Administrative and Support Services
Overview
Snapshot
Summary
Around 3% of workers have their main job in the Administrative and Support Services industry.
Businesses in this industry are mainly involved in support activities like:
- office administration
- hiring and placing personnel for others
- preparing documents
- taking orders for clients by telephone
- providing credit reporting or collecting services
- arranging travel and tours.
On-the-job training is common, almost half of workers do not have post-school qualifications. Although, 30% have a VET qualification and 21% have a university qualification.
More than half of those with their main job in this industry are employed full-time.
Average earnings are $1,050 per week, lower the all industries average of $1,250.
Employment
Employment in the Administrative and Support Services industry grew over the 20 years to February 2023.
The number of workers:
- fell by 48,800 (or 10.5%) over the last quarter
- grew by 3,400 (or 0.8%) over the last year.
Quarterly employment, Administrative and Support Services
Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, February 2023, seasonally adjusted.
Outlook
Employment in Administrative and Support Services is projected to grow by 28,800 (or 6.4%) over the five years to November 2026.
Employment levels, past and projected, Administrative and Support Services
Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, November 2021, seasonally adjusted and Jobs and Skills Australia, 2021 Employment projections for the five years to 2026.
Sectors
Building Cleaning, Pest Control and Gardening Services is the largest sector in the Administrative and Support Services industry, employing 52.9% of workers.
Employment by sector, Administrative and Support Services
Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, F, seasonally adjusted.
Occupations
Largest employing occupations
Commercial Cleaners is the largest employing occupation in the Administrative and Support Services industry.
The 10 largest employing occupations are shown below. The table shows:
- the number employed in all industries
- the number employed in this industry
- the proportion employed in this industry.
Some occupations are common across a number of industries.
Largest employing occupations, Administrative and Support Services industry
ANZSCO Code | Occupation title |
Employment |
Employment (this industry) |
Proportion employed in this industry |
8112 | Commercial Cleaners | 164,600 | 82,800 | 50% |
8113 | Domestic Cleaners | 36,300 | 31,900 | 88% |
2231 | Human Resource Professionals | 79,700 | 31,500 | 40% |
3622 | Gardeners | 80,200 | 27,800 | 35% |
5311 | General Clerks | 288,700 | 13,200 | 5% |
8414 | Garden and Nursery Labourers | 32,300 | 10,800 | 33% |
4516 | Tourism and Travel Advisers | 13,600 | 10,600 | 78% |
1493 | Conference and Event Organisers | 24,300 | 9,200 | 38% |
8321 | Packers | 67,100 | 8,100 | 12% |
1323 | Human Resource Managers | 84,700 | 7,700 | 9% |
Source: ABS Labour Force Survey, four quarter average, 2021.
Related occupations
The Administrative and Support Services industry employs workers in a range of occupations.
The table below shows related occupations by ANZSCO Skill Level (Skill Level 1 is the highest skill level). This includes occupations that:
- contribute a large share of industry employment (account for at least 3% of industry employment)
- have a large share of workers in this industry (at least 5% of workers in an occupation).
These thresholds were used as a guide only and a number refinements were made to the list of occupations included.
The table shows the total number of people employed in each occupation as well as the number and proportion employed in this industry at the time of the 2016 ABS Census.
- In most cases, 6-digit ANZSCO occupations are shown. This is the most detailed level of ANZSCO.
- 4-digit occupations are shown where the ANZSCO classification system only has one valid 6-digit occupation.
- The 4-digit employment figures will differ from the figures shown in the Largest employment occupations table above because the figures have come from different data sources.
Expand or collapse each Skill Level button to view related occupations.
Occupations related to Administrative and Support Services industry, by skill level
ANZSCO code | Occupation title | Employment (all industries) |
Employed (this industry) |
Proportion employed in this industry |
223112 | Recruitment Consultant | 26,234 | 16,814 | 64% |
1323 | Human Resource Manager | 43,993 | 3,710 | 8% |
223111 | Human Resource Adviser | 24,183 | 2,636 | 11% |
1111 | Chief Executive or Managing Director | 52,650 | 2,498 | 5% |
111211 | Corporate General Manager | 47,951 | 2,215 | 5% |
272111 | Careers Counsellor | 2,065 | 321 | 16% |
212212 | Book or Script Editor | 1,254 | 69 | 6% |
222211 | Financial Market Dealer | 1,274 | 49 | 4% |
272313 | Organisational Psychologist | 441 | 40 | 9% |
Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report.
