Conference and Event Organisers

ANZSCO ID 1493

Overview

Snapshot

Employed
27,100
Future Growth
10.7%
Weekly Earnings
$1,208
Full-Time Share
63%
Female Share
75%
Average age
34

Summary

Conference and Event Organisers organise and coordinate services for conferences, events, functions, banquets and seminars.

Also known as: Event Management Consultant.

Specialisations: Event Manager, Exhibition Organiser, Wedding Coordinator.

Formal qualifications are not essential to work as a Conference and Event Organiser. Although some workers have a university or Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification in event management.

Tasks

  • promoting conferences, conventions and trade shows to potential customers

  • responding to inquiries concerning services provided and costs for room and equipment hire, catering and related services

  • meeting with clients to discuss their needs and outlining package options to meet these needs

  • arranging and coordinating services, such as conference facilities, catering, signage, displays, audiovisual equipment, accommodation, transport and social events, for participants

  • organising registration of participants

  • negotiating the type and costs of services to be provided within budget

  • overseeing work by contractors and reporting on variations to work orders

Characteristics

Job Type
Managers
Skill Level
High skill
ANZSCO Occupation group
Unemployment Rate
Average
Industries
Pathway(s)
  • University
  • Vocational Education and Training (VET)
  • Informal or on-the-job
Interests
  • Administrative
  • Enterprising
  • Helping
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 24,300 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
10.7%
(or 2,400 jobs)
From
22,000
in 2021
To
24,300
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 25,200
2012 26,100
2013 23,500
2014 29,200
2015 20,300
2016 27,500
2017 38,700
2018 39,200
2019 38,900
2020 23,800
2021 22,000
2026 24,300

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 71% of people employed as Conference and Event Organisers work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 5 percentage points above the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 44 hours per week in their main job. This is the same as the all jobs average.

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

    Median full-time earnings are $1,208 per week, this is much lower than the all jobs median ($1,593):

    • 3 in 4 workers earn more than $1,198
    • 1 in 4 earn more than $1,347

    Median hourly earnings are $32, 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 Conference and Event Organisers All Jobs Average
Full-Time Earnings 1,208 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
Administrative and Support Services
37.9%
2
Accommodation and Food Services
11.5%
3
Arts and Recreation Services
11.5%
4
Public Administration and Safety
8.2%
5
Other industries
30.9%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

36.4% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

26.9% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

18.2% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

5.6% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

8.5% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

1.3% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

0.7% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

2.3% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Conference and Event Organisers All Jobs Average
NSW 36.4 31.6
VIC 26.9 25.6
QLD 18.2 20.0
SA 5.6 7.0
WA 8.5 10.8
TAS 1.3 2.0
NT 0.7 1.0
ACT 2.3 1.9



Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
34
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
75%
All Jobs Average is 48%
  • The median age of Conference and Event Organisers is 34 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 75% of the workforce. This is 27 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 Conference and Event Organisers All Jobs Average
15-19 1.4 5.0
20-24 12.4 9.3
25-34 38.2 22.9
35-44 24.5 22.0
45-54 14.7 21.6
55-59 4.3 9.0
60-64 2.6 6.0
65 and Over 1.8 4.2
Median Age 34 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 Conference and Event Organiser. Although some workers have a university or Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification in event management.

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 Tourism, Travel and Hospitality 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 Conference and Event Organisers All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 7.8 10.1
Bachelor degree 34.7 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 21.5 11.6
Certificate III/IV 9.9 21.1
Year 12 18.9 18.1
Year 11 2.7 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 Conference and Event Organisers who provide good customer service, can communicate clearly and are well organised.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 57%

    Active listening

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

  • 57%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 57%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 57%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 55%

    Critical thinking

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

  • 55%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 54%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 54%

    Time management

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

  • 54%

    Monitoring

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

  • 52%

    Negotiation

    Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.

