Get Into a TradeUpdated September 2026

The best trades for the future in Australia

Quick answer

On demand, pay and long-term security, the standout trades in Australia are electrical, plumbing, air conditioning and refrigeration, and diesel mechanics, with carpentry, welding and auto electrical not far behind. Nearly every one of the 15 trades on this site has appeared on the national shortage list in recent years, so there is no wrong answer for jobs. The real question is which one you can actually stick out for three to four years, because the best trade for the future is the one you will not quit in year one.

Australia has a genuine trades shortage, and it is not marketing spin. Governments, builders and industry bodies all agree the country is short of skilled tradespeople and will be for years. That is good news if you are deciding whether to get into a trade. But "in demand" and "right for you" are not the same thing, so here is an honest look at which of the 15 trades on this site have the strongest future, what they pay, and the downsides the ads leave out.

First, what "best for the future" actually means

Three things make a trade a safe long-term bet: strong, lasting demand for the work; pay that grows as you get skilled; and skills that are hard to send overseas or hand to a machine. Trades score well on all three. You cannot email a blocked drain, a dead switchboard or a broken haul truck to another country, and someone has to physically be there to fix it.

The numbers back this up. Jobs and Skills Australia's 2025 Occupation Shortage List again found Technicians and Trades Workers among the hardest occupation groups to fill: of the 139 occupations that have stayed in shortage year after year, 71 were trades and technician roles. Motor mechanics, diesel specialists, auto electricians, chefs, hairdressers, tilers and plasterers were all assessed as in national shortage in the 2025 list, alongside the usual construction and electrical trades. So the demand is real right across the board, not just in the famous trades.

•Demand: driven by the housing shortage, an ageing workforce retiring, and the shift to electric homes, solar, batteries and EVs.
•Pay: apprentice years are lean, but qualified tradies earn solid money, and the ceiling is high if you get your own licence and go out on your own.
•Security: hands-on, on-site and face-to-face work is very hard to automate or offshore, which is not true of a lot of office jobs.

The strongest bets right now: electrical, plumbing, and HVAC/refrigeration

If you want the trades with the deepest demand and the best pay, these three lead. They are licensed trades, which means more training and red tape, but the licence is exactly what protects your wage and keeps the work coming.

Electrical is the standout. Electricians are listed in national shortage, and the energy shift (solar, batteries, EV chargers, electrifying homes and industry) points to steady, long-term need. Median weekly earnings are around $2,200, among the higher-paying trades and well above the typical Australian wage. Plumbing is close behind at around $2,000 a week, with the same shortage story and the security of essential, always-needed work. Air conditioning and refrigeration (fridgies) also sits around $2,000 a week and is quietly one of the best long-term picks. A warming climate, more data centres and the cold chain for food and medicine all lean on it, and on top of that Australia is phasing down the old refrigerant gases, which means years of retrofit and replacement work that only licensed fridgies can legally touch.

•Electrical: strongest pay of the three and best exposure to the energy transition, and in national shortage. Most theory-heavy of the three.
•Plumbing: rock-solid essential-service demand, strong pay, physical and sometimes unpleasant work.
•HVAC/refrigeration: underrated, climate, electrification and refrigerant-rule tailwinds, mix of trade skills and electronics.
•All figures are approximate median weekly earnings from the Australian Government's yourcareer.gov.au, and vary a lot with experience, location, overtime and whether you run your own business.

The engine-room earners: diesel mechanics and auto electricians

Diesel mechanics (heavy vehicle and mobile plant) are one of the best-kept secrets in the trades. Everything that moves Australia's exports and freight runs on heavy diesel gear: mine sites, trucks, trains, agriculture, construction plant. Diesel specialists sit near the top of trade earnings, and mining and remote-area roles pay some of the biggest wages any tradie sees, though usually with FIFO rosters and time away from home attached. Diesel mechanics are in national shortage, and even as mines electrify their fleets over the coming decades, someone still has to service the machines, whatever powers them.

Auto electrical is the sleeper pick of the vehicle trades. Every new car, truck and machine carries more wiring, sensors, batteries and computers than the last, and the EV and hybrid transition pushes that even harder. Auto electricians are in national shortage, and the skills sit exactly where vehicles are heading. If you like vehicles but want to future-proof yourself against the decline of engine work, auto electrical is arguably a safer long-term bet than general mechanics.

•Diesel: top-tier trade money, especially in mining and heavy transport, but the biggest pay often means FIFO or regional work.
•Auto electrical: rides the EV and electronics wave instead of being threatened by it.
•Both are in national shortage, and both give you skills that transfer across mining, transport, agriculture and defence.

Strong and steady: carpentry and welding/fabrication

Carpentry is the biggest building trade and one of the most sought-after, tied directly to Australia's push to build more homes. Median weekly earnings are around $1,787 (roughly $93,000 a year). It is a great all-rounder trade: broad skills, clear path to running your own crew or becoming a builder, and work almost everywhere. The trade-off is that a chunk of your pay depends on the building cycle, which rises and falls with interest rates.

