AREEA celebrates the enormous contribution of David Young, who was the group’s Chief Executive Officer from 1966-1982 and passed away peacefully on Thursday aged 95.

Mr Young joined AREEA in 1955, eleven years prior to becoming CEO, and was a key figure in the group’s significant expansion in the second half of the 20^th Century.

First joining AREEA in its Melbourne head office, Mr Young assisted members operating ports, manufacturing and mining operations in regions including Newcastle, greater Sydney and Broken Hill.

He then opened an AREEA office in Brisbane with three staff members, servicing increased demand from Queensland’s booming mining sector including in Mt Isa, Mount Morgan, Weipa and Mary Kathleen.

Not long after, AREEA opened another office in Perth and cemented itself as the industrial relations service provider of choice to Australia’s emerging oil and gas, and iron ore mining sectors.

When Mr Young retired in 1982 after 27 years’ service, he had overseen AREEA’s growth from a handful of industrial officers in the mid-1950s, to a national industry association of significant influence and more than 40 staff.

Mr Young recalls this period fondly in AREEA’s 2018 Centenary Video (see 3:15 to 4:10).

Two years prior, he also featured in a Resource People article reflecting on the organisation’s growth and working in the Australian resources industry.

“My function changed greatly from being entirely hands-on and sitting with the blokes to try and assess their claims, to a more strategic and management role,” he said.

“There are certainly a few highlights from my time as AREEA CEO. The mining industry overall is a very attractive place to work.

“It’s made up of people who like to work in different circumstances and get away from the ‘humdrum’ of other jobs.

“There’s certainly something special about it.”