Domestic Animal Care Workers

Domestic Animal Care Workers provide direct care, handling, and husbandry for companion animals in kennels, catteries, shelters, or private boarding facilities. They perform daily feeding, cleaning, health monitoring, and socialisation of animals, whilst maintaining records and adhering to animal welfare standards set by local councils and animal welfare organisations.

Prepare and portion feed according to individual animal dietary requirements and any prescribed medical diets. Clean and sanitise animal enclosures, bedding areas, and food bowls to prevent disease transmission and maintain hygiene standards. Administer basic first aid and identify signs of illness or injury in animals, escalating concerns to veterinary staff. Handle and restrain animals safely using appropriate techniques to minimise stress and prevent injury to self and animal. Socialise and exercise animals daily through play, walking, and interaction to maintain physical and behavioural wellbeing. Monitor and record animal behaviour, appetite, bowel movements, and general condition in facility logs or digital systems. Maintain accurate intake and discharge records including animal identification, owner contact details, and care instructions. Comply with animal welfare regulations from local councils and organisations such as the RSPCA or Animals Australia.

The standard entry pathway requires a Certificate II or III (ABS skill level 4). 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 pay is low and stays low. There's no clear path to significantly higher income unless you move into management or veterinary work. The physical demands are real too: repetitive lifting, cleaning, and handling stressed or aggressive animals puts strain on your back and joints. Burnout is common.

Animal shelters, kennels, and catteries cluster in suburbs with space and near wealthy residential areas. Regional areas have fewer positions. Work is on-site only: no remote options here.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 3611, 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.

• Active Listeningcore
• Adaptability and Flexibilitycore
• Attention to Detailcore
• Empathy and Emotional Intelligencecore
• Incident Reportingcore
• Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
• Problem Solvingcore
• Record Managementcore
• Risk Identificationcore
• Team Collaborationcore
• Time Management and Prioritisationcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Workload Self-Managementcore
• Appointment Scheduling
• Complaint Handling
• Continuous Learning and Upskilling
• Customer Needs Assessment
• Data Entry and Accuracy
• Multitasking
• Professional Boundaries Maintenance
• Regulatory and Legislative Awareness
• Written Communication

• 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.

What Domestic Animal Care Workers move into, from ten years of tax records.

Last updated: 30 October 2026