  • 52%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 50%

    Complex problem solving

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

  • 50%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

  • 48%

    Judgment and decision making

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

  • 48%

    Management of personnel resources

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

  • 48%

    Systems evaluation

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

  • 45%

    Active learning

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

  • 45%

    Systems analysis

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

  • 45%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 45%

    Management of financial resources

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


Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 73%

    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.

  • 59%

    Clerical

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

  • 58%

    Computers and electronics

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

  • 50%

    Communications and media

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

  • 49%

    Sales and marketing

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

  • 47%

    Public safety and security

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

  • 47%

    Administration and management

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

  • 46%

    Psychology

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

  • 43%

    Law and government

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

  • 43%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 43%

    Education and training

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

  • 41%

    Transportation

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

  • 40%

    Personnel and human resources

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

  • 39%

    Economics and accounting

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

  • 37%

    Philosophy and theology

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

  • 36%

    Technical design

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

  • 31%

    Fine arts

    Compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

  • 31%

    Telecommunications

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

  • 28%

    Sociology and anthropology

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


Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 61%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 61%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 61%

    Written comprehension

    Read and understand written information.

  • 59%

    Written expression

    Write in a way that people can understand.

  • 57%

    Problem spotting

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

  • 55%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 55%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 54%

    Brainstorming

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

  • 52%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 52%

    Near vision

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

  • 52%

    Originality

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

  • 50%

    Sorting or ordering

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

  • 48%

    Inductive reasoning

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

  • 46%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.

  • 45%

    Far vision

    See details that are far away.

  • 43%

    Mathematics

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

  • 43%

    Multitasking

    Do two or more things at the same time.

  • 43%

    Visualization

    Imagine how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

  • 41%

    Flexibility of closure

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

  • 41%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.


Activities

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

  • 82%

    Planning and prioritising work

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

  • 78%

    Negotiating and resolving conflicts

    Handling complaints and disagreements, and negotiating with people.

  • 78%

    Communicating with the public

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

  • 78%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 77%

    Working with the public

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

  • 76%

    Scheduling work and activities

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

  • 72%

    Guiding and directing staff

    Guiding and directing staff, including setting and monitoring performance standards.

  • 71%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 70%

    Coordinating the work of a team

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

  • 68%

    Communicating within a team

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

  • 66%

    Providing office support

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

  • 65%

    Thinking creatively

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

  • 63%

    Coaching and developing others

    Working out the needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or helping them to improve.

  • 61%

    Collecting and organising information

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

  • 59%

    Making decisions and solving problems

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

  • 58%

    Leading and encouraging a team

    Encouraging and building trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.

  • 58%

    Assessing and evaluating things

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

  • 56%

    Looking for changes over time

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

  • 53%

    Working with computers

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

  • 50%

    Explaining things to people

    Helping people to understand and use 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.

  • 100%

    Enterprising

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

  • 71%

    Administrative

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

  • 62%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

  • 33%

    Creative

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

  • 24%

    Practical

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

  • 19%

    Analytical

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


Values

Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.
  • 90%

    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.

  • 76%

    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.

  • 71%

    Achievement

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

  • 71%

    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.

  • 69%

    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%

    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.


Demands

The physical and social demands that workers face most often are shown below:
  • 99%

    Telephone

    Talk on the telephone.

  • 98%

    Contact with people

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

  • 98%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 98%

    Electronic mail

    Use electronic mail.

  • 96%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 95%

    Unstructured work

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

  • 94%

    Contact with the public

    Work with customers or the public.

  • 93%

    Lead or coordinate a team

    Lead others to do work activities.

  • 91%

    Time pressure

    Work to strict deadlines.

  • 90%

    Freedom to make decisions

    Have freedom to make decision on your own.

  • 90%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 88%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 86%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 81%

    Letters and memos

    Write letters and memos.

  • 79%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 78%

    Responsible for outcomes

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

  • 78%

    Competition

    Compete with others, or be aware of competitive pressures.

  • 77%

    Physically close to people

    Work physically close to other people.

  • 75%

    Making repetitive motions

    Spend time making repetitive motions.

  • 73%

    Spend time sitting

    Spend time sitting at 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, 13-1121.00 - Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners.


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