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Food Trades Assistants

Food Trades Assistants assist Food Trades Workers by performing routine food preparation, cleaning and storage tasks.

Hospitality & tourismANZSCO 8512
$1,380/wkMedian full-time pay
4,424People employed
+4% ▲Growth to 2035
27%Work full time
30Median 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 8512.More about our sources: How we check our facts

What they do

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

gathering food ingredients in preparation for cooking and servinggathering pots and pans in preparation for cooking food ingredientsweighing and measuring ingredientswashing, peeling, cutting, slicing and dicing ingredients for cooking and servingcutting and grinding meat, poultry and seafood in preparation for cookingremoving cooked food from ovens and food warmers
Source: JSA occupation profileTask list from the Jobs and Skills Australia occupation profile for ANZSCO 8512 (ANZSCO task statements).More about our sources: How we check our facts

The outlook

Room for 100 more people in food trades assistants by 2035 ▲

The field shrank 6.9% in the year to February 2026, losing about 300 workers. Most of the jobs are in VIC and NSW, with QLD 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 8512.More about our sources: How we check our facts
4.6k2025
4.6k2030 PROJ.
4.7k2035 PROJ.

Getting in

There is no single way in. 19% trained through VET, 11% 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 8512. 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

FBP20221Certificate II

Certificate II in Baking

Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical.

See 14 providers

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

Jobs open right now

4,424 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 8512.More about our sources: How we check our facts

People employed by state, 2025-26

VIC1.3k
NSW1.1k
QLD1.1k
SA0.6k
WA0.3k
TAS0.2k
ACT0.2k
NT0.1k