Data from the most recent Australian Institute of Geoscientists employment survey put the unemployment rate among Australian geoscientists during the December quarter at 14.4%, while under-employment was at 18.8%.

These were both higher than the figures recorded in the September quarter, at 13.9% and 18.8% respectively, but lower than the 19.5% unemployment and 23.4% under-employment rates recorded during the March quarter.

With more than half of Australia’s self-employed geoscientists unable to secure more than one quarter of their desired workload during the October-December period, AIG said the “real unemployment rate” may have been even higher at 24.5%, up slightly from the 24.2% recorded at the end of September 2016.

AIG Council member Andrew Waltho said the figures demonstrated that exploration in Australia had remained flat through to the end of 2016.

“Improved prices for mineral commodities during 2016 have not translated into increased exploration investment and project pipeline renewal,” he said.

“Hopefully, the survey results reflect a seasonal pause in the gradual recovery of employment opportunities for geoscientists but, equally, the results may show that the recovery being talked about in the Australian resources sector remains fragile.”

Waltho added that improved access to land for low-impact reconnaissance exploration had featured prominently in member recommendations for what might be done to catalyse exploration in Australia.

“Reduced red-tape associated with securing equitable and considered access to land for exploration would dramatically improve the attractiveness and productivity of exploration investment, contributing to resource discovery,” he said.

“Almost half of Australia’s geoscientists work for mid-tier and junior exploration and mining companies that continue to struggle in an environment where investment is difficult to attract and access to land for any form of exploration continues to be difficult.”

The highest rates of unemployment and under-employment were evident in South Australia, where unemployment had gotten worse, Queensland and New South Wales and the ACT.

Unemployment had worsened in Western Australia and Queensland but remained static in Victoria, while under-employment was higher in every state but WA.

Long-term unemployment also remained an issue, with more than 56% of unemployed and under-employed geoscientists having been without work for more than 12 months, down by less than 2% from the previous survey.

Of these, 49% said that they were not confident of regaining their desired level of employment within the next 12 months and almost 34% said they were seeking employment in another field, with a third of those seeking to leave their profession permanently.

Yet among geoscientists in employment, one in 10 returned to work after a period of unemployment or under-employment between September and December 2016.

AIG collected the data from a survey of its members, with 485 responses were received – a figure AIG said was lower than previous surveys but that reflected the time of year.