← Hospitality and personal services

ANZSCO 4514Skill level 3Hospitality and personal services

Beauty therapist

Provide facials, body treatments, makeup, nails and hair removal in salons, spas and clinics.

Salary

Cited figures from Job Outlook and QILT. ExamExplained does not publish predictive earnings or projections.

FigureAUDSource
Full-time weekly earnings$1150Job Outlook (2025-06-01)

How far does this stretch in each city?

What a beauty therapist actually does

Beauty therapists work in day spas, suburban salons, dermal clinics, brow and lash studios, hotel spas and increasingly as mobile or home-based sole traders. A typical day is scheduled by appointment in 30, 60 or 90 minute blocks. Treatments include facials, chemical peels, microdermabrasion, waxing and IPL hair removal, lash lifts and tints, manicures and pedicures, body massage and spray tans. Between clients you sanitise tools, sterilise reusable equipment in an autoclave, set the room, restock disposables, and fill out client treatment cards. Most therapists work 30-40 hours a week across weekdays plus at least one of Saturday or Thursday late-night. Pay is set under the Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020 with weekend and public holiday penalties. Many salons add a commission or sales bonus on top of retail product sales. The work is physical: leaning over a bed for most of the day, repeated wrist and shoulder use, and constant exposure to product fumes and water. Sole traders running their own room set their own rates and hours but carry the marketing, bookings and insurance load.

Typical tasks

  • Conduct skin and treatment consultations.
  • Perform facials, peels and body treatments.
  • Apply infection-control standards.

Skills you'll use

  • Skin analysis and consultation
  • Facials, peels, microdermabrasion and LED treatments
  • Waxing, sugaring and laser or IPL hair removal
  • Lash and brow tinting, lash lifts and lash extensions
  • Infection control, autoclaving and salon hygiene
  • Retail product knowledge and add-on selling
  • Patient and calm client communication
  • Time management across back-to-back appointments

How to become one

  1. 1Finish Year 10 at minimum; Year 12 helps if you want to specialise into dermal therapy later
  2. 2Enrol in a Certificate III in Beauty Services to start with makeup, manicures, waxing and basic facials
  3. 3Step up to a Certificate IV in Beauty Therapy (the industry-standard credential for full facials, body treatments and lash extensions)
  4. 4Consider a Diploma of Beauty Therapy or Bachelor of Health Science (Dermal Therapies) if you want to work in advanced skin clinics
  5. 5Complete an IPL or laser hair-removal short course and apply for state radiation-safety licensing if required (WA, QLD and TAS regulate)
  6. 6Get a couple of years employed-salon experience before opening your own room or going mobile

Where you can work

  • Independent day spas and beauty salons
  • Dermal and cosmetic clinics
  • Hotel and resort spas
  • Brow, lash and nail studios
  • Pharmacy chain skin clinics
  • Mobile services visiting clients at home
  • Sole-trader therapist renting a room
  • Cruise ship spa contracts

Career progression

Typical stages and salary bands. Salary figures are sourced from Job Outlook, QILT or industry bodies; brackets are 25th-75th percentile not absolute floors or ceilings.

  1. Junior therapist
    0-2 years
    Typical roles: Salon junior, Junior beauty therapist, Nail technician
    Salary band: $48,000 - $58,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  2. Qualified therapist
    2-5 years
    Typical roles: Beauty therapist, Spa therapist, Lash and brow specialist
    Salary band: $58,000 - $72,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  3. Senior therapist or salon owner
    5+ years
    Typical roles: Senior therapist, Salon manager, Dermal clinician, Sole-trader therapist
    Salary band: $70,000 - $95,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)

Is this for you?

You might love this if

  • You like helping people feel better about themselves
  • You're a steady, careful worker with neat hands
  • You can stay friendly and on-script through eight clients a day
  • You're comfortable touching and being close to clients all day
  • You can handle running your own bookings if you want to go solo

This might not suit you if

  • You're squeamish about waxing, blackheads or bodily smells
  • You want to sit down for most of your work day
  • You hate selling retail product or push-back from clients on price
  • You want every weekend off (Saturdays are the busiest day)

Three ways in

Uni, TAFE and trade routes for beauty therapist. Not every career has all three; we only list pathways that actually lead to this occupation.

University

Bachelor degrees that lead to this career.

No direct undergraduate pathway. Consider postgraduate study after a related bachelor degree.

TAFE / VET

Nationally accredited Certificate and Diploma qualifications.

Apprenticeship trade

Earn while you learn through an Australian Apprenticeship.

Not an apprenticeship trade.

Sources

ExamExplained does not publish predictive salary figures. For current Australian earnings data check Job Outlook directly. Career classifications follow the ABS ANZSCO 2022 release.