This study presents the findings from the first large-scale survey of renewable energy employment in Australia. The renewable industry is an important source of employment in Australia. The industry has reported skill shortages but found a lack of data on renewable energy employment an impediment to workforce planning. Consequently, the Clean Energy Council commissioned the Institute for Sustainable Futures to undertake a survey of employment in renewable energy.

Key findings:

1. Renewable energy will be a major source of jobs in the medium-term – but there are different short-term trajectories for employment under Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) scenarios.
2. Renewable energy creates employment across a diverse range of occupations, led by trades and technicians, labourers and professionals.
3. Renewable energy could create around 45,000 jobs led by rooftop solar and wind farms. An increasing proportion of these jobs would be on-going employment, primarily in regional areas.
4. Renewable energy creates more jobs than current employment in the domestic coal sector - and under growth scenarios, renewable energy employment is comparable to current employment in all coal mining.