Welding Apprentice Hub
Boilermaking and welding is the heavy end of the metal trades. You read engineering drawings, then cut, fit and weld steel plate, pipe and sections into structures and equipment that have to hold up under load. The words get used loosely on site: a boilermaker is a fabricator and welder who works heavy plate and structural steel, a welder is anyone joining metal, and a fabricator marks out and builds it up. Most apprentices come out able to do all three.
It is a trade in real demand. Boilermakers and welders sit on the national Skills Priority List, with work across steel fabrication shops, construction, mining and resources, defence, shipbuilding and renewables. Where you end up shapes the job a lot. A structural fab shop, a mine shutdown and a mobile maintenance run are three different working lives, with different processes, paperwork and pay. This page walks through what a first year actually looks like.
Thinking about it?
Thinking about getting into Welding?
How to get in with no experience
Most people get into welding and metal fabrication through an apprenticeship, and you do not need any experience to start. A common first step is a pre-apprenticeship or a Certificate II at TAFE, which lets you try welding, pick up basic hand skills and show employers you are serious. From there you either apply directly to a fabrication or engineering workshop, or sign on with a Group Training Organisation (a GTO employs you and rotates you between host businesses, which is handy if you cannot find a direct start). You will also need a white card (the general construction induction card) before you can work on most sites, and a driver licence helps a lot. Employers mainly look for reliability, a good attitude and someone who turns up on time, so a bit of work experience, a school-based apprenticeship or a pre-apprenticeship can get your foot in the door.
Who it suits
This trade suits people who like working with their hands and can see a job through to a neat, precise finish. Welding and fabrication is physical: you are on your feet, lifting and moving steel, and working around heat, sparks and noise, sometimes outdoors on site and sometimes in a workshop. It rewards patience and a steady hand more than raw strength, because a good weld is about control, setup and reading a drawing correctly. People who enjoy building something real, solving practical problems and taking pride in tidy work tend to love it. If you want a clean, quiet desk job, or you really struggle with heat, fumes and repetitive physical work, it is honestly not the trade for you.
What you can earn
Qualified welders and metal fabricators earn a solid full-time wage, but the exact figure moves over time, so it is best to read it straight from the source. The Australian Government's Your Career profiles for Welder (First Class) and for Metal Fabricator each list a current, approximate median weekly earnings figure that is updated from time to time. Treat whatever number is shown there as an approximate mid-point only: real pay varies with experience, location, the industry you work in, how much overtime you pick up, and whether you eventually go out on your own, with mining, resources and specialised or coded welding tending to pay more than general workshop work. Apprentice pay is separate and starts much lower. It is set by the relevant award (usually the Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award), rises with each year of your apprenticeship, and also depends on your age and whether you are an adult apprentice. Check what you would actually be paid using the Fair Work Ombudsman's Pay and Conditions Tool (the pay calculator) rather than relying on a headline number.
Job outlook
The outlook is solid. Your Career lists large numbers of welders and metal fabricators employed across construction, manufacturing, mining and infrastructure, and points to ongoing demand for the trade. Welding and fabrication occupations also regularly appear on Jobs and Skills Australia's national Occupation Shortage List (formerly the Skills Priority List), which means employers often struggle to find qualified tradespeople, and that works in your favour when you are starting out. The work is fairly resilient to automation: robots handle some repetitive factory welds, but skilled hand welding, on-site fabrication, repairs and one-off jobs still need a person who can read a drawing and adapt on the spot. Demand does move with the building and resources cycle, so where you live and the local industry will shape how easy it is to find work.
Earnings and outlook are a guide only and change over time. Sources: Your Career: Welder (First Class) occupation profile (Australian Government) (opens in a new tab), Your Career: Metal Fabricator occupation profile (Australian Government) (opens in a new tab), Australian Apprenticeships: how to become an apprentice and find a provider (opens in a new tab), training.gov.au: Certificate III in Engineering - Fabrication Trade (MEM31925) (opens in a new tab), Fair Work Ombudsman: Apprentices and trainees (pay and pay calculator) (opens in a new tab), Jobs and Skills Australia: Occupation Shortage List (opens in a new tab)
Start with these
What apprentices actually do
- •Read and interpret engineering and shop drawings, including weld symbols.
- •Measure, mark out and cut steel with saw, guillotine, plasma and oxy.
- •Fit and tack plate, pipe and sections to the drawing or in jigs.
