Fabric and Textile Factory Worker

A fabric and textile factory worker operates machinery and performs manual tasks in manufacturing environments to produce cloth, yarn, and finished textile products. They monitor production equipment, inspect material quality, and prepare goods for packaging and dispatch. The role involves repetitive, physically demanding work in noisy factory settings and requires attention to safety protocols and production schedules.

Operate textile machinery such as looms, spinning frames, or knitting machines to manufacture fabric or yarn according to production schedules. Thread yarn or fibre through spinning or weaving equipment and adjust tension settings to specified standards. Monitor production equipment for equipment malfunctions, unusual vibrations, or breaks in material and alert supervisors to faults. Inspect finished fabric or textile products for defects such as tears, stains, colour variations, or knots and sort into quality grades. Measure and cut fabric or yarn to specified lengths using rulers, measuring scales, or automated cutting equipment. Fold, wind, or roll finished textile products onto spools, rolls, or into bundles according to storage and transport requirements. Perform routine cleaning and maintenance of textile machinery including removing lint, dust, and fabric remnants to prevent equipment damage. Adhere to Safe Work Australia guidelines and site-specific safety procedures including use of personal protective equipment such as ear plugs and closed-toe shoes.

The standard entry pathway requires a Certificate I or compulsory secondary education (ABS skill level 5). 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.

Australian textile manufacturing has shrunk dramatically. Most fabric production moved offshore in the last 20 years, so factory jobs are scarce and concentrated in a handful of remaining facilities. You'll also face repetitive, noisy work with limited progression to better-paid roles unless you move into supervision or maintenance.

Most remaining mills are regional rather than metro. Remote work doesn't apply. The industry is still shrinking, so jobs are competitive.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 8399, 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.

• Adaptability and Flexibilitycore
• Attention to Detailcore
• Basic Arithmetic and Numerical Accuracycore
• Incident Reportingcore
• Inventory Trackingcore
• Multitaskingcore
• Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
• Problem Solvingcore
• Quality Assurance and Checkingcore
• Team Collaborationcore
• Time Management and Prioritisationcore
• Workload Self-Managementcore
• Active Listening
• Calculate materials to build equipment
• Clean building floors
• Clean equipment
• Clean surfaces
• Cleaning products
• Continuous Learning and Upskilling
• Goods Receipt Processing
• Process Improvement Identification
• Record Management
• Risk Identification
• Stock Counting and Stocktake
• Verbal 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.

Last updated: 30 October 2026