Information Officers

ANZSCO ID 5412

Overview

Snapshot

Employed
82,600
Future Growth
3%
Weekly Earnings
$1,218
Full-Time Share
69%
Female Share
70%
Average age
39

Summary

Information Officers respond to personal, written and telephone inquiries and complaints about the organisation's goods and services, provide information and refer people to other sources.

Tasks

  • answering inquiries about goods and services, and providing information about their availability, location, price and related issues

  • responding to inquiries about problems and providing advice, information and assistance

  • recording information about inquiries and complaints

  • referring complex inquiries to team leaders or expert advisers

  • issuing relevant forms, information kits and brochures to interested parties

  • accessing and operating computer network systems and communication systems such as public address and paging systems

  • may refer inquiries to other sources

Characteristics

Job Type
Clerical And Administrative Workers
Skill Level
Lower skill
ANZSCO Occupation group
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 61,400 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
3%
(or 1,800 jobs)
From
59,600
in 2021
To
61,400
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 67,900
2012 67,300
2013 68,100
2014 79,200
2015 66,100
2016 82,000
2017 59,800
2018 96,000
2019 120,300
2020 70,800
2021 59,600
2026 61,400

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 70% of people employed as Information Officers work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 4 percentage points above the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 40 hours per week in their main job. This is 4 hours less than the all jobs average (44 hours per week).

    Median full-time earnings are $1,218 per week, this is much lower than the all jobs median ($1,593):

    • 3 in 4 workers earn more than $1,058
    • 1 in 4 earn more than $1,389

    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. 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 Information Officers All Jobs Average
Full-Time Earnings 1,218 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
Public Administration and Safety
23.6%
2
Retail Trade
11.3%
3
Financial and Insurance Services
10.5%
4
Health Care and Social Assistance
7.3%
5
Other industries
47.0%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

33.6% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

26.3% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

18.6% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

6.4% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

9.6% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

2.4% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

0.9% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

2.1% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Information Officers All Jobs Average
NSW 33.6 31.6
VIC 26.3 25.6
QLD 18.6 20.0
SA 6.4 7.0
WA 9.6 10.8
TAS 2.4 2.0
NT 0.9 1.0
ACT 2.1 1.9



Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
39
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
70%
All Jobs Average is 48%
  • The median age of Information Officers is 39 years. This is similar to the all jobs average of 40 years.

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

    Females make up 70% of the workforce. This is 22 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 Information Officers All Jobs Average
15-19 2.2 5.0
20-24 11.4 9.3
25-34 27.2 22.9
35-44 22.2 22.0
45-54 21.0 21.6
55-59 8.5 9.0
60-64 5.2 6.0
65 and Over 2.4 4.2
Median Age 39 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 an Information Officer. Although some workers have a Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification or university degree in business, management, commerce, information technology, accounting 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 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 Information Officers All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 6.2 10.1
Bachelor degree 17.8 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 13.8 11.6
Certificate III/IV 19.7 21.1
Year 12 26.3 18.1
Year 11 5.5 4.8
Year 10 and below 10.6 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 Information Officers who can communicate clearly with others and provide good customer service.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 48%

    Active listening

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

  • 46%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 45%

    Critical thinking

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

  • 45%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 45%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 43%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 41%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 39%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 39%

    Time management

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

  • 39%

    Complex problem solving

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

  • 37%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

  • 36%

    Monitoring

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

  • 36%

    Negotiation

    Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.

  • 34%

    Active learning

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

  • 34%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 34%

    Learning strategies

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

  • 30%

    Judgment and decision making

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

  • 30%

    Management of personnel resources

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

  • 30%

    Systems analysis

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

  • 29%

    Systems evaluation

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


Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 67%

    Clerical

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

  • 59%

    Customer and personal service

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

  • 51%

    English language

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

  • 49%

    Computers and electronics

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

  • 32%

    Administration and management

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

  • 29%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 26%

    Communications and media

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

  • 25%

    Personnel and human resources

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

  • 24%

    Public safety and security

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

  • 23%

    Education and training

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

  • 22%

    Psychology

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

  • 21%

    Medicine and dentistry

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

  • 20%

    Telecommunications

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

  • 18%

    Law and government

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

  • 18%

    Economics and accounting

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

  • 17%

    Therapy and counselling

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

  • 16%

    Sales and marketing

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

  • 16%

    Sociology and anthropology

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

  • 16%

    Philosophy and theology

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

  • 11%

    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..

  • 52%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 52%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 50%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 46%

    Near vision

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

  • 46%

    Written comprehension

    Read and understand written information.

  • 46%

    Written expression

    Write in a way that people can understand.

  • 45%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 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.

  • 41%

    Inductive reasoning

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

  • 41%

    Problem spotting

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

  • 39%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.

  • 37%

    Far vision

    See details that are far away.

  • 36%

    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%

    Perceptual speed

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

  • 34%

    Memorization

    Remember things like words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.

  • 32%

    Mathematics

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

  • 32%

    Working with numbers

    Add, subtract, multiply, or divide.

  • 30%

    Finger dexterity

    Put together small parts with your fingers.


Activities

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

  • 71%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 68%

    Working with the public

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

  • 62%

    Collecting and organising information

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

  • 62%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

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

  • 61%

    Providing office support

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

  • 56%

    Looking for changes over time

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

  • 56%

    Helping and caring for others

    Providing personal assistance, medical attention, or emotional support.

  • 54%

    Monitoring people, processes and things

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

  • 53%

    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.

  • 52%

    Communicating within a team

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

  • 52%

    Planning and prioritising work

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

  • 52%

    Communicating with the public

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

  • 50%

    Assessing and evaluating things

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

  • 49%

    Making decisions and solving problems

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

  • 47%

    Working with computers

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

  • 41%

    Checking compliance with standards

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

  • 39%

    Explaining things to people

    Helping people to understand and use information.

  • 36%

    Training and teaching others

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

  • 34%

    Leading and encouraging a team

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


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.

  • 48%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

  • 24%

    Practical

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

  • 14%

    Analytical

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

  • 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.
  • 81%

    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.

  • 57%

    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.

  • 43%

    Achievement

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

  • 43%

    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.

  • 38%

    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.

  • 33%

    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%

    Contact with people

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

  • 99%

    Telephone

    Talk on the telephone.

  • 96%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 94%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 93%

    Contact with the public

    Work with customers or the public.

  • 92%

    Spend time sitting

    Spend time sitting at work.

  • 92%

    Electronic mail

    Use electronic mail.

  • 89%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 87%

    Repeating same tasks

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

  • 85%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 84%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 82%

    Letters and memos

    Write letters and memos.

  • 79%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 79%

    Unstructured work

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

  • 77%

    Freedom to make decisions

    Have freedom to make decision on your own.

  • 75%

    Time pressure

    Work to strict deadlines.

  • 74%

    Angry or unpleasant people

    Deal with unpleasant, angry, or rude people.

  • 69%

    Making repetitive motions

    Spend time making repetitive motions.

  • 65%

    Conflict situations

    Deal with conflict or disagreements.

  • 65%

    Competition

    Compete with others, or be aware of competitive pressures.

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, 43-4171.00 - Receptionists and Information Clerks.


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