Boom Time in Mining Regions of Western Australia

If there was one word that could be used to sum up Western Australia’s current resources boom it would be “big”.

To enable an in-depth view of the impact of mining in Western Australia, a report done by a well-known financial institution in Australia focused on three regions within Australia; northern WA, central QLD and the NSW Hunter Valley.

Using anonymised electronic salary payments data, the report showed that workers in the featured resources areas of Northern WA receive monthly salary payments up to 62 per cent higher than the national average.

In fact, salaries in the WA mining industry are 13 per cent higher than other mining areas around Australia. The salaries are compensation for some particularly difficult conditions up North, including long shifts which often rotate between night and day, extreme climate and being away from their family and friends.

The cost of living is also higher in northern WA than that of other areas. For instance, in the Fortescue region of Western Australia, the asking price for weekly rent on a one-bedroom unit in De Grey can top $1000.

Money spent on fuel and telecommunications is also higher with the Fortescue are in WA 1.6 times the national monthly average.