Anaesthetic Technician

An anaesthetic technician prepares and maintains anaesthetic equipment, drugs, and theatre environments in surgical and procedural settings across Australian hospitals and day surgery centres. They assist anaesthetists during induction, maintenance, and emergence from anaesthesia, ensuring patient safety through meticulous equipment checks, drug preparation, and monitoring of anaesthetic delivery systems. They work under the direction of an anaesthetist or intensivist and comply with Australian Standards for anaesthetic equipment and professional guidelines for safe practice.

Conduct pre-operative equipment checks on anaesthetic machines, ventilators, monitors, and gas delivery systems according to Australian Standards AS 60601 and manufacturer specifications. Prepare and assemble single-use and reusable anaesthetic circuits, breathing systems, and airway devices for surgical procedures. Draw up and label anaesthetic drugs (volatile agents, intravenous induction agents, muscle relaxants, reversal agents) in correct concentrations and volumes for each patient. Position patients on operating tables and assist with induction of anaesthesia, including hand-bagging ventilation if required. Monitor anaesthetic machine function, gas flows, and ventilator parameters during operative procedures and adjust settings under anaesthetist direction. Prepare and manage difficult airway equipment (laryngoscopes, video intubation devices, fibreoptic scopes, cricothyrotomy kits) and assist with intubation and extubation. Record anaesthetic chart details including gas flows, drug administration times, vital signs, and patient position during procedures. Manage scavenging systems and waste anaesthetic gas venting to ensure theatre compliance with occupational exposure limits.

The standard entry pathway requires a diploma, advanced diploma or associate degree (ABS skill level 2). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.

The real grind is shift work including nights, weekends and on-call rosters in hospitals that never close. You're also liable for drug errors in a high-stakes environment where one mistake directly affects patient safety, which creates constant pressure. Automation of equipment checks and pre-filled drug systems may reduce some tasks over time.

Jobs concentrate heavily in major metro hospitals and their surrounding private day surgery networks. Regional hospitals have fewer theatres and fewer positions. Remote work doesn't exist in this role. Most jobs are in public hospital systems and private hospital groups clustered in capital cities.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 3112, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.

This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.

• Accept own accountabilitycore
• Active Listeningcore
• Attention to Detailcore
• Confidentiality and Privacy Compliancecore
• Empathy and Emotional Intelligencecore
• Health Record Administrationcore
• Health Terminology Literacycore
• Incident Reportingcore
• Multitaskingcore
• Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
• Problem Solvingcore
• Risk Identificationcore
• Team Collaborationcore
• Time Management and Prioritisationcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Adaptability and Flexibility
• Case Note Documentation
• Continuous Learning and Upskilling
• Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity
• Digital Literacy
• Practice Management Software (e.g., Best Practice, MedicalDirector)
• Quality Assurance and Checking
• Regulatory and Legislative Awareness
• Workflow Prioritisation

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

Last updated: 30 October 2026