Sugar Cane Farm Worker
A sugar cane farm worker performs manual and semi-skilled labour on sugar cane plantations across Queensland and New South Wales, preparing land, planting cane, maintaining crops, and harvesting under the direction of farm supervisors. The role involves operating basic farm equipment, monitoring crop health, and adhering to workplace safety standards and agricultural chemical regulations.
What this job is
A sugar cane farm worker performs manual and semi-skilled labour on sugar cane plantations across Queensland and New South Wales, preparing land, planting cane, maintaining crops, and harvesting under the direction of farm supervisors. The role involves operating basic farm equipment, monitoring crop health, and adhering to workplace safety standards and agricultural chemical regulations.
Are employers advertising this role?
Falling, down 78.1% 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 cane fields by clearing vegetation, removing rocks, and levelling soil using hand tools and basic machinery. Plant sugar cane seedlings or cane pieces into prepared rows at correct spacing and depth. Apply fertilisers and pesticides according to farm protocols and product safety data sheets. Monitor cane crops for signs of pest damage, disease, or nutrient deficiency and report to supervisors. Operate basic farm equipment including rotary hoes, cultivators, and small tractors under supervision. Perform manual weeding and thinning of cane plants to optimise crop density and growth. Assist with the harvest, which in Australia is done by mechanical cane harvesters and haul-out equipment. Stack and load harvested cane onto trucks or bins for transport to the sugar mill.
Who does this now
About 250 people worked in this occupation across Australia at the 2021 Census.
What this role asks for
Certificate II or III (ABS skill level 4)
Can employers fill these jobs
Employers hiring for this occupation were generally able to find 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 II or III (ABS skill level 4). 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
The physical toll is real and relentless. You're doing heavy manual labour in tropical heat and humidity, often on 12-hour shifts during the harvest season. Your back, knees and shoulders will wear down. Pay is modest and capped unless you move into supervisory roles. Work is seasonal, so income isn't stable year-round. Automation is gradually reducing harvester jobs.
Where the jobs are
The sugar industry itself is geographically locked to tropical/subtropical cane-growing regions. You won't find this work in cities. Remote work is impossible. Jobs follow the harvest calendar, so employment peaks March to November.
Skills
- Active Listeningcore
- Adaptability and Flexibilitycore
- Attention to Detailcore
- Basic Arithmetic and Numerical Accuracycore
- Carry picking work aidscore
- Incident Reportingcore
- Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
- Risk Identificationcore
- Team Collaborationcore
- Time Management and Prioritisationcore
- Verbal Communicationcore
- Workload Self-Managementcore
- Continuous Learning and Upskilling
- Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity
- Inventory Tracking
- Problem Solving
- Quality Assurance and Checking
- Regulatory and Legislative Awareness
Which of these do you have?
Tick the ones you haveCommon questions
Sources
- 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.
Last updated: 30 October 2026
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