Indicator 6.5a: Direct and indirect employment in the forest sector (2024) - Supporting information

Three recent state-based studies of forest sector employment reported data on both direct and indirect employment. Indirect employment includes activities generated from direct employment, such as wholesale and retail trade; legal services; accounting; marketing and business services; motor vehicles; rail, pipeline and other transport services (parts, equipment, maintenance and repairs); electricity, gas and water supply; education; scientific research; technical and computer support; government administration; and media services. The ‘multiplier’ is the number of indirect jobs created by every direct job, and in the studies below the multiplier varies from 0.5 to 2.7, with a median value of 1.5. The data are presented as direct and indirect full-time equivalent jobs (FTEs), as some positions are part-time.

These studies are regionally specific rather than standardised regular publications, meaning the results cannot be compared across regions.

Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA 2022) estimated the economic contribution of the forestry industry in Western Australia for 2019-20, including direct and indirect employment for key forestry regions and resource types. Employment data were derived from industry surveys and ABARES Australian forest and wood product statistics datasets. This study found:

• the Western Australia forestry industry generated 1,960 direct FTEs and 2,697 indirect FTEs
• softwood plantations were the largest contributor to employment, generating 827 direct FTEs and 1,089 indirect FTEs
• hardwood plantations generated 606 direct FTEs and 1,121 indirect FTEs.

A study for the Green Triangle Forestry Industry Hub (ERC Economic and Financial Analysis 2022) measured the economic contribution of the South Australia forestry industry for 2019-20, and found:

• the South Australia forestry industry generated 6,442 direct FTEs and 12,118 indirect FTEs
• the largest subsector contributing to total employment was Other wood product manufacturing, generating 2,703 direct FTEs and 3,960 indirect FTEs
• Paper stationery and converted paper product manufacturing was the second largest contributor, with 1,640 direct FTEs and 4,405 indirect FTEs.

A study of the New South Wales hardwood sector prepared for the North East NSW Forestry Hub (EY 2023) found:

• the New South Wales hardwood industry generated 5,920 direct FTEs and 2,980 indirect FTEs
• most indirect jobs generated are in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, followed by the transport, postal and warehousing sector.

ABARES (2023). Australian plantation statistics 2023 update, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra, August. CC BY 4.0. doi.org/10.25814/hhk8-4x26

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2021). Census of Population and Housing, Census TableBuilder, accessed 25 July 2023. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra.

ERC Economic and Financial Analysis (2022). Economic Contribution Study of the SA Forestry Industry. Report prepared for the Green Triangle Forestry Industry Hub in collaboration with the South Australian Forest Products Association.

EY (2023). Economic Contribution Study of the NSW hardwood timber industry. Prepared by Ernst and Young for the North East NSW Forestry Hub.

FWPA (2022). Economic contribution of the forestry industry to Western Australia. Prepared for Forest and Wood Products Australia by BDO EconSearch.