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Insurance Investigators, Loss Adjusters and Risk Surveyors

ANZSCO ID 5996

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Overview

Snapshot

Employed
5,900
Future Growth
10.2%
Weekly Earnings
$1,864
Full-Time Share
87%
Female Share
31%
Average age
44
About this data

Summary

Insurance Investigators, Loss Adjusters and Risk Surveyors conduct investigations into insurance claims to ensure their validity, inspect and assess the damage and loss to insured properties and businesses, estimate insurance costs, and inspect insured properties to evaluate conditions affecting underwriting standards.

Tasks

  • examining scenes of incidents resulting in insurance claims to determine causes and effects

  • interviewing witnesses and claimants to obtain details required to assess the validity of claims and identify the parties responsible for accidents, damage and loss, and preparing statements and reports

  • inspecting damaged buildings, equipment and motor vehicles and estimating the cost of repairs

  • estimating business losses resulting from fire, theft and other business disruptions

  • reporting the extent of damage and estimated costs to the insurer

  • inspecting property, buildings and operations of commercial and industrial establishments to assess physical conditions and work practices

  • evaluating the adequacy of security, fire and related systems

  • preparing reports and recommending action to reduce risks

  • compiling data which influence the determination of premium rates

Characteristics

Job Type
Clerical And Administrative Workers
Skill Level
Medium skill
ANZSCO Occupation group
5996 Insurance Investigators, Loss Adjusters and Risk Surveyors This occupation is Current selected
Unemployment Rate
Below average
Industries
Pathway(s)
  • University
  • Vocational Education and Training (VET)
  • Informal or on-the-job
Interests
  • Administrative
  • Enterprising
Physical Demand
  • Sedentary
  • Light

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 strongly
  • is likely to reach 4,400 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
10.2%
(or 400 jobs)
From
4,000
in 2021
To
4,400
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 3,600
2012 6,200
2013 9,600
2014 4,700
2015 5,100
2016 4,900
2017 5,600
2018 5,900
2019 6,100
2020 8,300
2021 4,000
2026 4,400

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 87% of people employed as Insurance Investigators, Loss Adjusters and Risk Surveyors work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 21 percentage points above the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 43 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 $1,864 per week, this is much higher than the all jobs median ($1,593):

    • 3 in 4 workers earn more than $1,633
    • 1 in 4 earn more than $2,130

    Median hourly earnings are $49, this is more 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 Insurance Investigators, Loss Adjusters and Risk Surveyors All Jobs Average
Full-Time Earnings 1,864 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
Financial and Insurance Services
78.0%
2
Public Administration and Safety
11.9%
3
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
6.8%
4
Construction
3.4%
5
Other industries
1.7%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

39.6% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

27.1% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

16.6% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

5.8% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

8.1% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

1.4% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

0.4% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

1.0% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Insurance Investigators, Loss Adjusters and Risk Surveyors All Jobs Average
NSW 39.6 31.6
VIC 27.1 25.6
QLD 16.6 20.0
SA 5.8 7.0
WA 8.1 10.8
TAS 1.4 2.0
NT 0.4 1.0
ACT 1.0 1.9


  • Around 74% of Insurance Investigators, Loss Adjusters and Risk Surveyors live in capital cities, compared with the all jobs average of 62%.

    New South Wales has a large share of employment relative to its population size.

    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
44
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
31%
All Jobs Average is 48%

  • The median age of Insurance Investigators, Loss Adjusters and Risk Surveyors is 44 years. This is higher than the all jobs average of 40 years.

    A large share of workers are aged 35 to 44 years.

    Females make up 31% of the workforce. This is 17 percentage points below 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 Insurance Investigators, Loss Adjusters and Risk Surveyors All Jobs Average
15-19 0.1 5.0
20-24 2.7 9.3
25-34 22.2 22.9
35-44 25.9 22.0
45-54 25.1 21.6
55-59 10.8 9.0
60-64 8.2 6.0
65 and Over 4.9 4.2
Median Age 44 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 Vocational Education and Training (VET) or university qualification in insurance, investigative services, financial services, loss adjusting, or another related field is usually needed to work as an Insurance Investigator, Loss Adjuster or Risk Surveyor.

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 Insurance Investigators, Loss Adjusters and Risk Surveyors All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 8.3 10.1
Bachelor degree 20.7 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 16.0 11.6
Certificate III/IV 35.7 21.1
Year 12 13.0 18.1
Year 11 2.0 4.8
Year 10 and below 4.4 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 Insurance Investigators, Loss Adjusters and Risk Surveyors who have good attention to detail, strong people skills and a good work ethic.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 61%

    Critical thinking

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

  • 59%

    Active listening

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

  • 59%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 57%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 54%

    Negotiation

    Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.