ANZSCO code | Occupation title | Employment (all industries) |
Employed (this industry) |
Proportion employed in this industry |
5121 | Office Manager | 109,391 | 5,574 | 5% |
1493 | Conference and Event Organiser | 19,769 | 5,072 | 26% |
521211 | Secretary (General) | 32,035 | 3,604 | 11% |
149999 | Hospitality, Retail and Service Managers nec | 19,078 | 2,104 | 11% |
149913 | Facilities Manager | 16,717 | 1,488 | 9% |
142116 | Travel Agency Manager | 1,727 | 1,437 | 83% |
149212 | Customer Service Manager | 32,559 | 1,379 | 4% |
411712 | Disabilities Services Officer | 6,421 | 1,176 | 18% |
511111 | Contract Administrator | 17,579 | 838 | 5% |
4314 | Hotel Service Manager | 7,195 | 478 | 7% |
149211 | Call or Contact Centre Manager | 2,965 | 366 | 12% |
Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report.
ANZSCO code | Occupation title | Employment (all industries) |
Employed (this industry) |
Proportion employed in this industry |
451612 | Travel Consultant | 19,653 | 17,248 | 88% |
362211 | Gardener (General) | 28,313 | 14,606 | 52% |
362212 | Arborist | 5,186 | 3,060 | 59% |
451412 | Tour Guide | 4,456 | 2,086 | 47% |
362213 | Landscape Gardener | 19,363 | 1,414 | 7% |
3623 | Greenkeeper | 12,002 | 851 | 7% |
541111 | Call or Contact Centre Team Leader | 2,228 | 328 | 15% |
399516 | Sound Technician | 2,760 | 199 | 7% |
599213 | Court Orderly | 1,223 | 77 | 6% |
Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report.
ANZSCO code | Occupation title | Employment (all industries) |
Employed (this industry) |
Proportion employed in this industry |
5311 | General Clerk | 208,596 | 9,406 | 5% |
541112 | Call or Contact Centre Operator | 28,112 | 4,658 | 17% |
841913 | Pest Controller | 5,124 | 4,579 | 89% |
4231 | Aged or Disabled Carer | 129,712 | 3,256 | 3% |
5993 | Debt Collector | 7,275 | 2,324 | 32% |
5513 | Payroll Clerk | 24,596 | 2,301 | 9% |
7213 | Forklift Driver | 44,420 | 2,004 | 5% |
532111 | Data Entry Operator | 37,405 | 1,820 | 5% |
423312 | Nursing Support Worker | 35,745 | 885 | 2% |
5994 | Human Resources Clerk | 10,349 | 756 | 7% |
532113 | Word Processing Operator | 6,071 | 729 | 12% |
811611 | Carpet Cleaner | 2,778 | 632 | 23% |
423313 | Personal Care Assistant | 28,650 | 541 | 2% |
451611 | Tourist Information Officer | 1,398 | 481 | 34% |
532112 | Machine Shorthand Reporter | 1,227 | 423 | 34% |
423311 | Hospital Orderly | 12,330 | 379 | 3% |
721111 | Agricultural and Horticultural Mobile Plant Operator | 7,841 | 332 | 4% |
421113 | Nanny | 7,176 | 319 | 4% |
731212 | Charter and Tour Bus Driver | 2,028 | 239 | 12% |
8216 | Railway Track Worker | 3,936 | 186 | 5% |
839312 | Product Grader | 1,591 | 130 | 8% |
599916 | Facilities Administrator | 2,837 | 128 | 5% |
721916 | Streetsweeper Operator | 511 | 127 | 25% |
841313 | Tree Faller | 547 | 114 | 21% |
599514 | Noxious Weeds and Pest Inspector | 1,021 | 107 | 10% |
841311 | Forestry Worker | 1,055 | 46 | 4% |
Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report.
