Environmental Consultant
An environmental consultant advises organisations and government agencies on compliance with environmental legislation, pollution control, and sustainable resource management across Australian jurisdictions.
What this job is
An environmental consultant advises organisations and government agencies on compliance with environmental legislation, pollution control, and sustainable resource management across Australian jurisdictions. They conduct environmental impact assessments, develop remediation strategies, and monitor environmental performance against regulatory standards such as those set by state EPA bodies and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). This role combines technical environmental science knowledge with regulatory expertise to help clients manage contaminated land, air and water quality, waste streams, and biodiversity impacts.
Are employers advertising this role?
Steady, up 7.3% 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
Conduct environmental site assessments and contamination audits to identify potential soil, groundwater, or air quality risks at development or industrial sites. Prepare Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) and environmental management plans for projects requiring assessment under state planning legislation or the EPBC Act. Design and oversee environmental monitoring programmes to measure compliance with licence conditions and environmental quality standards. Review development proposals and regulatory applications against environmental legislation including state Environmental Protection Acts and national biodiversity laws. Advise clients on remediation options for contaminated land and prepare remedial action plans compliant with state environment protection authority guidelines. Conduct Phase I and Phase II environmental site investigations using sampling, laboratory analysis, and hydrogeological modelling. Liaise with state EPA bodies, local councils, and DCCEEW (Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water) to obtain permits, licences, and environmental approvals. Develop water management and waste management strategies to minimise environmental impact and meet waste classification standards.
Who does this now
About 4,600 people worked in this occupation across Australia at the 2021 Census.
What this role asks for
Bachelor degree or higher (ABS skill level 1)
Can employers fill these jobs
Employers hiring for this occupation were generally able to find suitable applicants in 2025. Ratings are not the same everywhere. SA and NT were rated in shortage. 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.
Requirements
The standard entry pathway requires a bachelor degree or higher (ABS Skill Level 1). 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 work is also heavily tied to development cycles and government spending, so jobs dry up in downturns. Plus, regulations change constantly across different states, meaning you need to stay on top of multiple shifting legal frameworks.
Where the jobs are
Most roles are office-based with site visits, though remote work is growing for report writing. Reality is that consulting firms cluster in major metros. Mining, property development, and government agencies are the main employers.
Pay
Published for ANZSCO unit group 2343, 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
- Attention to Detailcore
- Data Entry and Accuracycore
- Negotiationcore
- Policy Interpretationcore
- Problem Solvingcore
- Record Managementcore
- Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
- Report Writingcore
- Research and Analysiscore
- Risk Identificationcore
- Stakeholder Communicationcore
- Verbal Communicationcore
- Written Communicationcore
- Chemistry
- Community Development
- Continuous Learning and Upskilling
- Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity
- Incident Reporting
- Microsoft Office Suite Proficiency
- Process Documentation
- Reporting and Analytics
- Team Collaboration
- Time Management and Prioritisation
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 Environmental Consultant workers move into, from ten years of tax records.
Last updated: 30 October 2026
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