Communications Operators

ANZSCO ID 342312

Overview

Snapshot

Employed
1,400
Future Growth
N/A
Weekly Earnings
N/A
Full-Time Share
93%
Female Share
27%
Average age
29

Summary

Communications Operators transmit and receive radio messages by use of morse code, voice and radio teletype.

Specialisations: Communication Information Systems Sailor (Navy), Communications and Information Systems Controller (Air Force), Operator Specialist Communications (Army).

Formal qualifications are not essential to work as a Communications Operator. Although some workers have a Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification in a related electronics or communications field.

Tasks

  • Sends and receives messages by satellite communication systems, radio, radio telegraph, radio telephone, morse or radio telex.

  • Records incoming messages, including navigational and other data, keeping a log of messages sent and received.

  • Makes minor repairs to radio equipment or radar.

  • Provides a watch on maritime distress frequencies.

  • Broadcasts navigational and weather warnings from coastal stations to ships at sea.

  • Operates equipment which interconnects with inland service.

Characteristics

Job Type
Technicians And Trades Workers
Skill Level
Medium skill
ANZSCO Occupation group
Unemployment Rate
n/a
Industries
Pathway(s)
  • Vocational Education and Training (VET)
  • Informal or on-the-job
Interests
  • Practical
  • Administrative
Physical Demand
  • Sedentary

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, Electronics Trades Workers, under the outlook section.


Earnings and hours

Working arrangements

  • Around 93% of people employed as Communications Operators work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 27 percentage points above the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 47 hours per week in their main job. This is 3 hours more than 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
Public Administration and Safety
84.1%
2
Transport, Postal and Warehousing
7.8%
3
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
1.8%
4
Mining
1.6%
5
Other industries
4.5%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

27.3% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

15.5% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

23.0% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

3.9% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

12.8% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

0.6% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

6.9% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

9.9% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Communications Operators All Jobs Average
NSW 27.3 31.6
VIC 15.5 25.6
QLD 23.0 20.0
SA 3.9 7.0
WA 12.8 10.8
TAS 0.6 2.0
NT 6.9 1.0
ACT 9.9 1.9


  • Around 70% of Communications Operators live in capital cities, compared with the all jobs average of 62%.

    The Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory 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
29
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
27%
All Jobs Average is 48%
  • The median age of Communications Operators is 29 years. This is younger than the all jobs average of 40 years.

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

    Females make up 27% of the workforce. This is 21 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 Communications Operators All Jobs Average
15-19 2.8 5.0
20-24 24.4 9.3
25-34 42.4 22.9
35-44 15.2 22.0
45-54 10.3 21.6
55-59 2.1 9.0
60-64 1.8 6.0
65 and Over 1.0 4.2
Median Age 29 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 Communications Operator. Although some workers have a Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification in a related electronics or communications field.

Visit

  • My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
  • AAPathways website to explore Electrotechnology 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 Communications Operators All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 3.2 10.1
Bachelor degree 6.5 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 10.3 11.6
Certificate III/IV 26.2 21.1
Year 12 40.6 18.1
Year 11 6.0 4.8
Year 10 and below 7.2 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 Electronics Trades Workers who are reliable, work well in a team and have a strong work ethic.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 52%

    Active listening

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

  • 50%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 50%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 48%

    Monitoring

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

  • 48%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 46%

    Critical thinking

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

  • 45%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 43%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 41%

    Time management

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

  • 41%

    Complex problem solving

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

  • 41%

    Judgment and decision making

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

  • 41%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 41%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 39%

    Active learning

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

  • 39%

    Operation monitoring

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

  • 37%

    Learning strategies

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

  • 32%

    Management of personnel resources

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

  • 32%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

  • 32%

    Quality control analysis

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

  • 29%

    Systems analysis

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


Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 76%

    Customer and personal service

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

  • 58%

    Computers and electronics

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

  • 56%

    Public safety and security

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

  • 55%

    English language

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

  • 54%

    Communications and media

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

  • 51%

    Psychology

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

  • 50%

    Clerical

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

  • 49%

    Telecommunications

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

  • 44%

    Transportation

    Moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road.

