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Occupations / Timber And Wood Process Workers

Timber and Wood Process Workers

Timber and Wood Process Workers perform routine tasks in paper and pulp mills, sawmills, timber yards, and wood processing and timber products factories.

ManufacturingANZSCO 8394
4,124People employed
−3%Growth to 2035
86%Work full time
31Median age
Source: ABS · JSA, 2025-26ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Labour Force via Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), February 2026; ABS Employee Earnings and Hours May 2025; JSA Employment Projections, May 2025 base. ANZSCO 8394.More about our sources: How we check our facts

What they do

The main tasks of this occupation, from the national occupation standard.

rolling logs from trucks and conveyors to log decks, saw carriages and stacking baysplacing logs and wood billets onto conveyors and lathes for processing into chips, veneers and pulpsorting and stacking timber during millingplacing timber for processing by machines and unloading cut timber from tail end of machinesassisting with setting up and operating plant and ancillary equipment used in the manufacture of sheets and boardstransporting processed wood products, such as plywood, chipboard sheets and panels, to work areas
Source: JSA occupation profileTask list from the Jobs and Skills Australia occupation profile for ANZSCO 8394 (ANZSCO task statements).More about our sources: How we check our facts

The outlook

4,100 people do this work today

Employment is projected to go from 4,200 in 2025 to 4,000 by 2035, about 200 fewer people.

Most of the jobs are in NSW and VIC, with SA third.

Source: JSA · ABS, 2025-26ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Labour Force via Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), February 2026; ABS Employee Earnings and Hours May 2025; JSA Employment Projections, May 2025 base. ANZSCO 8394.More about our sources: How we check our facts
4.2k2025
4k2030 PROJ.
4k2035 PROJ.

Getting in

There is no single way in. 21% trained through VET, 4% hold a degree.

Both paths are common in this field. These are the nationally recognised courses mapped to this occupation, with the number of registered training providers that offer each one.

Source: JSA · training.gov.auEducation split: JSA (Jobs and Skills Australia) occupation profile, using ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Census data, ANZSCO 8394. Qualification mapping and provider counts: training.gov.au, the national register of vocational education, October 2026. Listed providers are current registered training providers (private providers and TAFE institutes).More about our sources: How we check our facts

Nationally recognised training · most offered first

FWP20322Certificate II

Certificate II in Timber and Wood Products Operations

Forest and Wood Products Training Package.

See 1 provider
PPM20121Certificate II

Certificate II in Pulp and Paper Operations

Pulp & Paper Manufacturing Industry Training Package.

See 0 providers

Providers are shown in A-Z order on each course page. A listing is not a recommendation.

Jobs open right now

4,124 Australians do this work. See who is hiring this month.

Search job ads by state

Each link opens seek.com.au in a new tab, showing ads posted in the last month. SEEK is a job site; we link there because that is where most Australian jobs are advertised. We have no commercial relationship with SEEK.

Source: ABS · JSA, 2025-26State chart shows people employed, not current job ads. ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Labour Force via Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), February 2026; ABS Employee Earnings and Hours May 2025; JSA Employment Projections, May 2025 base. ANZSCO 8394.More about our sources: How we check our facts

People employed by state, 2025-26

NSW1.6k
VIC0.7k
SA0.6k
WA0.5k
QLD0.3k
TAS0.3k
ACT0.1k
NT0.1k

Occupations near this one

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