Laboratory Manager

A Laboratory Manager oversees the daily operations of a medical, research, or industrial testing laboratory in Australia, ensuring compliance with NATA accreditation standards, quality assurance protocols, and relevant legislation. They manage staff, equipment, budgets, and workflows whilst maintaining the accuracy and timeliness of test results and regulatory documentation. This role bridges technical laboratory expertise with business management and occupational health and safety responsibilities.

Establish and enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) aligned with NATA (National Association of Testing Authorities) accreditation requirements and ISO/IEC 17025 standards. Monitor laboratory quality assurance (QA) programmes, including calibration of instruments, proficiency testing, and internal audits. Manage laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) to track samples, results, and chain of custody documentation. Recruit, train, and schedule laboratory staff (technicians, analysts, phlebotomists) and conduct performance appraisals. Prepare and manage laboratory budgets, including procurement of reagents, consumables, and equipment. Ensure compliance with relevant legislation including Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth), Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), and medical device regulations (TGA). Conduct workplace risk assessments and implement hazard controls for chemical, biological, or radiation hazards specific to the laboratory. Review, validate, and authorise laboratory test results before release to clinicians or clients.

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.

You'll spend a lot of time on compliance paperwork and audits rather than science. NATA accreditation demands constant documentation, and if your lab fails an audit, it can shut down operations. Staff turnover in labs is high, so you'll be recruiting and training constantly. The pay ceiling is lower than you might expect for a university degree holder managing budgets and people.

Most laboratory manager roles are in capital cities where pathology labs, hospital labs, and research facilities cluster. Regional areas have fewer opportunities. Privately owned pathology networks and hospital systems dominate employment, with some positions in environmental testing and pharmaceutical companies.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 1399, 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.

• Attention to Detailcore
• Confidentiality and Privacy Compliancecore
• Conflict Resolutioncore
• Escalation Managementcore
• Goal Setting and Planningcore
• Incident Reportingcore
• Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
• Problem Solvingcore
• Process Improvement Identificationcore
• Record Managementcore
• Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
• Report Writingcore
• Reporting and Analyticscore
• Research and Analysiscore
• Risk Identificationcore
• Stakeholder Communicationcore
• Team Collaborationcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Written Communicationcore
• Microsoft Office Suite Proficiency
• Workload Self-Management

• 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