Ingrid Forshaw, Jamie Mitchell, Phillip Grant and Mark Galton were added to the Jim Comerford memorial wall at the Northern Mining and NSW Energy District office alongside 1800 mine workers who went to work and never came home.

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten likened their courage to the Australian men who fought for  freedom during World War I, saying they were ‘‘no less tragic ... no less meaningful’’ and their story was ‘‘no less central to the country we know and love.

‘‘More than 100 years before the shots of the First World War men and boys were mining coal beneath the soil of this nation,’’ he said.

‘‘The lives referred to behind me are just as full of quality and meaning as the ones that laid down their lives for their country in foreign countries.’’

Mr Shorten, the sixth ALP leader to speak at the ceremony, greeted the families of Mr Mitchell, Mr Grant and Ms Forshaw with his daughter and laid a wreath in their memory.

‘‘You do not walk alone today and you never will,’’ he told the families.

‘‘We are mates, we are family.’’

Ms Forshaw’s mother Sandra, sister Renee Malone, niece Lily, nephew Oliver, and brother-in-law Paul will never forget the ‘‘beautiful, fun-loving woman’’ whose absence has left a huge hole in their hearts.

The 38-year-old had been working at Ravensworth open-cut coalmine for 10 months when a 400-tonne dump truck crushed her four-wheel drive on November 30.

Mrs Malone said her sister had taken a job as a trainee dump truck driver after working in offices in Sydney.

‘‘It was the chance of doing something different and achieving the dream of having her own home,’’ she said.

‘‘It was a total change of life for her, she had hopes of getting a name for herself and living in a more rural area.

‘‘She was brave and willing to try a lot of things  ... She liked the camaraderie of the other fellows on the crew and the mateship.’’

Construction,Forestry, Mining and Energy Union district president Peter Jordan said it had been a tough year for the industry with three men killed and the first woman added to the memorial wall.

He said the death of Mr Mitchell and Mr Grant at the Austar coalmine in Paxton in April was a horrific tragedy, and the industry was rocked again in May when Mr Galton – a former Ulladulla Boardrivers Club president and Thiess Sedgman contractor – was killed working at a coal mine in Boggabri.

Mr Galton was crushed by an overhead steel beam while in the cabin of a cherry picker and died, leaving behind his wife and daughter.

Mr Jordan said the industry had to keep developing safety systems..

‘‘The coal industry must never be satisfied with the level of health and safety until there is never another name added to this wall,’’ he said.

‘‘The passage of time never truly diminished the grief of those affected by the loss of a loved one. An inquiry or an inquest may mark the end of proceedings for some but for the next of kin it will never be over.’’