Shearer

A shearer removes fleece and wool from sheep using mechanical clippers or hand shears in on-farm or shearing-shed settings. They work at pace to process large numbers of animals daily while maintaining animal welfare standards and producing quality fleece suitable for sale. The role requires physical stamina, technical skill with clipping equipment, and knowledge of sheep handling and wool grading.

Operate mechanical or hand shears to remove fleece from sheep in a single cut without second cuts to maintain wool quality. Position and restrain sheep using leg catches, knee pressure, and body control to ensure safe handling and efficient shearing. Assess sheep condition and fleece characteristics to determine appropriate shearing technique and timing. Grade and sort fleece by colour, length, and contamination levels before pressing into bales for sale. Maintain and sharpen clipping equipment including burring cutterheads, tensioning blades, and replacing worn components. Inspect sheep for wounds, parasites, and skin conditions during shearing and report health concerns to farm management. Comply with animal welfare requirements under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 (Vic) or equivalent state legislation. Clean and sterilise shearing equipment between animals to prevent disease transmission.

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.

Your back, shoulders and wrists will take a beating. You're bent over or crouching for 8+ hours a day gripping heavy clippers, wrestling 60kg animals, and repeating the same cuts hundreds of times. Shearers get repetitive strain injury, arthritis and spinal problems. The work is seasonal and casual, so pay varies wildly year to year. You need to be genuinely fit to start and stay injury-free.

Work is scattered across farm regions rather than cities. You'll travel between farms during shearing seasons (spring and autumn mainly). The reality is you go where the sheep are, which means rural areas and seasonal contracts, not permanent metro jobs.

• Active Listeningcore
• Adaptability and Flexibilitycore
• Administer drugs to facilitate breedingcore
• Administer treatment to animalscore
• Attention to Detailcore
• Basic Arithmetic and Numerical Accuracycore
• Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
• Problem Solvingcore
• Quality Assurance and Checkingcore
• Risk Identificationcore
• Team Collaborationcore
• Time Management and Prioritisationcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Workload Self-Managementcore
• Advise customers on appropriate pet care
• Advise on animal purchase
• Advise on animal welfare
• Award Interpretation
• Continuous Learning and Upskilling
• Incident Reporting
• Negotiation
• Regulatory and Legislative Awareness
• Rostering and Scheduling Support

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• 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 Shearer workers move into, from ten years of tax records.

Last updated: 30 October 2026