- •Weld using MIG, stick, flux core and TIG depending on the job and material.
- •Grind, dress and finish welds so they pass visual and NDT inspection.
- •Fabricate structural steel, pipework, platework and RHS/SHS jobs.
- •Handle material safely: slinging, dogging and using overhead cranes and forklifts.
Same trade, different worlds
Same trade, very different day depending on the kind of work your employer does.
Workshop and structural fabrication
Fab shops that build structural steel, platework and general fabrication for construction and industry. This is where most apprentices start and learn the fundamentals.
- •Day to day: reading shop drawings, marking out, cutting and drilling, fitting parts on a bench or jig, then welding and dressing them off.
- •Processes lean on MIG (GMAW) and flux core for structural steel, with plasma and oxy for cutting. Overhead cranes move the heavy gear.
- •Paperwork is fabrication focused: weld maps, weld procedure specs (WPS), inspection and test plans, and material traceability to standards like AS/NZS 5131.
- •Steady daytime hours, usually paid under the Manufacturing Award or a shop EBA. Fewer site allowances but a settled routine and a good place to build weld quality.
Resources and heavy industrial
Mine sites, processing plants, refineries and major shutdowns. High pay, high hazard, and a lot of process and permit paperwork.
- •Day to day: structural and pipework, wear plate, pressure work and repairs, often on shutdowns where you work around live production.
- •More stick (MMAW) and TIG (GTAW) show up here, especially for pipe, stainless and pressure jobs where welds get x-rayed.
- •Heavy safety paperwork: JSAs, hot work permits, confined space entry, isolation and lockout (LOTO), prestarts and take 5s before every task.
- •Often FIFO or DIDO on 12 hour shifts and set rosters. Pay is usually an EBA well above award, with site, shift and travel allowances and RDOs. This is where the big money in the trade is.
Maintenance and on-site repair
Keeping plant and equipment running: breakdown welding, wear repairs and general fabrication, often from a truck or ute.
- •Day to day is reactive and varied. One job might be a cracked bucket, the next a handrail or a conveyor frame. You learn to problem solve fast.
- •Portable kit rules: a welder or genset, oxy set, grinders and a basic fab kit that travels with you.
- •Every hot job needs a permit and a fire watch, plus work orders and SWMS. You are often welding away from a clean workshop, so setup and fire control matter.
- •Callouts and overtime are common, sometimes on-call. Pay depends on the employer, from award through to a site EBA on bigger contracts.
A day in the life (first year)
- ▹Prestart and toolbox meeting, then stretches and a check of the day's drawings and job list.
- ▹Cut and prep material: drop saw, plasma or oxy, then deburr and grind edges ready to fit.
- ▹Help a tradesperson fit and tack components up to the drawing or in a jig.
- ▹Spend a solid chunk of the day grinding, deslagging and cleaning welds so they can be inspected.
- ▹Sling and move steel with the overhead crane once you have got your basic dogging sorted.
- ▹Pack up, clean and sweep your bay, and get your logbook and any weld tickets signed off.
First-year expectations
- →Expect to grind, prep and clean far more than you weld at first. That is normal and it builds the eye for a good weld.
- →Your welds get tested and cut open on coupons. You will fail some and redo them, and that is how you learn to pass.
- →Burns, arc flash (welder's flash) and sore feet come with the job early on. Good PPE and habits cut them right down.
- →You start on offcuts and practice coupons before you are trusted on real jobs and pressure work.
- →Adult apprentices and anyone who has done a pre-apprenticeship usually pick up the fundamentals faster, but everyone does the hours.
- →Pay starts low and steps up as you progress through the stages. Priority occupation incentives can help top it up.
Tools you'll need
Common terms
- Boilermaker
- A fabricator and welder who works heavy plate, pipe and structural steel.
- MIG (GMAW)
- Gas metal arc welding with a fed wire, the fast go-to for structural steel.
- Stick (MMAW)
- Manual metal arc welding using stick electrodes, handy outdoors and on site.
- TIG (GTAW)
- Tungsten inert gas welding for stainless, thin metal and neat, precise welds.
- Flux core (FCAW)
- A wire process with flux inside, good for thick steel and windy conditions.
- Tack
- A small temporary weld that holds parts in place before the full weld.
- WPS
- Welding procedure specification: the recipe telling you how a weld must be run.
- Coupon
- A test piece you weld to prove your welds meet the required standard.
- NDT
- Non-destructive testing such as x-ray, dye penetrant or ultrasonic on welds.