Welding and fabrication (welders and structural steel trades workers) sits around $1,755 a week and has a genuinely exciting decade ahead. Defence and shipbuilding, including the AUKUS submarine program, plus renewables and infrastructure, mean skilled welders will be wanted for a long time. The catch is that a lot of the biggest money is in specific regions and projects, so you may need to be willing to travel or relocate.

•Carpentry: highest-volume demand, versatile, clear route to your own business, but cyclical.
•Welding/fabrication: strong pipeline from defence, mining and renewables, often location-dependent.
•Both reward specialising: high-end joinery, or coded and pressure-vessel welding, pays noticeably more.

The automation-proof people trades: commercial cookery and hairdressing

Not every future-proof trade involves a hard hat. Chefs and hairdressers have been in national shortage for years, and both are about as automation-resistant as work gets, because people pay for the person, not just the output. No machine is running a busy service on a Saturday night or reading a client's face in the mirror before a big cut. If your worry about the future is robots, these two people-facing trades are among the safest picks on this site.

Now the honest part. Commercial cookery pays a modest base under the award, and the real money comes from penalty rates, which means the job is built around nights, weekends and public holidays. The hours are tough and burnout is real, but a qualified chef can work anywhere in the country and most of the world, and head chef and venue-owner roles pay properly. Hairdressing starts on modest wages too, but it grows with your clientele: a senior stylist with a loyal book, or your own chair or salon, can out-earn plenty of tradies, and the work is light on the body compared with construction.

•Cookery: in national shortage, endless jobs and travel-friendly, but nights, weekends and heat are the deal.
•Hairdressing: in national shortage, low entry cost, income builds with your client book rather than your hourly rate.
•Both are people businesses: your reputation and regulars are the asset, and no machine takes that from you.

Still in demand, but a tougher money picture: automotive, painting, bricklaying

These trades still turn up on the shortage lists and will keep employing plenty of people. Be honest with yourself, though: on pay and long-term momentum they generally sit below the trades above.

Automotive (light vehicle mechanics) has steady demand and is a great fit if you genuinely love cars, but typical pay tends to run lower than the building and energy trades, and the work is changing fast as vehicles go electric and more computerised. That shift is an opportunity if you retrain into EV, hybrid and diagnostics work, and a risk if you do not; it is also why auto electrical, covered above, looks the safer of the two vehicle trades long term. Painting has a shorter apprenticeship and lower barrier to entry, with pay around $1,400 a week and demand rated moderate rather than red-hot. Bricklaying is physically brutal and has softened as buildings increasingly use other methods, though skilled brickies are still scarce and can charge well when work is on.

•Automotive: pick it for the passion, then future-proof yourself with EV and diagnostics skills.
•Painting: quicker to qualify and lower entry cost, but lower pay and more competition.
•Bricklaying: hard on the body and more cyclical, yet a shortage of good brickies keeps rates decent for those who stay.

The wildcards: tiling, plastering and cabinet making

Wall and floor tiling and plastering are two of the most undersupplied trades in the country right now. Both sit on the national shortage list, and builders routinely name them among the hardest finishing trades to find. The money is real but it swings: most experienced tilers and plasterers work for themselves on piece rates, paid per square metre, so a fast, quality worker in a busy market earns well above the average tradie, while a slow year in a building downturn stings. Neither trade is going anywhere, because prefab panels still need setting and finishing, and nobody has automated tiling a bathroom.

Cabinet making is the one trade on this site where you should walk in with eyes open about technology. CNC machines and flat-pack factory production have already swallowed a lot of the routine cutting work, and the trade has bounced on and off the national shortage list, appearing in recent years but not making the 2025 list. That does not make it a dud: someone has to design, program, machine and install all that joinery, and kitchen and fit-out demand tracks the renovation boom. It just means the future belongs to cabinet makers who embrace the machinery and the install side, not the ones competing with a factory by hand.

•Tiling: in national shortage, big piecework earnings for fast quality workers, but income moves with the building cycle.
•Plastering: in national shortage, similar piecework story, and volume work on every house and unit built.
•Cabinet making: steady renovation demand, but learn the CNC and installation side, because that is where the trade is going.

What you will actually earn (read this before the pay dazzles you)

Two different things get muddled in trade ads: apprentice pay and qualified pay. During your apprenticeship you are a learner, and the pay reflects that. Apprentice wages are set by an award (or an enterprise agreement on some sites) and depend on your apprenticeship year and sometimes your age. First-year pay is low, and it steps up each year as your skills grow. Adult apprentices (usually 21 and over) are often entitled to higher minimum rates. Do not take a recruiter's word for it: check your exact rate with the Fair Work Pay Calculator, linked below.

