Delivery Person
A delivery person transports goods and parcels to customers using a vehicle, collecting payment or signatures where required and maintaining accurate delivery records. They operate within tight time schedules, manage customer interactions at point of delivery, and follow safe work and vehicle maintenance procedures to ensure on-time, damage-free delivery across local or regional routes.
What this job is
A delivery person transports goods and parcels to customers using a vehicle, collecting payment or signatures where required and maintaining accurate delivery records. They operate within tight time schedules, manage customer interactions at point of delivery, and follow safe work and vehicle maintenance procedures to ensure on-time, damage-free delivery across local or regional routes.
Are employers advertising this role?
Falling, down 17.1% over 5 years
Counted across a group of similar roles. These are three-month rolling averages of online job advertisements, not filled positions.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Internet Vacancy Index.
Day-to-day
Operate light commercial vehicles (vans, trucks, or motorcycles) to transport parcels and goods to residential and commercial addresses. Read delivery dockets, manifests, and GPS navigation systems to identify delivery locations and optimise route efficiency. Load and unload parcels from the vehicle, checking items against delivery documentation for accuracy and condition. Collect signatures, photographic evidence, or payment from customers upon delivery, recording delivery status in handheld or vehicle-mounted systems. Handle customer queries and complaints at point of delivery, including processing refused parcels or requesting delivery rescheduling. Complete delivery documentation including proof of delivery, customer receipts, and incident reports using digital devices or paper records. Perform pre-trip and post-trip vehicle safety checks, including tyre pressure, fluid levels, lights, and brakes in accordance with workplace safety requirements. Comply with traffic regulations, speed limits, and Safe Work Australia guidelines for vehicle operation and safe manual handling of loads.
Who does this now
About 90,400 people worked in this occupation across Australia at the 2021 Census.
What this role asks for
Certificate II or III (ABS skill level 4)
Registration or licensing may be required.
Can employers fill these jobs
Employers hiring for this occupation were generally able to find suitable applicants in 2025. This measures how hard employers found it to fill jobs. It is not a count of jobs, and it does not say whether the occupation is growing.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Training Occupation Pathways dataset, March 2026, version 1.0
Jobs and Skills Australia defines an occupation-ready qualification as:
Completing this qualification will provide the skills and knowledge to undertake this occupation. Further training and experience may be required to meet specific industry requirements including licensing and registration.
Jobs and Skills Australia, Training Occupation Pathways dataset, March 2026, version 1.0
Requirements
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 honest hard part
The pay ceiling is real. You'll work split shifts (early starts, afternoon peaks), deal with angry customers when parcels are damaged or late, and your knees and back take a beating from constant loading and unloading. Automation is also creeping in with drone and locker deliveries.
Where the jobs are
Regional Australia has fewer opportunities because parcels spread across wider areas. The reality is most roles are in metro suburbs and inner cities. Remote work doesn't apply to this role: you're on the road every day.
Pay
Published for ANZSCO unit group 5612, 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.
Skills
- Active Listeningcore
- Adaptability and Flexibilitycore
- Attention to Detailcore
- Basic Arithmetic and Numerical Accuracycore
- Customer Needs Assessmentcore
- Customer Order Trackingcore
- Delivery Schedulingcore
- Dispatch Documentationcore
- Driver and Courier Liaisoncore
- Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
- Problem Solvingcore
- Time Management and Prioritisationcore
- Verbal Communicationcore
- Complaint Handling
- Digital Literacy
- Incident Reporting
- Inventory Tracking
- Returns Processing
- Risk Identification
- Workload Self-Management
Which of these do you have?
Tick the ones you haveCommon questions
Sources
- 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.
What Delivery Person workers move into, from ten years of tax records.
Last updated: 30 October 2026
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