- Deslagging
- Chipping and brushing the slag off a stick or flux core weld.
TAFE & study support
Off the job training runs through a TAFE or registered training organisation, usually on block release (a week or two at a time) or day release. You work through welding booths and theory covering drawing reading, metallurgy, cutting and the main welding processes, and it is competency based rather than just time served. Your training plan and logbook record the units and the on-the-job evidence, and both your employer and trainer sign off as you become competent. Keep the logbook up to date, because it is the proof you need to finish your apprenticeship.
Licensing & qualifications
The trade qualification is the MEM31925 Certificate III in Engineering - Fabrication Trade (current on training.gov.au, superseding MEM31922 and the older MEM30319), taken in the boilermaking or welding stream. Unlike electrical or plumbing, welding is not a licensed occupation, so there is no national ticket you must hold just to weld. In practice, structural and pressure work needs you to pass welder qualification testing to standards like AS/NZS ISO 9606 or AS 1796 (run through Weld Australia) for the specific joints you weld. Requirements are state based, and some building work carries extra rules: in NSW, for example, metal fabrication building work valued at more than $5000 needs a contractor licence under the Home Building Act, so always check your state or territory authority.
What you'll get paid
Apprentice pay is set by stage or year and steps up as you become competent, and adult apprentices (21 and over) generally start on a higher minimum. Many workshops pay the Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award, while commercial, union and resources sites often run an enterprise agreement (EBA) that pays well above award with site, shift and travel allowances and RDOs. Check your exact entitlements on the Fair Work Pay Calculator before you sign anything.
Common questions
What is the difference between a boilermaker, a welder and a fabricator?
They overlap. A boilermaker fabricates and welds heavy plate and structural steel, a welder joins metal, and a fabricator marks out and builds it up. The Cert III trains you across all three.
Do I need a welding licence or ticket?
Not to weld in general. But for structural and pressure work you usually have to pass welder qualification tests (to AS/NZS ISO 9606 or AS 1796) for the joints you run, and some building work needs a state licence.
How long does the apprenticeship take?
Around four years, though it is competency based, so working hard and getting your units signed off can bring that forward.
Can I do FIFO or mine work as an apprentice?
Some do, often through a group training organisation or a contractor. It pays well, but many apprentices do their first year or two in a workshop to build core skills first.
Do I have to buy my own gear?
Employers supply the main PPE and workshop gear. Most apprentices buy their own boots, a decent helmet and basic hand tools, and you can often claim tool costs at tax time.
Do I need Year 12 or a pre-apprenticeship?
No, but finishing Year 12 or doing a pre-apprenticeship helps you get a start, and it can lift your apprentice pay rate.
Direct employer or group training organisation?
A direct employer keeps you on one site. A GTO employs you and rotates you between host businesses, which is handy if a host slows down or you want broader experience.
Safety reminders
- ⚠Welding fume is a proven hazard and can cause lung cancer. The exposure standard was cut to 1 mg/m3 in 2024, so use extraction or local exhaust ventilation, wear a respirator and keep your head out of the plume.
- ⚠Never look at an arc without the right shade, and watch for other people's arcs. Flash burns your eyes hours after the job.
- ⚠Hot work needs a permit, a clear area, an extinguisher and a fire watch. Move or cover anything flammable before you strike an arc.
- ⚠Welding or cutting in tanks, pipes or confined spaces means gas testing, a permit and proper training. Never enter one on a hunch.
- ⚠Grinding discs can shatter. Keep the guard on, use a face shield, check the disc rating and never run a cracked disc.
- ⚠Watch the extra fume from galvanised (zinc) and stainless (chromium and manganese) steel, and mind crush and manual handling risks around heavy steel and cranes.
Sources and official links
Straight from the source. These open in a new tab.
- training.gov.au - MEM31925 Certificate III in Engineering - Fabrication Trade (opens in a new tab)
- Fair Work Ombudsman - Manufacturing and Associated Industries Award (MA000010) (opens in a new tab)
- Fair Work Pay Calculator (opens in a new tab)
- Australian Apprenticeships - financial support for priority occupations (opens in a new tab)
- Safe Work Australia - welding fumes (opens in a new tab)
- Safe Work Australia - changes to the workplace exposure standard for welding fumes (opens in a new tab)
- Weld Australia - welding fumes (opens in a new tab)
- NSW Government - metal fabrication work licensing (opens in a new tab)
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