The qualified figures quoted above are median weekly earnings published by the Australian Government's yourcareer.gov.au. Treat them as approximate, and treat the trades without a dollar figure in this article the same way: as a rough guide, diesel mechanics sit in the top band with electricians, tilers and plasterers can match the middle band or better in good years on piecework, cabinet making and light vehicle automotive sit mid-pack, and cookery and hairdressing start in the lower band but climb with seniority, penalties and your own client base. What you take home depends heavily on overtime, being on the tools in a high-demand region, your specialty, and above all whether you eventually get your own licence or business, which is where trade incomes really climb.

•Apprentice pay: low in year one, rising yearly; set by award, apprenticeship year and age.
•Qualified pay: solid, and highest for licensed trades, mining and heavy industry roles, and business owners.
•Sacrifice now, earn later: you earn while you learn and finish with no student debt, unlike a uni degree.

The downsides nobody puts in the brochure

A trade can be a brilliant career, but go in with your eyes open. Most trade work is physical and it adds up over a lifetime: knees, backs and shoulders take a beating, and some trades (bricklaying, tiling, plumbing, plastering) are harder on the body than others. Early starts, hot summers, cold winters and outdoor sites are normal in construction. Some trades expose you to real hazards, from asbestos to silica dust to electrical risk, so safety habits matter for life. The people trades swap those hazards for their own: chefs work nights, weekends and holidays in hot kitchens, and hairdressers spend whole days on their feet doing repetitive work with their hands and wrists.

There is also a completion problem worth knowing. A large share of apprentices never finish, often because of low first-year pay, tough conditions, or a poor employer. Your boss matters enormously: a good employer who actually teaches you is worth more than picking the highest-paid trade. And self-employment, the path to the big money in almost every trade here, means running a business: quoting, chasing invoices, insurance and paperwork, which is a different skill from the trade itself.

•Physical toll, weather or hospitality hours are part of the deal, every day.
•Many apprentices drop out; the first year is the hardest to get through.
•The employer you sign with matters more than the trade you pick.
•The best incomes come from running your own business, which is its own job on top of the trade.

How to choose the one that is right for you

Since nearly every trade here is in demand, do not just chase the biggest number. Pick for fit, because finishing the apprenticeship is what determines whether you get the good money at all.

Ask yourself a few honest questions, then go and test your answer before you commit.

•Indoors or outdoors? Hairdressing, cookery, cabinet making and auto electrical are mostly under a roof; carpentry, bricklaying, tiling and plastering are out on site.
•Hands-on maths and problem-solving, or physical craft, or people? Electrical, refrigeration, diesel and auto electrical are the technical picks; tiling, plastering and bricklaying are hands-and-eyes; cookery and hairdressing live or die on how you deal with people.
•Do you want to run your own business one day? Electrical, plumbing, carpentry, tiling, plastering and hairdressing all have very clear owner-operator paths.
•Want big money fast and do not mind remote work? Diesel and heavy industry trades pay the most, but often through FIFO rosters.
•Try before you buy: do some work experience, a pre-apprenticeship course, or a school-based apprenticeship to see if you actually like the day-to-day.
•Line up a good employer. A quality host or group training organisation that trains you properly beats a flashy pay rate.

Sources and official links

Straight from the source. These open in a new tab.

The most in-demand trades in Australia

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The highest paying trades in AustraliaElectricians and plumbers are still the standouts: strong pay, steady demand, and a licence that protects what you can charge. But they are not the very top of the earnings tables. On the government's latest figures auto electricians and bricklayers lead the pack, and diesel mechanics on mining plant earn with the best of them, each with a catch worth understanding. Most of the fifteen trades on this site land in a fairly narrow band, and the biggest pay jumps come from getting licensed, working overtime, heading to mining or remote work, or going out on your own.The most in-demand trades in AustraliaElectrical, plumbing, and air conditioning and refrigeration are the most consistently in-demand trades in Australia, alongside welding and fabrication. But here is the honest part: almost every trade on this site is in national shortage right now, so "which trade is most in demand" matters far less than which work actually suits you. A trade you stick with beats a hot trade you quit.Which trade should you do?There is no single "best" trade, only the one that fits you. If you want the strongest mix of pay and long-term demand, electrical, plumbing and the heavy diesel side of automotive sit at the top, with auto electrical, air conditioning and refrigeration, plastering and carpentry close behind. But the right choice depends just as much on the kind of work you can see yourself doing every day, the conditions you can handle, and whether you want to work indoors, outdoors, in a workshop, a salon, a kitchen, or up a ladder. This guide compares all 15 trades on this site, and the two minute quiz at /which-trade-suits-you now covers all 15 as well.Is a trade worth it?For a lot of Australians, yes. A trade lets you earn while you learn, finish with a nationally recognised qualification and no university debt, and move into work that is in steady demand and hard to send offshore. But it is not easy money: the apprentice years pay is low, the work is physical, and a large share of trade apprentices do not finish, so it is only worth it if the trade and the lifestyle genuinely suit you.

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General guidance only

Answers here are general guidance to point you in the right direction - always check official sources and ask your supervisor for your specific situation.