Upholsterer

An upholsterer restores, repairs, and manufactures upholstered furniture and furnishings by selecting and fitting fabrics, padding, springs, and frames. Working in workshops or on-site, they strip old upholstery, rebuild structural elements, and hand-stitch or machine-sew new covers to customer specifications. The role combines traditional craft techniques with knowledge of modern materials and furniture construction standards.

Strip and remove old upholstery, webbing, springs, and padding from furniture frames using hand tools and pneumatic staple removers. Inspect and repair or replace wooden frames, checking for woodworm, rot, or structural damage before re-upholstering. Measure and cut fabric and batting to size, accounting for pattern matching, nap, and directional weave in decorative fabrics. Fit and secure springs, webbing, and hessian to furniture frames using traditional hand-stitching, tacking, or stapling techniques. Build up layers of padding and foam to create cushioning and contours, using materials such as horsehair, cotton felt, polyester, and high-density foam. Hand-stitch and machine-sew fabric seams, piping, and trimming details such as braid, fringe, or gimp to finished upholstered pieces. Apply adhesives, undercovers, and dust panels to the underside of furniture to conceal internal structures and provide a finished appearance. Fit and secure upholstery to frames using staple guns, tacks, or hand-stitching, maintaining tension and alignment to ensure a professional finish.

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 hands and back take a beating. You're hunched over frames all day, repetitive strain from hand-stitching and stapling is real, and stripping old upholstery exposes you to dust, mould, and sometimes asbestos in older furniture. Pay is modest and heavily dependent on speed and reputation. Work dries up when people stop buying or restoring furniture.

In reality, most work is in capital city suburbs with established furniture restoration shops, auction houses, and high-end furniture makers. Very little remote work. Some regional demand exists but it's patchy. Steady work requires building a client base or working for established workshops.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 3933, 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.

• Adaptability and Flexibilitycore
• Attention to Detailcore
• Basic Arithmetic and Numerical Accuracycore
• Customer Needs Assessmentcore
• Inventory Trackingcore
• Multitaskingcore
• Problem Solvingcore
• Quality Assurance and Checkingcore
• Supplier Communicationcore
• Time Managementcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Workload Self-Managementcore
• Complaint Handling
• Continuous Learning and Upskilling
• Goal Setting and Planning
• Invoicing and Billing Administration
• Process Improvement Identification
• Risk Identification
• Team Collaboration
• Written 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