Vehicle Painter
A vehicle painter applies paint coatings and finishes to motor vehicles in automotive repair workshops and manufacturing facilities. They prepare vehicle surfaces, mix and spray paint products, and inspect finished work to meet quality standards and customer specifications.
What this job is
A vehicle painter applies paint coatings and finishes to motor vehicles in automotive repair workshops and manufacturing facilities. They prepare vehicle surfaces, mix and spray paint products, and inspect finished work to meet quality standards and customer specifications. The role involves working with hazardous materials, spray equipment, and following occupational health and safety protocols specific to automotive paint operations.
Are employers advertising this role?
Rising, up 26.2% 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
Inspect vehicle surfaces and identify damage, corrosion, or previous paint defects requiring rectification. Prepare vehicle surfaces by sanding, grinding, and removing old paint using abrasive tools and chemical strippers. Mask vehicle areas using tape, plastic sheeting, and protective coverings to prevent overspray. Mix paint products to required colour specifications and viscosity using tinting systems and colour-matching equipment. Apply primer coatings to bare metal and repair areas using spray guns, ensuring even coverage and adhesion. Spray topcoat and basecoat paint systems using HVLP (high-volume low-pressure) or conventional spray equipment in ventilated spray booths. Operate paint mixing and matching equipment including spectrophotometers to achieve accurate colour reproduction. Manage hazardous materials including two-pack epoxy primers, polyurethane topcoats, and volatile organic compounds in accordance with Safe Work Australia guidelines.
Who does this now
About 10,000 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
You'll spend hours doing physically repetitive prep work (sanding, masking, grinding) before you ever spray paint. Respiratory risk from fumes and dust is real even with ventilation, and you're handling toxic chemicals daily. Automation is slowly taking over spray work in large factories.
Where the jobs are
Smaller numbers in regional towns near manufacturing or transport hubs. Automotive repair is concentrated in urban areas where vehicle density is highest. Factory spray work is rarer and.
Pay
Published for ANZSCO unit group 3243, 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
- Check paint consistencycore
- Clean painting equipmentcore
- Continuous Learning and Upskillingcore
- Incident Reportingcore
- 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
- Basic Arithmetic and Numerical Accuracy
- Customer Needs Assessment
- Inventory Tracking
- Invoicing and Billing Administration
- Process Improvement Identification
- 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 Vehicle Painter workers move into, from ten years of tax records.
Last updated: 30 October 2026
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