Cook

Prepare and cook food in cafes, pubs, clubs and institutional kitchens.

Salary

Cited figures only: median full-time weekly earnings for the ANZSCO unit group Cooks (3514) 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	$1198	Your Career (2026-09-23)

How far does this stretch in each city?

Jobs, demand and who does this work

Figures for the ANZSCO occupation Cook (351411), the closest official match for cook, from Your Career (Jobs and Skills Australia data, sourced 2026-09-23).

People employed: 36,100
Future demand: Moderate
Work full-time: 37%
Average full-time hours: 42 a week
Women: 58%
Median age: 33

Where the jobs are (share of workers)

NSW	30%
VIC	24.1%
QLD	23.9%
WA	10.3%
SA	6.8%
TAS	2.1%
ACT	1.3%
NT	1.5%

Highest qualification held by workers

Postgraduate qualification	3.7%
Bachelor degree	11.6%
Diploma or advanced diploma	12.9%
Certificate I-IV	20.4%
Year 12	22.9%
Below Year 12	22.7%

What a cook actually does

Cooks work in busy mid-volume kitchens at cafes, pubs, clubs, schools, hospitals, aged-care homes and mine-site camps. The day usually starts before service with prep work: chopping vegetables, portioning meat, preparing soups, sauces and sides, and setting up the line. Cafes peak at breakfast and lunch and most cooks finish by mid afternoon. Pubs and clubs run a longer day with a lunch service and a heavier evening service that often pushes past 9pm. Institutional cooks in hospitals, aged care and schools work a more regular daytime roster cooking high volumes from set menus on tight cost-per-meal budgets. Most cooks work 35-45 hours a week across rotating shifts that include weekends and public holidays. The Restaurant Industry Award 2020 or Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 sets minimum hourly rates, weekend and public holiday penalties and overtime. The work is physical: on your feet through the shift, lifting stockpots and trays, and managing the heat of grills, deep fryers and combi ovens.

Typical tasks

Prep ingredients to service standard.
Cook menu items consistently.
Maintain hygiene to AS 4674 and Food Standards Code.

Skills you'll use

Knife skills and basic cooking techniques (saute, grill, deep fry, roast)
Following a recipe and a portion control sheet exactly
Food safety, allergens and hygiene to the Food Standards Code
Time management across multiple orders during a rush
Stock rotation, FIFO and reading expiry dates
Working as part of a small kitchen team
Keeping a clean section through service

How to become one

1Finish Year 10 at minimum; literacy and numeracy is enough to start in many kitchens
2Get a casual or part-time kitchen-hand job in a cafe or pub to test if you like the work
3Enrol in a Certificate III in Commercial Cookery at TAFE, either as an apprentice or as a full-time student
4Complete the Food Safety Supervisor unit if you want to step into a head cook role
5Build experience across breakfast, lunch and dinner services in different venue types
6Consider stepping across to a chef apprenticeship if you want to lead a kitchen and own menu costing

Where you can work

Cafes and breakfast venues
Suburban and country pubs
RSL and sporting clubs
Hospital and aged-care kitchens
School and university canteens
Remote mine-site and offshore camps
Function and event caterers
Quick-service restaurant chains

Career progression

Typical stages and roles. Years of experience are a rough guide; pay at each stage depends on the employer, award or agreement.

Trainee cook
0-2 years
Typical roles: Kitchen hand, Trainee cook, Breakfast cook
Qualified cook
2-5 years
Typical roles: Line cook, Short-order cook, Cafe cook
Head cook
5+ years
Typical roles: Head cook, Cafe head cook, Institutional kitchen lead

Is this for you?

This might not suit you if

You want a desk job or a strict office routine
You can't handle heat, noise or working under pressure
You want every weekend and public holiday off
You hate cleaning down a greasy kitchen at the end of a long shift

Ways in

Uni and TAFE routes for cook. 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.

Certificate III in Commercial Cookery
AQF 3 - SIT30821

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.