Minerals Tertiary Education Council

Established by the MCA, MTEC works with industry, universities and vocational education providers to strengthen education and training pathways that develop the skills and capabilities required by the industry’s future workforce.

This includes longstanding support for mining engineering, metallurgy and minerals geoscience, alongside broader initiatives that help develop the industry’s future workforce.

These highly successful long-standing programs include:

The Indigenous Australian Engineering Schools program

The MCA has been a foundation sponsor of the Indigenous Australian Engineering School program for more than 20 years. By exposing Indigenous secondary school students to the employment opportunities in engineering, the schools program has seen incredible success.

Ninety-eight per cent of students in the program complete their year 12 studies, with 25 per cent going on to study a STEM course at university.

The Metallurgical Education Partnership (MEP)

MCA continues to support metallurgical education through targeted investment, industry engagement and collaboration with university partners.

Current activity includes support for the MEP workshop, which gives metallurgy students the opportunity to work with industry professionals on applied design and problem-solving activities, as well as broader work with Curtin University to strengthen industry engagement, curriculum alignment and the long-term sustainability of metallurgy education pathways.

Supporting innovative pilot programs

Since 2020, a number of innovative pilot programs have also been supported by MTEC. These include:

Minerals Industry Experience Program

The Minerals Industry Experience Program, known as MiEX, is a national, industry-led program designed to build the future pipeline of minerals professionals by engaging first-year university students enrolled in STEM degrees.

The program connects students to the industry through a paid, immersive two-week experience with the goal of encouraging future study and careers in the minerals industry. Since its launch, MiEX has successfully delivered multiple student cohorts.

Mining Engineering Curriculum Pilot and Industry Liaison Coordinators

The MCA partnered with Curtin University to strengthen mining engineering education through curriculum renewal, stronger industry engagement and work-integrated learning opportunities.

The success of the initiative led to the establishment of Industry Liaison Coordinator positions at Curtin University, with the model subsequently expanded to the University of Queensland and Central Queensland University. The approach is now being applied to other disciplines, including metallurgy.

A new Associate Engineering Degree course

In response to a shortage for mining engineers the MCA partnered with Central Queensland University and University of Southern Queensland to develop an Associate Engineering Degree course as a pathway for para-professional engineers to assist mining engineers.

The new course included new modules on Automation in Mining, Sensors and Data in Mining, Sustainability in Mining and Resource Geology.

The course has seen a 60 per cent increase in enrolments across both universities and is available through Central Queensland Universities campuses in Perth and Greater Western Australia.