Biomedical engineer
Apply engineering principles to medical devices, diagnostics and bioinformatics.
Salary
Cited figures only: median full-time weekly earnings for the ANZSCO unit group Engineering Professionals nec (2339) from Your Career (Jobs and Skills Australia), and where available the QILT graduate starting salary for the matching study area.
| Figure | AUD | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Median full-time weekly earnings | $2502 | Your Career (2026-09-23) |
| Graduate starting salary | $82,500 | QILT (2026-08-31) |
Jobs, demand and who does this work
Figures for the ANZSCO occupation Biomedical Engineer (233913), the closest official match for biomedical engineer, from Your Career (Jobs and Skills Australia data, sourced 2026-09-23).
- People employed
- 1,300
- Future demand
- Strong
- Work full-time
- 88%
- Average full-time hours
- 41 a week
- Women
- 21%
- Median age
- 37
Where the jobs are (share of workers)
| NSW | 36.5% |
| VIC | 32.1% |
| QLD | 14.7% |
| WA | 6.6% |
| SA | 6.4% |
| TAS | 1% |
| ACT | 1.7% |
| NT | 0.4% |
Highest qualification held by workers
| Postgraduate qualification | 32.8% |
| Bachelor degree | 44.3% |
| Diploma or advanced diploma | 9.4% |
| Certificate I-IV | 6.3% |
| Year 12 | 3.8% |
| Below Year 12 | 0.2% |
What a biomedical engineer actually does
Biomedical engineers fall into two broad camps. Hospital-based clinical engineers manage medical devices across a hospital fleet. Their day looks like checking infusion pump calibrations, leading device incident investigations, supervising biomedical technicians and signing off on the installation of large equipment like MRI scanners. Industry-based device engineers work for medical device companies, prosthetic and orthotic manufacturers, or research start-ups. Their day looks like CAD design, biocompatibility testing, preparing TGA submission documents and running user trials. Australian leaders in the field include companies like Cochlear, ResMed and CSL. Hours are typically 38-45 per week with the occasional weekend testing window or device upgrade in a hospital environment.
Typical tasks
- Design prosthetic, orthotic and implantable devices.
- Develop medical imaging and monitoring instruments.
- Lead biocompatibility and regulatory testing.
Skills you'll use
- 3D CAD for medical devices, prosthetics and instrumentation
- Biocompatibility testing and ISO 10993 standards
- Reading and applying TGA requirements and ISO 13485 quality systems
- MATLAB or Python for signal processing and modelling
- Clinical risk management to ISO 14971
- Working with clinicians to capture user requirements
- Technical writing for regulatory submissions and clinical evaluations
How to become one
- 1Finish Year 12 with English, Maths Methods or Specialist, Physics and ideally Chemistry or Biology
- 2Complete a 4-year Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) with a biomedical major accredited by Engineers Australia, or a non-biomedical engineering degree plus a biomedical Masters
- 3Apply for graduate programmes at Cochlear, ResMed, CSL and other device companies, hospital biomedical engineering departments, or research institutes
- 4Build experience with quality systems (ISO 13485) and regulatory affairs early. Most regulated work needs your signature off the back of those processes
- 5Work toward Chartered Engineer status with Engineers Australia in the biomedical college
- 6Consider postgraduate study in a niche such as imaging, neural interfaces, prosthetics or regulatory affairs if you want to move beyond a generalist role
Where you can work
- Australian medical device companies including Cochlear, ResMed and CSL
- Tertiary hospital biomedical engineering departments
- Prosthetic and orthotic manufacturers
- Research institutes including the Garvan, WEHI and the Bionics Institute
- Universities with biomedical engineering programmes
- Smaller med-tech start-ups in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane
- Therapeutic Goods Administration and state health departments
Career progression
Typical stages and roles. Years of experience are a rough guide; pay at each stage depends on the employer, award or agreement.
- Graduate0-2 yearsTypical roles: Graduate biomedical engineer, Clinical engineer, Research and development engineer
- Engineer3-6 yearsTypical roles: Biomedical engineer, Clinical engineer, Regulatory affairs specialist
- Senior7-12 yearsTypical roles: Senior biomedical engineer, Senior clinical engineer, Lead R and D engineer
- Manager or Principal12+ yearsTypical roles: Engineering manager, Principal engineer, Director of biomedical engineering
Is this for you?
You might love this if
- You want engineering work with a direct impact on patients
- You enjoy a mix of engineering, biology and regulation
- You are happy spending time in clinical settings working with nurses and doctors
- You can handle the rigour of medical device documentation
- You are interested in a small but well respected Australian device ecosystem
This might not suit you if
- You want a fast product cycle with little regulatory work
- You dislike paperwork and audit trails
- You want to avoid clinical settings or patient-facing environments
Ways in
Uni and TAFE routes for biomedical engineer. We only list pathways that actually lead to this occupation.
University
Bachelor degrees that lead to this career.
TAFE / VET
Nationally accredited Certificate and Diploma qualifications.
No direct TAFE pathway to this career.
Sources
ExamExplained does not publish predictive salary figures. For current Australian earnings data check Your Career (yourcareer.gov.au) directly. Career classifications follow the ABS ANZSCO 2022 release.