up-to-date training for mine safety
Each month we are profiling one of our AUSMASA members and how they are supporting skills and workforce development.
If you are interested in being a part of our Member Spotlight series, please email membership@ausmasa.org.au for further details.
Tell us about your organisation. How do you support skills in mining and/or automotive?
QMRS has supported the Queensland mining industry since 1909 and is the state’s accredited provider of mines rescue training. Legislation requires 5% of an underground coal mine’s mine workforce to be trained through QMRS, making the Boonal, near Blackwater, and Dysart rescue stations a key component of emergency preparedness for both underground and surface coal mining operations across the Bowen Basin coalfield and surrounding regions.
The stations support more than 500 volunteer underground rescue and mine inertisation team members, with training delivered in realistic, high-risk environments aligned to Queensland’s mines safety requirements. The scale and ongoing use of the stations has contributed to QMRS progressing an additional training facility in Moranbah.
Why did you join AUSMASA?
Queensland Mines Rescue Service (QMRS) joined AUSMASA because membership aligns with our interests in shaping skills, training and workforce development in the mining industry.
- To influence national skills and workforce policy
AUSMASA is one of the Australian Government’s Jobs and Skills Councils (JSCs) for the mining and automotive sectors. It represents industry perspectives in the VET system and helps shape training products, workforce planning and policy. Being a member gives our organisation a seat at the table with industry, government and education sectors to influence how skills and workforce issues are addressed nationally. - To enhance training and capability outcomes
As QMRS focuses on emergency response, safety training and risk management in mining, joining AUSMASA allows us to:
- contribute to the development and review of national training packages (including RII mining training standards)
- ensure that emergency response qualifications and related competencies reflect real-world rescue and safety needs, and
- help guide the VET system so it delivers relevant, up-to-date training for our volunteers and the wider mining workforce. - To be part of broader industry collaboration
Membership offers networking, early access to research, consultations, and stakeholder events that bring together employers, educators and unions from across the mining sector. This helps QMRS stay connected to key workforce trends and future training needs, and allows us to represent a specialised training and safety perspective within wider industry workforce discussions.
How do you think AUSMASA membership has enabled you to influence national skills and workforce development?
In summary: QMRS joined AUSMASA to strengthen our voice in national skills and training policy, to help influence how mining rescue and emergency response qualifications are developed and delivered, and to collaborate with industry peers on workforce capability challenges across the Australian mining sector.
Drive positive change in your industry!
Join us and shape the future of workforce development in the mining and automotive sectors. As a member, your organisation will have a voice in national discussions alongside industry, peers, government and educators.
To find out how to become an AUSMASA member, visit our member page.