  • 37%

    Geography

    Describing land, sea, and air, including their physical characteristics, locations, how they work together, and the location of plant, animal, and human life.

  • 36%

    Law and government

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

  • 36%

    Education and training

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

  • 31%

    Personnel and human resources

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

  • 28%

    Administration and management

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

  • 25%

    Philosophy and theology

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

  • 23%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 21%

    Sociology and anthropology

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

  • 21%

    Therapy and counselling

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

  • 20%

    Medicine and dentistry

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

  • 17%

    Engineering and technology

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


Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 57%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 57%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 57%

    Auditory attention

    Pay attention to a certain sound when there are other distracting sounds.

  • 52%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 52%

    Written expression

    Write in a way that people can understand.

  • 50%

    Problem spotting

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

  • 50%

    Hearing sensitivity

    Tell the difference between sounds.

  • 50%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.

  • 50%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 48%

    Finger dexterity

    Put together small parts with your fingers.

  • 48%

    Inductive reasoning

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

  • 48%

    Written comprehension

    Read and understand written information.

  • 46%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 46%

    Flexibility of closure

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

  • 46%

    Near vision

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

  • 46%

    Sorting or ordering

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

  • 43%

    Multitasking

    Do two or more things at the same time.

  • 41%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.

  • 37%

    Perceptual speed

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

  • 36%

    Control precision

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


Activities

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

  • 77%

    Documenting or recording information

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

  • 77%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

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

  • 71%

    Monitoring people, processes and things

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

  • 69%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 69%

    Looking for changes over time

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

  • 69%

    Planning and prioritising work

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

  • 66%

    Communicating with the public

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

  • 66%

    Scheduling work and activities

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

  • 65%

    Making decisions and solving problems

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

  • 64%

    Collecting and organising information

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

  • 64%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 63%

    Communicating within a team

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

  • 58%

    Training and teaching others

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

  • 58%

    Working with computers

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

  • 50%

    Making sense of information and ideas

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

  • 49%

    Assessing and evaluating things

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

  • 49%

    Coordinating the work of a team

    Getting members of a group to work together to finish a task.

  • 44%

    Checking compliance with standards

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

  • 43%

    Explaining things to people

    Helping people to understand and use information.

  • 40%

    Checking for errors or defects

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


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.

  • 90%

    Practical

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

  • 62%

    Administrative

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

  • 29%

    Analytical

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

  • 29%

    Enterprising

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

  • 19%

    Creative

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

  • 14%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.


Values

Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.
  • 62%

    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.

  • 52%

    Achievement

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

  • 52%

    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.

  • 52%

    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.

  • 48%

    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%

    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:
  • 99%

    Contact with people

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

  • 97%

    Telephone

    Talk on the telephone.

  • 96%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 95%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 95%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 94%

    Spend time sitting

    Spend time sitting at work.

  • 94%

    Using your hands to handle, control, or feel

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

  • 93%

    Contact with the public

    Work with customers or the public.

  • 93%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 93%

    Electronic mail

    Use electronic mail.

  • 92%

    Loud or uncomfortable sounds

    Be exposed to noises and sounds that are distracting or uncomfortable.

  • 90%

    Lead or coordinate a team

    Lead others to do work activities.

  • 88%

    Repeating same tasks

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

  • 87%

    Health and safety of others

    Take responsibility for the health and safety of others.

  • 85%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 84%

    Consequence of error

    Work where mistakes have serious consequences.

  • 81%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 80%

    Freedom to make decisions

    Have freedom to make decision on your own.

  • 79%

    Angry or unpleasant people

    Deal with unpleasant, angry, or rude people.

  • 79%

    Responsible for outcomes

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

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, 27-4013.00 - Radio Operators.


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