RII20420 is the nationally recognised Certificate II in Underground Metalliferous Mining. It prepares you for work as a miner. It has been the current version on the national register since 2021, when it replaced RII20415. Employers posted about 939 miner jobs in June 2026, up 22% on a year earlier.
The signals behind this qualification are mixed, and both sides are worth weighing. Specifically: its main occupation is rated in national shortage, employment in its occupations is projected to grow through 2035 and national enrolments are falling. These are official statistics, not a promise about any individual's result.
Employers are advertising more of these roles than a year ago. Across Miner, about 939 jobs were advertised online in June 2026 (up 22% on a year earlier). Roughly 9,867 openings were advertised over the last 12 months, while 395 people enrolled in the qualification nationally in 2024. Enrolment counts people in training, not completions, so the two figures describe the pipeline and the market, not a job guarantee.
At least one occupation this qualification leads to is officially rated as in national shortage. In the 2025 Occupation Shortage List assessment, Driller is rated in national shortage; Miner is rated in shortage in regional areas; Shot Firer is rated not in shortage.
Employment in these occupations is projected to grow. Government projections put them at 64,100 workers in May 2025, 66,500 by May 2030 (up 3.8%) and 67,900 by May 2035 (up 5.8%).
Enrolments in this qualification are falling sharply. National enrolments fell from 595 in 2023, to 395 in 2024 (down 33.6%).
The register and the national framework set some of this. Providers set the rest.
State funding for RII20420 is being verified against official program lists.
Eligibility and student contributions vary by program and provider. The official state listing is the source of truth. In a subsidised place the government pays most of the tuition and you pay a co-contribution set by the program and provider.
No Get Course partner currently lists this qualification. Check the national register for organisations approved to deliver it, and remember that approval to deliver is a regulatory fact, not a recommendation. You can browse live courses from our partners and enquire today.
Browse coursesGet Course maps RII20420 to its occupations using the register’s own outcome wording, shown with ANZSCO codes (here, 7122) so the mapping can be checked. Job advertisement counts come from the Jobs and Skills Australia Internet Vacancy Index and count online ads, not vacancies filled. Enrolment counts come from NCVER Total VET Activity and count people in training, not completions. Outcome benchmarks marked “typical” are medians computed by Get Course across all qualifications at the same level in the same NCVER collection; they are derived figures, not official NCVER benchmarks. Funding rows appear only after verification against the official state program list. Source vintages: Occupation Shortage List 2025 assessment; NCVER Total VET Activity 2024 collection; employment projections May 2025 to May 2035 release; Jobs and Skills Australia Internet Vacancy Index latest month June 2026; register training.gov.au, synced 24 August 2026; register synced 29 Aug 2026. Page last updated 30 Aug 2026.