Mining legacy: a void the size of Sydney Harbour

Opportunity: More than 13,500 jobs and $3.7billion in economic output could be generated in the Upper Hunter from post-mining rehabilitation and sustainable land use over the next two decades, a new report suggests.

Post mining voids covering an area the size of Sydney Harbour could be the lasting environmental legacy of coal mining in the Hunter, a new report has warned.

The report, After the coal rush, the clean up. A community blueprint to restore the Hunter, calls for an urgent overhaul of mine site rehabilitation and a greater share of coal royalties to assist the region's post mining transition.