How should the authority take account of climate science and Australia’s international obligations in considering possible emissions reductions targets for 2035?

How should the authority weight the goals of ambition and achievability in considering possible emissions reductions targets for 2035?

AUSMASA acknowledges Australia's coal industry, in particular, will come under increasing pressure as the world acts to reduce emissions based on well-established climate science. For example, the International Energy Agency's Net Zero by 2050 Roadmap calls for no additional final investment decisions for new unabated coal plants, for the least efficient plants to be phased out by 2030, and for any plants still in use by 2040 to retrofitted. Source: International Energy Agency, Net Zero by 2050 - A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector, released May 21.

AUSMASA agrees with the Authority’s assessment that, as Australia fossil fuel exports decline, there are risks that other nations may ‘fill the gap’ by increasing their exports. Source: Climate Change Authority. 2035 Emissions Reduction Targets. 2024. 

While this would lead to emissions largely beyond Australia’s control, we agree that the Authority should account for them when considering our international obligations and potential emissions reduction targets. 

How can Australia further support other countries to decarbonise and develop sustainably?

Given AUSMASA's remit to support Australian employers, unions, and governments to find solutions to domestic skills and workforce challenges, we consider that this question is largely outside of our role as a Jobs and Skills Council. 

What technologies are important for each sector’s pathway to net zero and why?

Projects for VAM and electric hydrogen/powered haulage are key technologies for the mining and automotive sectors' transition to net zero. As outlined earlier, because employing these and similar technologies would reduce the two largest sources of scope 1 emissions from mining.

In addition, technologies that facilitate the transition from diesel to electric/hydrogen-powered trucks, vehicles, and other equipment are important to both the mining and automotive sectors’ wider transition. 

How can governments use mandates, rules, and standards to accelerate Australia’s decarbonisation? Is more planning by governments needed? If so, how should this be coordinated, and how can this be done while making the transition inclusive, adaptive, and innovative?

How can governments stimulate private finance needed for the net zero transition – are there innovative instruments that could be deployed or new business models that governments could support? Is there a bigger role for governments to play in coordinating the investment needed to transition the economy?

How can governments better support markets, including carbon markets, to deliver emissions reduction outcomes? 

An appropriate balance of government planning, coordination, and private investment is needed for the mining and automotive workforces’ transition. Private and publicly stimulated investment has already brought ‘dividends’ in the form of new projects for VAM and electric hydrogen/power. 

However, successful prototypes and demonstration projects must be deployable at scale to meaningfully reduce emissions; which is where government planning and coordination may be required. For example, government could ensure that training for the mining and automotive workforces is sufficiently generic and standardised to support the deployment of a range of different emissions reduction solutions. 

Of note, AUSMASA has already partnered with the government to establish Australia's first TAFE EV Centre of Excellence alongside Tesla and Komatsu. Such partnerships on Automotive Industry Retail, Service and Repair (AUR) training packages are an important model for collaboration that can prepare trainees and apprentices to work on a range of emissions reduction solutions. 

What further actions can be taken by governments (e.g. through public funding), the private sector and households to accelerate emissions reductions, including in relation to the deployment of technologies and access to new opportunities in the transition to net zero? What barriers stand in the way and how could they be overcome?

How should governments decide upon the appropriate allocation of resources towards reducing emissions, removing carbon from the atmosphere, and adapting to climate change impacts?

Unlike AUR training packages, which include TAFE providers and utilise government funding, all coal-specific RII training packages are delivered by private registered training organisations; and, almost all (92%) are delivered under fee-for service arrangements (i.e., without government funding). 

As a result, the government may have fewer funding or other levers available to accelerate how coal-specific RII training packages engage with the deployment of emissions-reducing technologies. If this became a barrier to government-initiated actions, one solution may be direct partnerships between government and employers for certain training packages, which an organisation like AUSMASA could work to facilitate.
In relation to allocating resources, the only other important point AUSMASA would re-emphasise is that the scalable deployment of any prototype technology or project requires a suitably skilled workforce. 

How can governments, businesses and people, including First Nations people, help ensure the benefits and burdens of the net zero transition are equitably shared?

How can governments better ensure First Nations people are empowered to play a leading role in the development and implementation of climate change policies and actions, including as they relate to the ongoing curation of the Indigenous estate? 

How can Australian governments support the wellbeing of workers, communities and regions as the nation decarbonises, including in relation to cost of living, workforce and industry transition and access to low emissions technologies and services? 

How can governments help Australians prepare for and respond to the impacts of climate change? 

AUSMASA agrees that a ‘just transition’ must be central to Australia’s transition to net zero. This concept recognises that the impacts of climate change and climate adaptations, including their benefits and burdens, must be shared equitably. 

While this creates a role for all Australians in the transition to net zero, it also needs to reflect the unique place of First Nations Australians. As outlined in the Issues Paper, First Nations people work in emissions-intensive industries at a higher rate (3.4%) than average (1.9%), while working in clean energy at the average rate (1.4%). Source: Climate Change Authority. Issues paper: Targets, Pathways and Progress. 2024. 

More specifically, more First Nations people work in coal mining (5%) than mining overall (4.6%), which is also above their average for all industries (2.6%). The fact that the mining industry operates directly on the land of many First Nation peoples is also an important factor to consider here. 

As a result of this, and coal mining's role in fugitive emissions, there is a clear case for First Nations people to play a leading role in policies and actions for the coal industry’s transition (e.g., projects for reducing VAM and other mining emissions). 

With respect to governments, businesses, and communities' broader role in the transition, another important example of where they and First Nations can collaborate is transition packages. While the coal industry will use new technologies to change and adapt in some cases, in other cases workforces and communities will require support to transition away from coal entirely. The Western Australian government’s recently announced transition package for diversifying Collie’s economy from a dependence on the coal industry is one such example. Source: Western Australian Government. Collie Just Transition. 2023.

What else should the authority be considering in its advice to government?

It is important to note that many of the top occupations within the mining industry require a trade qualification, thereby being delivered via an apprenticeship and whose training package (and subsequent reporting) falls within the remit of other Jobs and Skills Councils. 

AUSMASA, therefore, encourages the Authority to use a joined-up system-level approach when considering the workforce and other issues arising from climate change and the transition to net zero.