The Australian Mines and Metals Association's Resources and Energy Workforce Forecast 2021-2026 details operational labour demand required for the 98 projects either committed or considered likely by the federal Department of Industry to be built in that period.
Those projects are spread across the mining and oil and gas sectors.
Forecast mining occupations include 9223 plant operators, 3014 heavy diesel fitters and 4484 engineers, geologists and other technical roles.
"The Department of Industry's recent major projects report noted investment in the resources and energy industry had entered a new growth cycle," AMMA chief executive Steve Knott said.
"The forecast for more than 24,400 new operational-phase employees is highly conservative.
"It only factors in projects either already committed or very close to receiving final investment decision.
"When considering the construction workforces required to build these projects and the flow-on effects through the supply chain, it's reasonable to expect the true impacts of this investment pipeline to be well over 50,000 jobs."
The modelling shows the national resources and energy workforce will experience 10% growth in direct employment over the next six years, exceeding 260,000 employees for the first time since February 2014.
As of August, Australia's resources industry employed 240,500 people.
Knott said it was positive to see investment and employment growth driven by an array of commodities, including coal, gold, LNG, iron ore and a variety of other metals and critical minerals.
State-by-state analysis shows Western Australia will have the greatest resources and energy workforce demand, with 47 projects requiring 11,628 operational employees by the end of 2026.
Queensland will need 6240 additional resources and energy employees for its 20 projects. Half those projects are in coal.
New South Wales also has strong growth potential with 20 projects in its pipeline with the need for another 4850 operational workers.
"The data shows huge opportunity for Australia's resources and energy industry to lead the country's economy and labour market out of the COVID-19 recession," Knott said.
"But the industry needs long overdue regulatory reform to help in securing these opportunities.
"Last week the Productivity Commission released its Resources Sector Regulation report, identifying a large range of areas where regulatory processes can be streamlined and unnecessary barriers to investment removed.
"The federal government also introduced into parliament an industrial relations reform bill containing a number of hugely beneficial, job-creating improvements to Australia's employment laws.
"The most obvious reform of huge benefit to future major resources and energy projects is that of Project Life Greenfields Agreements, offering stable industrial relations arrangements for the full length of a major project construction phase.
"The importance of this reform to securing final investment decision on new major projects cannot be overstated.
"This simple improvement will make a massive difference to getting the $84 billion worth of advanced projects and their potential to bring more than 24,400 new jobs over the line.
"It will also work wonders for the 197 additional major resources and energy projects in Australia's investment pipeline considered too early in development stages for inclusion in AMMA's report."
