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Human Resource Clerks

ANZSCO ID 5994

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Overview

Snapshot

Employed
28,700
Future Growth
6%
Weekly Earnings
$1,442
Full-Time Share
77%
Female Share
76%
Average age
40
About this data

Summary

Human Resources Clerks maintain and update personnel records such as information on transfers and promotions, employee leave taken and accumulated, salaries, superannuation and taxation, qualifications and training.

Also known as: Employment Office or Personnel Records Clerk.

Specialisations: Psychological Examiner (Army), Roster Clerk.

Formal qualifications are not essential to work as a Human Resources Clerk. Although some workers have a Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification or a university degree in human resources, employment services or another related field.

Tasks

  • updating information on leave taken and accumulated, employment history, salaries, superannuation and taxation, qualifications and training

  • raising records for newly appointed workers and checking records for completeness

  • processing applications for employment and promotions and advising applicants of results

  • receiving and answering inquiries about employment entitlements and conditions

  • sending out announcements of job openings and job examinations

  • issuing job application forms

  • compiling data from personnel records and preparing reports

  • storing and retrieving personnel records and files on request

Characteristics

Job Type
Clerical And Administrative Workers
Skill Level
Lower skill
ANZSCO Occupation group
5994 Human Resource Clerks This occupation is Current selected
Unemployment Rate
Above average
Industries
Pathway(s)
  • University
  • Vocational Education and Training (VET)
  • Informal or on-the-job
Interests
  • Administrative
  • Enterprising
Physical Demand
  • Sedentary

Outlook

Employment Outlook

JSA produces employment projections to show where likely future job opportunities may be. The latest data are for the five years from November 2021 to November 2026. Over this period, the number of workers:

  • is expected to grow moderately
  • is likely to reach 14,900 by 2026.

    • Source: Jobs and Skills Australia Employment Projections to 2026.

    Notes: The number employed includes people who work in this occupation as their main job. People who work in more than one job are counted against the occupation they work the most hours in.

    Employment projections figures are rounded to the nearest 100. Calculations based on these rounded figures may result in differences to the numbers that are displayed on this page. Employment projections data (including occupations) can be downloaded from the Employment Projections page.

Projected Change
6%
(or 800 jobs)
From
14,000
in 2021
To
14,900
in 2026

Number of Workers

Source: ABS Labour Force Survey, ABS seasonally adjusted data to November 2021 and Jobs and Skills Australia Employment Projections to 2026.
Year Employment
2011 10,900
2012 16,700
2013 10,100
2014 9,000
2015 12,100
2016 11,900
2017 9,400
2018 10,400
2019 19,200
2020 14,500
2021 14,000
2026 14,900

Source: ABS Labour Force Survey, ABS seasonally adjusted data to November 2021 and Jobs and Skills Australia Employment Projections to 2026.

Earnings and hours

Working arrangements

  • Around 76% of people employed as Human Resource Clerks work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 10 percentage points above the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 41 hours per week in their main job. This is similar to the all jobs average (44 hours per week).

    More than a third of workers regularly work overtime or extra hours (either paid or unpaid).

    Median full-time earnings are $1,442 per week, this is lower than the all jobs median ($1,593):

    • 3 in 4 workers earn more than $1,164
    • 1 in 4 earn more than $1,702

    Median hourly earnings are $36, this is lower than the all jobs median ($41 per hour).

    Sources: Full-time share and full-time hours: ABS, 2016 Census, customised report. Compared to the all jobs average. Overtime hours: ABS, Characteristics of Employment, 2021. Full-time median earnings and median hourly earnings: ABS, Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2021. Compared to all jobs median.

Weekly Earnings (Before Tax)

Source: Based on ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2021, Customised Report. Median weekly total cash earnings for full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate. Earnings are before tax and include amounts salary sacrificed. Earnings can vary greatly depending on the skills and experience of the worker and the demands of the role. These figures should be used as a guide only, not to determine a wage rate.
Earnings Human Resource Clerks All Jobs Average
Full-Time Earnings 1,442 1,593
Total Earnings 0 0

Source: Based on ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2021, Customised Report. Median weekly total cash earnings for full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate. Earnings are before tax and include amounts salary sacrificed. Earnings can vary greatly depending on the skills and experience of the worker and the demands of the role. These figures should be used as a guide only, not to determine a wage rate.

Industries

Main industries

1
Health Care and Social Assistance
32.1%
2
Public Administration and Safety
19.8%
3
Transport, Postal and Warehousing
9.2%
4
Financial and Insurance Services
7.6%
5
Other industries
32.8%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

33.2% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

20.9% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

20.6% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

7.3% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

11.9% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

2.0% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

1.2% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

3.1% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Human Resource Clerks All Jobs Average
NSW 33.2 31.6
VIC 20.9 25.6
QLD 20.6 20.0
SA 7.3 7.0
WA 11.9 10.8
TAS 2.0 2.0
NT 1.2 1.0
ACT 3.1 1.9


Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
40
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
76%
All Jobs Average is 48%

  • The median age of Human Resource Clerks is 40 years. This is the same as the all jobs average.

    A large share of workers are aged 25 to 34 years.

    Females make up 76% of the workforce. This is 28 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 Human Resource Clerks All Jobs Average
15-19 1.0 5.0
20-24 8.6 9.3
25-34 27.3 22.9
35-44 23.8 22.0
45-54 23.3 21.6
55-59 9.1 9.0
60-64 5.0 6.0
65 and Over 1.9 4.2
Median Age 40 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

Formal qualifications are not essential to work as a Human Resources Clerk. Although some workers have a Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification or a university degree in human resources, employment services or another related field.

