Anaesthetic Technicians

ANZSCO ID 311211

Overview

Snapshot

Employed
620
Future Growth
N/A
Weekly Earnings
N/A
Full-Time Share
74%
Female Share
53%
Average age
45

Summary

Anaesthetic Technicians prepare and maintain anaesthetic equipment for operating theatres or clinics, and assist Anaesthetists during anaesthetic procedures.

Tasks

  • Operates equipment used in diagnosing and monitoring disorders of the heart, kidneys, nervous system and in anaesthesia.

  • Undertakes and assists with medical analytical procedures and assists anaesthetists and surgical teams.

Characteristics

Job Type
Technicians And Trades Workers
Skill Level
High skill
ANZSCO Occupation group
Unemployment Rate
n/a
Industries
Pathway(s)
  • University
  • Vocational Education and Training (VET)
Interests
  • Practical
  • Analytical
  • Helping
Physical Demand
  • Light

Outlook

Employment Outlook

JSA produces employment projections to show where likely future job opportunities may be. Employment projections data are only produced for occupations at the broad four digit Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) level. While data are not available for this occupation, projections data are available for the parent occupation, Medical Technicians, under the outlook section.


Earnings and hours

Working arrangements

  • Around 74% of people employed as Anaesthetic Technicians work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 8 percentage points above the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 42 hours per week in their main job. This is similar to the all jobs average (44 hours per week).

    Sources:Full-time share and full-time hours: ABS, 2016 Census, customised report. Compared to the all jobs average.


Industries

Main industries

1
Health Care and Social Assistance
95.1%
2
Public Administration and Safety
1.5%
3
Financial and Insurance Services
0.5%
4
Education and Training
0.5%
5
Other industries
0.5%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

11.7% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

10.2% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

34.6% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

0.5% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

43.0% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

0.0% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

0.0% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

0.0% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Anaesthetic Technicians All Jobs Average
NSW 11.7 31.6
VIC 10.2 25.6
QLD 34.6 20.0
SA 0.5 7.0
WA 43.0 10.8
TAS 0.0 2.0
NT 0.0 1.0
ACT 0.0 1.9


  • Around 71% of Anaesthetic Technicians live in capital cities, compared with the all jobs average of 62%.

    Western Australia and Queensland have a large share of employment relative to their population size.

    The regions with the largest share of workers are:

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Share of workers across Australian states, territories and regions, in this job compared to the all jobs average.


Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
45
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
53%
All Jobs Average is 48%
  • The median age of Anaesthetic Technicians is 45 years. This is higher than the all jobs average of 40 years.

    A large share of workers are aged 45 to 54 years.

    Females make up 53% of the workforce. This is 5 percentage points above the all jobs average of 48%.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile and gender share compared to the all jobs average.

Age Profile (% Share)

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Bracket Anaesthetic Technicians All Jobs Average
15-19 0.5 5.0
20-24 4.9 9.3
25-34 18.1 22.9
35-44 26.2 22.0
45-54 26.9 21.6
55-59 14.3 9.0
60-64 6.5 6.0
65 and Over 2.6 4.2
Median Age 45 40

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.


Employment Pathways

Education, training and experience

A diploma in anaesthetic technology or paramedical science is usually needed to work as an Anaesthetic Technician. Some workers have a university qualification.

Visit

  • Course Seeker to search and compare higher education courses.
  • ComparED to compare undergraduate and postgraduate student experiences and outcomes.
  • My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
  • AAPathways website to explore Health Industry and Laboratory Operations VET training pathways.

Highest Level of Education (% Share)

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Type of Qualification Anaesthetic Technicians All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 20.8 10.1
Bachelor degree 17.2 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 48.6 11.6
Certificate III/IV 10.8 21.1
Year 12 2.2 18.1
Year 11 0.0 4.8
Year 10 and below 0.5 12.5

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.


Skills and Knowledge

Employers look for Medical Technicians who have good people skills, a high attention to detail and are accurate.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 61%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 55%

    Active listening

    Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

  • 55%

    Monitoring

    Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.

  • 54%

    Critical thinking

    Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

  • 54%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 52%

    Active learning

    Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.

  • 52%

    Judgment and decision making

    Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.

  • 52%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 50%

    Operation monitoring

    Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.

  • 50%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 50%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 50%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 48%

    Complex problem solving

    Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

  • 48%

    Operation and control

    Controlling equipment or systems.

  • 46%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 46%

    Learning strategies

    Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.

  • 45%

    Time management

    Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.

  • 41%

    Mathematics

    Using maths to solve problems.

  • 41%

    Quality control analysis

    Doing tests and checking products, services, or processes to make sure they are working properly.

  • 41%

    Science

    Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.


Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 67%

    Customer and personal service

    Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.

  • 61%

    English language

    English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

  • 60%

    Medicine and dentistry

    Diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities, including preventive health-care measures.

  • 55%

    Psychology

    Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.

  • 53%

    Chemistry

    Chemical composition, structure, and properties. How chemicals are made, used, mixed, and can change.

  • 50%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 49%

    Biology

    Plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, how they rely on and work with each other and the environment.

