In a statement, the Independent Commission Against Corruption announced a court attendance notice was served on Mr Macdonald on Thursday on the advice of the NSW director of public prosecutions.

Last year the ICAC found Mr Macdonald acted corruptly as a minister in 2008 by granting a licence at Doyles Creek to a company then headed by former union official John Maitland.

The company, Doyles Creek Mining, was later taken over by NuCoal Resources. Mr Maitland made millions of dollars from the deal.

The ICAC found Mr Macdonald awarded the exploration licence - without tender and against departmental advice - to his "mate" Mr Maitland, a former national secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.

The court notice says that Mr Macdonald "did in the course of, and connected to his public office, wilfully misconduct himself" by granting Doyles Creek Mining consent to apply for exploration licences "without reasonable cause or justification".

The ICAC has also announced Mr Maitland is being prosecuted "for two counts of being an accessory before the fact to misconduct in public office, in relation to aiding, abetting, counselling and procuring the commission of the two offences by Mr Macdonald".

He is also being prosecuted for giving false and misleading evidence to the ICAC.

The announcement represents the first time prosecutions have been launched against key players in a series of major corruption inquiries into the handling of coal licences held by the ICAC involving Mr Macdonald and former Labor minister Eddie Obeid.

The ICAC has also indicated more prosecutions could flow from its inquiry into Doyles Creek, codenamed Operation Acacia.

The businessmen who bankrolled Doyles Creek Mining, Craig Ransley and Andrew Poole, were also found to have acted corruptly by the ICAC last year.

The ICAC found Mr Ransley, Mr Maitland and Mr Poole deliberately set out to ensure they did not face a public tender for the licence and made false statements to the government to obtain the exploration approval.

"The Commission is awaiting advice from the DPP in relation to further briefs it has provided with respect to Operation Acacia," the statement said on Thursday.

Premier Mike Baird welcomed the announcement, saying it was "about time".

"We are all pleased ICAC has done its work," he said.

"Obviously it exposes [corruption] but it also needs to get on and support prosecutions and that's what we're seeing. We welcome that development this morning and we hope it continues".

The Doyles Creek licence has been "torn up" by the NSW government on the advice of the ICAC, prompting legal action by NuCoal which has flagged it is seeking compensation of "at least" $500 million.