Western Australia’s resources sector supports more jobs outside the state than inside.
For every one WA job in the resources sector, up to 4.4 jobs are supported elsewhere in Australia.
This is one of the key findings of the latest Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre report on WA’s resources sector in transition.
The report uses a multiregional input-output (MRIO) model called AusRIO, which shows how industries across Australia are connected.
The model shows how changes in one sector of the economy affect supply chains and household spending in 15 regions of Australia.
The modelling finds that WA’s resources sector supports substantial employment across sectors and states, with between 2.9 and 4.4 additional jobs supported across Australia for each resources job in WA.
Most mining happens in WA and most of the value added stays in WA.
However, many of the jobs created through supply chain and household spending relationships map across the nation. This is because mining relies heavily on machinery and equipment rather than a large workforce. The flow-on spending from mining creates many jobs in other industries and states.
These flow-on effects are highly consequential, yet standard regional statistics are not well suited to capture them.
Mining companies purchase equipment, transport, engineering, finance, software and professional services from businesses across Australia.
Workers, both directly and indirectly employed, also spend their incomes on everyday goods and services, supporting additional jobs throughout the economy.
This means when a mine expands in the Pilbara, more value is generated in WA and employment expands.
But the impact doesn’t stop there.
Manufacturers in Victoria receive new orders, engineering firms in Adelaide win contracts, consultants in Sydney are engaged, and workers across Australia receive increased wages they then spent in local businesses.
These incomes then flow through the economy disproportionately towards large metropolitan hubs such as Sydney and Melbourne.
Much of this activity is classified under services, trade or manufacturing in national accounts and not resources, which is part of why the scale of the flow-on effects is easy to miss using standard regional economic statistics.
In Sydney and Melbourne, for instance, resources-supported employment shows up almost entirely as services and trade activity, with next to no activity captured under the resources classification itself.
That pattern looks very different in Perth, where direct resources employment is the dominant component.
These findings have implications for national policy debates, including infrastructure investment, project approvals. This is because energy policy decisions affecting WA’s resources sector do not only affect this state, but influence employment and economic activity across the country.
They are also relevant to debates over GST distribution, where WA’s contribution to the sector is assessed in isolation from the interstate employment and income it generates.
WA’s resources sector is in a period of transition, with its future shaped by global forces, including: the energy transition and net zero commitments; technological change; and shifts in trade and geopolitical alignment.
These forces are reshaping demand for what the state produces, from established exports such as iron ore to fast-growing ones including critical minerals and LNG.
Because our modelling shows resources-driven employment is distributed nationally rather than confined to WA, how these forces play out will not stay a WA story but will be felt in employment and economic activity across the country.
The lesson is straightforward: Australia’s resources sector may be predominantly in WA, but its economic footprint is national.
When the sector grows, businesses and workers across the country benefit.
When it contracts, the impacts are felt far beyond the mine gate.
Policymakers weighing decisions on approvals, infrastructure and energy for the sector should account for the benefits and risks that extend well beyond WA’s borders.
• Dr Matthew Lyons is a research fellow with the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre
