Trans-Civ managing director Paul Smith said non-skilled defence personnel who had proven ability to work in arduous conditions away from their families would be very suited to traineeships and apprenticeships in the mining industry.

“Approximately 5000 Australian defence people leave each year,” he told MiningNews.net sister publication International Longwall News.

“This number has remained consistent for the past five to 10 years.

“However, this is also set to significantly increase in the next 12 to 18 months when Australia withdraws troops from various places in the Middle East.

“This will be mainly due to knowing that once they have done their job for Queen and country, they are destined for more of the same old training without similar significant challenges coming up.

“They will be looking for that challenge in the mining and resource sector.”

Smith said many defence personnel had a high safety consciousness, were annually occupational health and safety-trained, reliable, drug-free and worked well in a team environment.

Some of the areas in which defence personnel specialise include logistics – supply chain, warehousing, inventory control, receipts and issues; maintenance – diesel fitting and mechanics; and transport – truck driving in all sizes, dangerous goods transportation and line haul.

“From a recruiting perspective, we have presented a case for employment of ex-Australian Defence staff to many of the larger resource sector organisations … which has on almost every occasion been met initially with enthusiasm and recognition of the advantages of ex-defence people to their business,” Smith said.

“We constantly get people telling us they are leaving defence to find a job in the mines.

“Many more try to get a job in the mines without coming to us.

"I’m certain what we experience is the tip of the iceberg.”