Painter
A painter prepares surfaces and applies paint, coatings, and protective finishes to buildings, structures, and other substrates in residential, commercial, and industrial settings. They work with brushes, rollers, spray equipment, and ancillary tools to achieve specified aesthetic and protective outcomes, following work health and safety standards and building codes.
What this job is
A painter prepares surfaces and applies paint, coatings, and protective finishes to buildings, structures, and other substrates in residential, commercial, and industrial settings. They work with brushes, rollers, spray equipment, and ancillary tools to achieve specified aesthetic and protective outcomes, following work health and safety standards and building codes. The role involves both interior and exterior painting work, surface preparation, and quality assurance of finished surfaces.
Are employers advertising this role?
Falling, down 10.1% 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
Prepare surfaces by scraping, sanding, washing, and patching damaged areas to ensure paint adhesion and a smooth finish. Apply primer, undercoat, and topcoat paints using brushes, rollers, or spray equipment in accordance with manufacturer specifications. Mix paints and coatings to the correct colour and consistency, including matching existing colours on-site. Protect surrounding surfaces and fixtures using drop sheets, masking tape, and temporary covers before commencing work. Inspect surfaces after application to identify runs, drips, uneven coverage, or defects and rectify as required. Apply specialist coatings such as weather-resistant, fire-retardant, anti-corrosive, or decorative finishes to building elements. Operate and maintain painting equipment including pressure washers, spray guns, roller frames, and safety scaffolding. Comply with work health and safety requirements including managing hazardous substances, wearing personal protective equipment, and preventing falls from heights.
Who does this now
About 42,000 people worked in this occupation across Australia at the 2021 Census.
What this role asks for
Certificate IV or Certificate III with at least two years of on-the-job training (ABS skill level 3)
Registration or licensing may be required.
Can employers fill these jobs
Employers hiring for this occupation had trouble finding suitable applicants in 2025. 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.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Training Occupation Pathways dataset, March 2026, version 1.0
Jobs and Skills Australia defines an occupation-ready qualification as:
Completing this qualification will provide the skills and knowledge to undertake this occupation. Further training and experience may be required to meet specific industry requirements including licensing and registration.
Jobs and Skills Australia, Training Occupation Pathways dataset, March 2026, version 1.0
Requirements
The standard entry pathway requires a Certificate IV or Certificate III with at least two years of on-the-job training (ABS skill level 3). 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
Your back, knees, and shoulders take a real beating from repetitive lifting, climbing, and overhead work. Many painters develop chronic pain by their 50s. You'll also spend a lot of time on surface prep (the boring part) before you get to the satisfying painting bit. Work is weather-dependent and project-based, so income can be patchy, especially starting out.
Where the jobs are
In reality, work clusters in and around major cities where construction and renovation activity is highest. Residential work is everywhere, but industrial and commercial painting pays better and concentrates near manufacturing, ports, and mining regions. Most painting is site-based, not remote.
Pay
Published for ANZSCO unit group 3322, 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
- Apply colour coatscore
- Attention to Detailcore
- Clean painting equipmentcore
- Customer Needs Assessmentcore
- Invoicing and Billing Administrationcore
- Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
- Problem Solvingcore
- Quality Assurance and Checkingcore
- Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
- Risk Identificationcore
- Team Collaborationcore
- Time Management and Prioritisationcore
- Verbal Communicationcore
- Workload Self-Managementcore
- Adaptability and Flexibility
- Advise on construction materials
- Basic Arithmetic and Numerical Accuracy
- Calculate needs for construction supplies
- Complaint Handling
- Continuous Learning and Upskilling
- Goal Setting and Planning
- Incident Reporting
- Supplier Communication
- Written Communication
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 Painter workers move into, from ten years of tax records.
Last updated: 30 October 2026
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