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 Financial Services 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 Human Resource Clerks All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 6.6 10.1
Bachelor degree 19.3 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 17.8 11.6
Certificate III/IV 20.8 21.1
Year 12 21.2 18.1
Year 11 4.5 4.8
Year 10 and below 9.6 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 Human Resource Clerks with good people skills, are motivated, organised and work well in a team.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 55%

    Active listening

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

  • 55%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 50%

    Critical thinking

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

  • 50%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 50%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 46%

    Monitoring

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

  • 45%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 45%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 43%

    Judgment and decision making

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

  • 43%

    Active learning

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

  • 41%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 41%

    Time management

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

  • 39%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

  • 37%

    Complex problem solving

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

  • 37%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 37%

    Learning strategies

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

  • 37%

    Management of personnel resources

    Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.

  • 36%

    Negotiation

    Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.

  • 36%

    Systems analysis

    Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect it.

  • 27%

    Mathematics

    Using maths to solve problems.

Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 72%

    Clerical

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

  • 72%

    Customer and personal service

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

  • 60%

    Personnel and human resources

    Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.

  • 60%

    English language

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

  • 57%

    Computers and electronics

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

  • 54%

    Administration and management

    Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.

  • 43%

    Education and training

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

  • 43%

    Law and government

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

  • 40%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 39%

    Communications and media

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

  • 39%

    Economics and accounting

    Economics and accounting, the financial markets, banking and checking and reporting of financial data.

  • 38%

    Psychology

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

  • 31%

    Public safety and security

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

  • 31%

    Sociology and anthropology

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

  • 27%

    Philosophy and theology

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

  • 27%

    Therapy and counselling

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

  • 26%

    Sales and marketing

    Showing, promoting, and selling including marketing strategy, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

  • 20%

    Telecommunications

    Transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

  • 19%

    Foreign language

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

  • 18%

    Production and processing

    Raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and ways of making and distributing goods.

Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 57%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 55%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 52%

    Written comprehension

    Read and understand written information.

  • 52%

    Near vision

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

  • 52%

    Written expression

    Write in a way that people can understand.

  • 46%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 46%

    Problem spotting

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

  • 43%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 43%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.

  • 43%

    Inductive reasoning

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

  • 43%

    Sorting or ordering

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

  • 41%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 39%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.

  • 37%

    Far vision

    See details that are far away.

  • 37%

    Multitasking

    Do two or more things at the same time.

  • 36%

    Brainstorming

    Come up with a number of ideas about a topic, even if the ideas aren't very good.

  • 36%

    Flexibility of closure

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

  • 36%

    Originality

    Come up with unusual or clever ideas, or creative ways to solve a problem.

  • 32%

    Perceptual speed

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

  • 30%

    Mathematics

    Choose the right maths method or formula to solve a problem.

Activities

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

  • 70%

    Planning and prioritising work

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

  • 66%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 65%

    Communicating within a team

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

  • 64%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

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

  • 62%

    Collecting and organising information

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

  • 59%

    Monitoring people, processes and things

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

  • 58%

    Providing office support

    Doing day-to-day office work such as filing and processing paperwork.

  • 55%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 53%

    Documenting or recording information

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

  • 51%

    Communicating with the public

    Giving information to the public, business or government by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 51%

    Checking compliance with standards

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

  • 49%

    Helping and caring for others

    Providing personal assistance, medical attention, or emotional support.

  • 49%

    Looking for changes over time

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

  • 48%

    Working with computers

    Using computers to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.

  • 46%

    Making decisions and solving problems

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

  • 45%

    Scheduling work and activities

    Working out the timing of events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.

  • 45%

    Making sense of information and ideas

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

  • 44%

    Negotiating and resolving conflicts

    Handling complaints and disagreements, and negotiating with people.

  • 41%

    Explaining things to people

    Helping people to understand and use information.

  • 39%

    Working with the public

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

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.

  • 100%

    Administrative

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

  • 67%

    Enterprising

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

  • 48%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

  • 24%

    Analytical

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

  • 19%

    Practical

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

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 67%

    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.

  • 55%

    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.

  • 52%

    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.

  • 48%

    Achievement

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

  • 48%

    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:

  • 100%

    Telephone

    Talk on the telephone.

  • 99%

    Electronic mail

    Use electronic mail.

  • 96%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 95%

    Contact with people

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

  • 94%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 90%

    Repeating same tasks

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

  • 88%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 87%

    Spend time sitting

    Spend time sitting at work.

  • 84%

    Unstructured work

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

  • 83%

    Time pressure

    Work to strict deadlines.

  • 83%

    Letters and memos

    Write letters and memos.

  • 82%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 74%

    Freedom to make decisions

    Have freedom to make decision on your own.

  • 68%

    Making repetitive motions

    Spend time making repetitive motions.

  • 67%

    Lead or coordinate a team

    Lead others to do work activities.

  • 66%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 66%

    Angry or unpleasant people

    Deal with unpleasant, angry, or rude people.

  • 65%

    Conflict situations

    Deal with conflict or disagreements.

  • 65%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 63%

    Contact with the public

    Work with customers or the public.

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, 43-4161.00 - Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping.

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