  • 48%

    Education and training

    Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

  • 44%

    Computers and electronics

    Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

  • 41%

    Physics

    The physical laws of matter, motion and energy, and how they interact through space and time.

  • 40%

    Therapy and counselling

    Diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and career counselling and guidance.

  • 37%

    Mechanical

    Machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

  • 35%

    Public safety and security

    Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.

  • 34%

    Sociology and anthropology

    Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

  • 29%

    Philosophy and theology

    Philosophical systems and religions, including their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and impact on society.

  • 28%

    Clerical

    Word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office work.

  • 27%

    Communications and media

    Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.

  • 26%

    Engineering and technology

    Use engineering, science and technology to design and produce goods and services.

  • 26%

    Law and government

    How our laws and courts work. Government rules and regulations, and the political system.

  • 23%

    Foreign language

    Foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.


Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 63%

    Near vision

    See details that are up-close (within a few feet).

  • 59%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 59%

    Problem spotting

    Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.

  • 59%

    Written comprehension

    Read and understand written information.

  • 55%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 55%

    Inductive reasoning

    Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.

  • 55%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 54%

    Flexibility of closure

    See a pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) hidden in other distracting material.

  • 54%

    Sorting or ordering

    Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

  • 54%

    Written expression

    Write in a way that people can understand.

  • 52%

    Perceptual speed

    Use your eyes to quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

  • 52%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.

  • 52%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 50%

    Arm-hand steadiness

    Keep your hand or arm steady.

  • 50%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 48%

    Control precision

    Quickly change the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

  • 48%

    Manual dexterity

    Quickly move your hand to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.

  • 46%

    Colour discrimination

    Notice differences between colours, including shades of colour and brightness.

  • 46%

    Finger dexterity

    Put together small parts with your fingers.

  • 45%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.


Activities

These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.

  • 84%

    Helping and caring for others

    Providing personal assistance, medical attention, or emotional support.

  • 81%

    Monitoring people, processes and things

    Checking objects, actions, or events, and keeping an eye out for problems.

  • 76%

    Making decisions and solving problems

    Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.

  • 76%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

    Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.

  • 73%

    Looking for changes over time

    Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.

  • 71%

    Documenting or recording information

    Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

  • 69%

    Checking compliance with standards

    Deciding whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.

  • 68%

    Making sense of information and ideas

    Looking at, working with, and understanding data or information.

  • 67%

    Checking for errors or defects

    Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials for errors, problems or defects.

  • 66%

    Collecting and organising information

    Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or checking information or data.

  • 65%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 65%

    Controlling equipment or machines

    Operating machines or processes either directly or using controls (not including computers or vehicles).

  • 64%

    Communicating within a team

    Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 63%

    Assessing and evaluating things

    Working out the value, importance, or quality of things, services or people.

  • 61%

    Thinking creatively

    Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.

  • 60%

    Planning and prioritising work

    Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.

  • 58%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 56%

    Training and teaching others

    Understanding the needs of others, developing training programs, and teaching or instructing.

  • 49%

    Working with the public

    Greeting or serving customers, clients or guests, and public speaking or performing.

  • 48%

    Estimating amounts, costs and resources

    Working out sizes, distances, amounts, time, costs, resources, or materials needed for a task.


Interests and demands

Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.

Interests

Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.

  • 76%

    Practical

    Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

  • 71%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

  • 67%

    Analytical

    Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.

  • 38%

    Administrative

    Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.

  • 38%

    Enterprising

    Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.

  • 14%

    Creative

    Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.


Values

Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.
  • 76%

    Support

    Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.

  • 71%

    Relationships

    Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.

  • 62%

    Achievement

    Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

  • 60%

    Working conditions

    Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.

  • 57%

    Independence

    Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.

  • 57%

    Recognition

    Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.


Demands

The physical and social demands that workers face most often are shown below:
  • 98%

    Disease or infection

    Be exposed to disease or infections.

  • 97%

    Wear common protective or safety equipment

    Wear equipment like safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hard hats or life jackets.

  • 97%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 96%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 94%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 91%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 90%

    Physically close to people

    Work physically close to other people.

  • 89%

    Unstructured work

    Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.

  • 89%

    Telephone

    Talk on the telephone.

  • 88%

    Health and safety of others

    Take responsibility for the health and safety of others.

  • 87%

    Lead or coordinate a team

    Lead others to do work activities.

  • 85%

    Contact with people

    Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.

  • 83%

    Freedom to make decisions

    Have freedom to make decision on your own.

  • 80%

    Wear specialized protective or safety equipment

    Wear equipment like breathing apparatus, safety harness, full protection suits, or radiation protection.

  • 79%

    Contact with the public

    Work with customers or the public.

  • 79%

    Using your hands to handle, control, or feel

    Spend time using your hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls.

  • 78%

    Responsible for outcomes

    Take responsibility for the results of other people's work.

  • 78%

    Spend time standing

    Spend time standing at work.

  • 78%

    Repeating same tasks

    Repeat the same tasks or activities (e.g., key entry) over and over, without stopping.

  • 78%

    Radiation

    Be exposed to radiation.

Occupational Information Network
O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 29-1071.01 - Anesthesiologist Assistants.


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