Maintenance Planner

A Maintenance Planner develops and schedules preventive and corrective maintenance programmes for industrial, commercial, or facility equipment and systems. They analyse maintenance data, resource availability, and operational requirements to optimise equipment uptime and reduce downtime costs. The role sits between engineering departments and maintenance technicians, translating technical specifications into executable maintenance schedules across manufacturing plants, utilities, hospitals, or large commercial facilities.

Analyse equipment failure data and maintenance history records to identify patterns and schedule preventive maintenance intervals. Develop preventive maintenance programmes aligned with manufacturer specifications and relevant Australian standards. Create detailed maintenance schedules using computerised maintenance management systems (CMMS) such as SAP, Maximo, or Infor EAM. Estimate resource requirements including labour hours, spare parts, and specialist contractor availability for planned maintenance activities. Prioritise maintenance work orders based on equipment criticality, safety risk, and production impact using maintenance ranking methods. Coordinate spare parts inventory planning and procurement timelines to ensure materials are available before scheduled maintenance windows. Communicate maintenance plans to production supervisors and technicians, detailing scope, duration, and required shutdown periods. Monitor maintenance performance metrics including Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), Mean Time To Repair (MTTR), and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).

The standard entry pathway requires a diploma, advanced diploma or associate degree (ABS skill level 2). 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.

This role doesn't lead to dramatic salary jumps: you're coordinating and planning rather than fixing things or designing systems, which limits your earning growth. You're also caught between two worlds: technicians think you don't understand real maintenance work, and engineers expect you to solve problems you can't control.

Hospitals and large facility management companies in major cities also hire them. Remote work is rare: you need to be on-site or nearby to coordinate with technicians and handle urgent schedule changes.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 3129, 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
• ERP and Inventory Systemscore
• Microsoft Office Suite Proficiencycore
• Problem Solvingcore
• Process Documentationcore
• Purchase Order Processingcore
• Record Managementcore
• Report Writingcore
• Risk Identificationcore
• Rostering and Scheduling Supportcore
• Stakeholder Communicationcore
• Supplier Communicationcore
• Time Management and Prioritisationcore
• Workflow Prioritisationcore
• Written Communicationcore
• Advise on machinery malfunctions
• Check for damaged items
• Check material resources
• Goal Setting and Planning
• Incident Reporting
• Microsoft Excel Data Management
• Negotiation
• Policy and Procedure Adherence
• Process Improvement Identification
• Regulatory and Legislative Awareness
• Reporting and Analytics
• Team Collaboration
• 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