If you are finishing school this year and university is not the plan, the official data has some good news. In 78 occupation groups, more workers hold a Certificate III or IV than any other level of qualification. The middle full-time pay across those jobs is $1,864 a week, and 26 of them pay more than the middle job where a degree is the usual qualification.
Source: ABS · JSA. Pay: ABS Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, via Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), median full-time weekly pay. Education: ABS Census 2021 via JSA. The 227 groups with both figures. How we check our facts
That does not mean a certificate always pays as well as a degree. The middle degree-led job still pays more, at $2,113 a week, a gap of $249. But the gap between certificate jobs themselves is far wider, about $2,542 a week from one end to the other. Which job you train for matters more than the level of the course.
How we worked this out
Our directory covers 264 occupation groups, and 227 of them have both a pay figure and an education profile. For each group we looked at the level of education that more workers hold than any other: Year 12, a Certificate III or IV, a diploma, a bachelor degree or a postgraduate degree. When the answer was a Certificate III or IV, we counted it as a certificate-led job. That gave 78 groups. Another 91 groups are degree-led.
Two cautions. The education profile shows what people in the job hold, not what employers require. And it comes from the 2021 Census, while the pay figures are from May 2025, so the two describe slightly different points in time.
Source: ABS · JSA. Education profiles: ABS Census 2021 via Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA). How we check our facts
Certificate jobs that pay $2,500 a week or more
13
certificate-led occupation groups have a middle full-time pay of $2,500 a week or more.
Source: ABS · JSA. Pay: ABS Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, via JSA. Median full-time weekly pay for each occupation group. How we check our facts
They include crane, hoist and lift operators on $3,411 a week, train and tram drivers on $3,001 and metal fitters and machinists on $2,606. Construction managers, a certificate-led group too, sit at $3,751.
Some of the better-known trades are close behind. Electricians earn a middle full-time pay of $2,191 a week, almost exactly the same as registered nurses at $2,192. Plumbers earn $1,990. On the national training register, the Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician is linked to the electrician occupation, and its course page lists the providers that can deliver it.
Source: ABS · JSA. Pay: ABS Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, via JSA. Median full-time weekly pay for each occupation group. How we check our facts
The spread inside certificate jobs is wide
Certificate-led pay runs from $1,209 a week for hairdressers to $3,751 for construction managers. In between, carpenters and joiners earn $1,760, motor mechanics $1,622, chefs $1,423 and education aides $1,342. Just over half of the certificate-led groups, 41 of 78, pay more than the middle of all 227 groups, which is $1,840 a week.
Source: ABS · JSA. Pay: ABS Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, via JSA. Median full-time weekly pay for each occupation group. How we check our facts
Who does the better-paid certificate jobs
There is a pattern worth knowing. In the certificate-led groups that pay more than $1,864 a week, women make up about 10% of workers. In the groups that pay $1,864 or less, women make up about 31%. All 13 of the groups paying $2,500 or more sit in the trades and construction or transport fields on this site, where few women work today. Education aides and hairdressers, where women make up more than three in four workers, sit lower.
Source: ABS · JSA. Pay: ABS Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, via JSA. Share of women: JSA occupation profiles, weighted by employment, groups with the figure. How we check our facts
Care work sits near the middle. Aged care support workers belong to the aged and disabled carers group, which is certificate-led, with a middle full-time pay of $1,761 a week. The register links the Certificate III in Individual Support to this occupation.
This is not a reason to rule any job in or out. It is a reason to look up the pay for the exact job you have in mind, rather than assume a certificate leads to one kind of wage.
Certificate jobs are still growing
The 78 certificate-led groups employ about 3.6 million people. Official projections add about 206,000 jobs to them by 2030, growth of 5.8%. That is a little below the 6.6% projected across all 227 groups, but it is still steady growth.
Source: JSA. Projections: JSA Employment Projections, May 2025 base. 2030 projection minus 2025 base. How we check our facts
Tip
Before you enrol, open the occupation page for the job you want and check three things: the full-time pay, how many people work part time, and the outlook to 2030. Then check any entry rules, such as an apprenticeship or a licence, with the employer or your state.
What to do with this
If university is not for you, you are not choosing a lower-paid path by default. Pick the job first, then the course. You can browse every nationally recognised course by level, or start from the trades and construction field to see the occupations and courses side by side.
Key takeaways
- In 78 occupation groups more workers hold a Certificate III or IV than any other level, and the middle full-time pay is $1,864 a week.
- The job matters more than the level: certificate-led pay runs from $1,209 to $3,751 a week.
- Check the pay, hours and outlook for the exact job, then the entry rules, before you enrol.