ANZSCO code | Occupation title | Employment (all industries) |
Employed (this industry) |
Proportion employed in this industry |
8112 | Commercial Cleaner | 122,644 | 54,662 | 45% |
8113 | Domestic Cleaner | 34,823 | 29,137 | 84% |
841411 | Garden Labourer | 18,123 | 9,348 | 52% |
811411 | Commercial Housekeeper | 25,413 | 4,706 | 19% |
8993 | Handyperson | 29,283 | 3,253 | 11% |
811412 | Domestic Housekeeper | 5,460 | 2,587 | 47% |
811612 | Window Cleaner | 2,811 | 2,579 | 92% |
811699 | Cleaners nec | 4,672 | 2,258 | 48% |
832113 | Fruit and Vegetable Packer | 5,956 | 1,423 | 24% |
899999 | Labourers nec | 14,039 | 1,343 | 10% |
639411 | Ticket Seller | 15,248 | 1,280 | 8% |
6393 | Telemarketer | 6,404 | 1,268 | 20% |
821111 | Builder's Labourer | 36,629 | 1,194 | 3% |
561912 | Meter Reader | 1,860 | 1,168 | 63% |
832199 | Packers nec | 10,859 | 806 | 7% |
899922 | Trolley Collector | 1,965 | 718 | 37% |
899923 | Road Traffic Controller | 9,186 | 557 | 6% |
811511 | Laundry Worker (General) | 10,026 | 529 | 5% |
8991 | Caretaker | 5,932 | 524 | 9% |
832112 | Container Filler | 2,333 | 376 | 16% |
841999 | Farm, Forestry and Garden Workers nec | 3,847 | 278 | 7% |
891111 | Freight Handler (Rail or Road) | 6,374 | 245 | 4% |
839999 | Factory Process Workers nec | 2,249 | 231 | 10% |
899913 | Crossing Supervisor | 5,424 | 204 | 4% |
5616 | Switchboard Operator | 3,117 | 193 | 6% |
639111 | Model | 562 | 148 | 26% |
8996 | Recycling or Rubbish Collector | 2,109 | 106 | 5% |
839918 | Recycling Worker | 1,800 | 100 | 6% |
899921 | Ticket Collector or Usher | 2,595 | 93 | 4% |
811512 | Drycleaner | 2,138 | 74 | 3% |
832111 | Chocolate Packer | 429 | 57 | 13% |
561913 | Parking Inspector | 845 | 47 | 6% |
811513 | Ironer or Presser | 806 | 45 | 6% |
841911 | Hunter-Trapper | 213 | 17 | 8% |
Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report.
Data Downloads
Industry profile data
This file contains data for all 19 industries to make comparing industry data easy. Information available includes:
- Industry snapshot data
- Industry employment (20-year time series)
- Industry employment projections
- Industry sector employment
- Top employing occupations by industry
Occupations related to each Industry, by Skill Level
This spreadsheet lists occupations that are related to each industry by ANZSCO Skill Level.
Occupation (ANZSCO) to industry (ANZSIC) correspondence
This file maps occupations to industries using the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) and Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC).
Data are sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016 Census.
The purposes of the correspondence are to:
- Identify occupations that contribute a large share of employment to each industry.
- Identify occupations that have a strong association with each industry, even if they do not contribute a large share of employment to the industry.
Useful links
Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC)
The ANZSIC provides a basis for the standardised collection, analysis and dissemination of economic data on an industry basis for Australia and New Zealand. The ANZSIC is a hierarchical industry classification with four levels, namely Divisions (the broadest level), Subdivisions, Groups and Classes (the finest level).
There are 19 Division level industries, most industry data on LMI are displayed at this level. Division level industries provide a broad overall picture of the economy and this level is most suitable for the publication of summary tables in official statistics.
The Subdivision, Group and Class levels provide increasingly detailed dissections of these categories for the compilation of more specific and detailed statistics. The sector data on LMI is at the Group level.
For more information on the ANZSIC visit the ABS website.
Industry links
- Accommodation and Food Services
- Administrative and Support Services
- Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
- Arts and Recreation Services
- Construction
- Education and Training
- Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services
- Financial and Insurance Services
- Health Care and Social Assistance
- Information Media and Telecommunications
- Manufacturing
- Mining
- Other Services
- Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
- Public Administration and Safety
- Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services
- Retail Trade
- Transport, Postal and Warehousing
- Wholesale Trade