  • 54%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 52%

    Judgment and decision making

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

  • 48%

    Active learning

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

  • 48%

    Mathematics

    Using maths to solve problems.

  • 45%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 45%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 43%

    Complex problem solving

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

  • 43%

    Time management

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

  • 43%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

  • 43%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 41%

    Management of financial resources

    Figuring out how money is needed to do something, and keeping track of the money that's being spent.

  • 41%

    Monitoring

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

  • 32%

    Systems evaluation

    Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

  • 30%

    Learning strategies

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

  • 29%

    Management of personnel resources

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

Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 78%

    Customer and personal service

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

  • 67%

    English language

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

  • 64%

    Clerical

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

  • 49%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 44%

    Law and government

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

  • 43%

    Education and training

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

  • 40%

    Computers and electronics

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

  • 38%

    Administration and management

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

  • 36%

    Building and construction

    Materials, and methods used to construct or repair houses, buildings, or other structures like highways and roads.

  • 35%

    Communications and media

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

  • 30%

    Psychology

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

  • 29%

    Personnel and human resources

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

  • 28%

    Mechanical

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

  • 23%

    Public safety and security

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

  • 23%

    Technical design

    Design techniques, tools, and principles used to make detailed technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

  • 20%

    Medicine and dentistry

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

  • 20%

    Physics

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

  • 19%

    Telecommunications

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

  • 18%

    Economics and accounting

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

  • 15%

    Engineering and technology

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

Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 63%

    Near vision

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

  • 61%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 59%

    Written comprehension

    Read and understand written information.

  • 55%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 54%

    Inductive reasoning

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

  • 54%

    Written expression

    Write in a way that people can understand.

  • 52%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 52%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 52%

    Working with numbers

    Add, subtract, multiply, or divide.

  • 52%

    Mathematics

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

  • 50%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 50%

    Problem spotting

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

  • 48%

    Sorting or ordering

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

  • 48%

    Far vision

    See details that are far away.

  • 48%

    Flexibility of closure

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

  • 45%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.

  • 45%

    Perceptual speed

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

  • 43%

    Speed of recognition

    Quickly make sense of and organize things you can see like letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

  • 41%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.

  • 36%

    Brainstorming

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

Activities

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

  • 70%

    Looking for changes over time

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

  • 68%

    Planning and prioritising work

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

  • 67%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 66%

    Negotiating and resolving conflicts

    Handling complaints and disagreements, and negotiating with people.

  • 64%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 64%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

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

  • 61%

    Documenting or recording information

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

  • 61%

    Checking compliance with standards

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

  • 59%

    Assessing and evaluating things

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

  • 58%

    Collecting and organising information

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

  • 58%

    Making sense of information and ideas

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

  • 57%

    Making decisions and solving problems

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

  • 55%

    Communicating within a team

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

  • 53%

    Communicating with the public

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

  • 53%

    Monitoring people, processes and things

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

  • 47%

    Working with the public

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

  • 47%

    Estimating amounts, costs and resources

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

  • 45%

    Providing office support

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

  • 44%

    Explaining things to people

    Helping people to understand and use information.

  • 43%

    Working with computers

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

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.

  • 95%

    Administrative

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

  • 76%

    Enterprising

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

  • 38%

    Analytical

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

  • 38%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

  • 38%

    Practical

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

  • 19%

    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.

  • 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.

  • 62%

    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.

  • 62%

    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%

    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%

    Achievement

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

  • 52%

    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:

  • 96%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 95%

    Electronic mail

    Use electronic mail.

  • 93%

    Letters and memos

    Write letters and memos.

  • 93%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 92%

    Telephone

    Talk on the telephone.

  • 91%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 91%

    Time pressure

    Work to strict deadlines.

  • 90%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 89%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 89%

    Spend time sitting

    Spend time sitting at work.

  • 86%

    Contact with people

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

  • 81%

    Freedom to make decisions

    Have freedom to make decision on your own.

  • 80%

    Conflict situations

    Deal with conflict or disagreements.

  • 78%

    Angry or unpleasant people

    Deal with unpleasant, angry, or rude people.

  • 77%

    Unstructured work

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

  • 74%

    Contact with the public

    Work with customers or the public.

  • 74%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 71%

    Repeating same tasks

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

  • 67%

    Making repetitive motions

    Spend time making repetitive motions.

  • 64%

    Automation of tasks

    Do tasks that are mostly automated.

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, 13-1031.02 - Insurance Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators.

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