Yahoo Finance Aussie miners reveal huge six-figure wages with no degree required: ‘Anyone can do it’
Some miners shared they are earning nearly six times the average Aussie income through the lucrative profession.
Several Aussie miners have openly revealed their enormous pay packets, with one sharing he was earning a whopping $300,000 a year. The good news is you don’t need to get a degree (or rack up huge student debt) to get into the jobs.
One Queenslander said she was earning between $130,000 to $140,000 as a fourth-year apprentice doing fitting and machining at a gold mine. Plus, she said her pay “goes up every year”.
Another Aussie shared he was making $158,000 a year as a FIFO electrical supervisor at a gold mine in the video shared by jobs app Getahead.
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Meanwhile, a FIFO construction manager earning $180,000 a year revealed there was “not a whole heap” of training required, aside from site-specific inductions and safety requirements.
Coal miners specifically can earn a huge amount, with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) revealing this week that the job was one of the most lucrative professions in Australia that doesn’t require a degree.
Coal miners earn an average salary of $130,033 per year, the tax office found. There are pathways through vocation education in mining and drilling, in addition to apprenticeships or traineeships.
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One Brisbane coal miner shared he was earning $160,000 a year in the job, while an underground coal miner shared he was making nearly $300,000. He works for himself and has been in the gig since he was 17.
“Anyone can do it. You just gotta get a Standard 11 first,” he said.
A Standard 11 is a mandatory induction course for people working in the Queensland coal mining industry that covers how to safely work in the mines. It costs around $650.
But while anyone can do it, he added the job was “dangerous” and did require him to go underground by up to one kilometre, which didn’t suit everyone.
10 highest paying jobs without degrees
Air traffic controllers were the highest-paying job without a degree, earning an average salary of $153,445 per year. Coal miners came in fourth place.
Air traffic controllers: $153,445 per year
Aeroplane pilots: $143,403
Train drivers: $132,430
Coal miner: $130,033
Helicopter pilots: $125,105
Railway signal operators: $124,767
Railway station managers: $115,264
Real estate agents: $112,815
Crane operators: $109,165
Auctioneer: $102,544
The ATO also revealed the most lucrative jobs overall. Surgeons again took the top place, earning an average of $460,356 per year.
Mining engineers, who do require a bachelor’s degree along with on-the-job experience, came in seventh place. They earn $214,365 per year on average.
For comparison, the average income was $72,327 while the median income (which strips out very high and low earners) was $53,041.
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