Program or Project Administrator

A Program or Project Administrator manages the administrative and operational tasks required to deliver programs or projects on time and within budget. They coordinate schedules, track budgets and expenditure, maintain project documentation, and liaise between team members, stakeholders, and external parties to ensure smooth delivery. They typically work in government agencies, non-profit organisations, educational institutions, or corporate settings where structured project or program delivery is required.

Schedule and coordinate meetings, site visits, and project events using calendar systems and email. Maintain project timelines and milestone tracking using project management software such as Microsoft Project, Asana, or Jira. Record and distribute minutes from project meetings and steering committee meetings. Track project expenditure against budgets and prepare cost reports for managers and funding bodies. Prepare and maintain project documentation including scope statements, risk registers, and change logs. Process purchase orders, invoices, and reimbursement claims in accordance with organisational procurement policies. Monitor project progress against agreed deliverables and escalate delays or risks to the project manager. Maintain project files, both digital and paper-based, in accordance with organisational filing systems and retention policies.

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.

The role is heavily admin-focused, so you're doing a lot of scheduling, filing, and chasing people for information. If you're expecting creative problem-solving or strategic work, you'll be disappointed. Scope creep is real too: stakeholders often dump extra tasks on you.

These roles concentrate in major capital cities. Government agencies and large corporates in these metros employ the bulk of them. Regional areas have fewer positions. Practically speaking, remote work is possible for parts of the job, though many employers still prefer on-site or hybrid arrangements for meeting coordination and document management.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 5111, 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.

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• Appointment Schedulingcore
• Confidentiality and Privacy Compliancecore
• Data Entry and Accuracycore
• Escalation Managementcore
• Multitaskingcore
• Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
• Problem Solvingcore
• Process Documentationcore
• Record Managementcore
• Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
• SLA and KPI Adherencecore
• Stakeholder Communicationcore
• Team Collaborationcore
• Time Management and Prioritisationcore
• Workflow Prioritisationcore
• Written Communicationcore
• Adaptability and Flexibility
• CRM System Operation
• Email Management
• Incident Reporting
• Microsoft Office Suite Proficiency
• Process Improvement Identification
• Reporting and Analytics
• Rostering and Scheduling Support
• Workflow Queue 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.

What Program or Project Administrator workers move into, from ten years of tax records.

Last updated: 30 October 2026