Industrial designer
Design physical products, from consumer electronics and furniture to medical devices.
Salary
Cited figures only: median full-time weekly earnings for the ANZSCO unit group Fashion, Industrial and Jewellery Designers (2323) 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 | $1500 | Your Career (2026-09-23) |
Jobs, demand and who does this work
Figures for the ANZSCO occupation Industrial Designer (232312), the closest official match for industrial designer, from Your Career (Jobs and Skills Australia data, sourced 2026-09-23).
- People employed
- 5,000
- Future demand
- Moderate
- Work full-time
- 79%
- Average full-time hours
- 42 a week
- Women
- 39%
- Median age
- 36
Where the jobs are (share of workers)
| NSW | 38.8% |
| VIC | 37.9% |
| QLD | 12.2% |
| WA | 4.1% |
| SA | 4.5% |
| TAS | 1% |
| ACT | 1.2% |
| NT | 0.1% |
Highest qualification held by workers
| Postgraduate qualification | 12.4% |
| Bachelor degree | 56.7% |
| Diploma or advanced diploma | 13% |
| Certificate I-IV | 6.6% |
| Year 12 | 6.9% |
| Below Year 12 | 2% |
What an industrial designer actually does
Most industrial designers split the day between CAD work (SolidWorks, Rhino, Fusion 360), prototyping in a workshop, and meetings with engineers and product managers about cost, manufacturability and performance. Early in a project you work in sketches and rough block models; mid-project you go into detailed CAD and tolerance work; late project you sit with the engineering team on tooling, materials and factory liaison. Workshops are part of the job and most designers spend at least one day a week on a 3D printer, laser cutter or hand workshop building test parts. Australian industrial design work covers consumer products, packaging, furniture, medical devices, agricultural equipment and defence. The local market is small; many roles include working with overseas factories, so emails and early-morning or late-night calls with Asian time zones come with the territory. Hours sit at 38-45 in normal periods and climb close to deadline.
Typical tasks
- Sketch and CAD-model concepts.
- Build and test prototypes.
- Liaise with manufacturers on tooling.
Skills you'll use
- SolidWorks, Rhino, Fusion 360 or another parametric CAD tool
- Sketching (hand and digital) for concept exploration
- 3D printing, CNC and hand prototyping
- Materials and manufacturing process knowledge (injection moulding, sheet metal, casting)
- Design for manufacture (DFM) and design for assembly (DFA)
- Engineering drawings and tolerancing
- Working with mechanical and electrical engineers
- User research and product testing
How to become one
- 1Finish Year 12 with Maths Methods or Advanced and a Design and Technology subject if available
- 2Complete a 3-year accredited Bachelor of Industrial Design or Bachelor of Design (Industrial Design) at RMIT, Swinburne, UNSW or Monash
- 3Build a portfolio of 4-6 finished projects with CAD, prototypes and process documentation
- 4Take an internship at a consultancy or in-house team during your final year
- 5Land a junior designer role at a design consultancy, an in-house product team or a manufacturer
- 6Move toward a specialism after 3-5 years (consumer electronics, medical, furniture, packaging) because most senior roles are specialised
Where you can work
- Independent industrial design consultancies (concentrated in Melbourne and Sydney)
- In-house design teams at Australian manufacturers
- Medical device companies (Cochlear, ResMed, Saluda)
- Defence and aerospace product teams
- Furniture and lighting manufacturers
- Consumer electronics and appliance brands
- Packaging design specialists
- Self-employed working on commissioned product design
Career progression
Typical stages and roles. Years of experience are a rough guide; pay at each stage depends on the employer, award or agreement.
- Junior industrial designer0-2 yearsTypical roles: Junior industrial designer, Product designer, Design engineer (junior)
- Industrial designer3-7 yearsTypical roles: Industrial designer, Senior product designer, Mechanical product designer
- Senior or lead designer8+ yearsTypical roles: Senior industrial designer, Design lead, Head of product design
Is this for you?
You might love this if
- You love taking a sketch through to a finished object
- You enjoy the back-and-forth with engineers about cost and feasibility
- You're patient with iterative prototyping and the failures along the way
- You're comfortable in both a creative studio and a workshop or factory floor
- You can read engineering drawings and tolerance specs
This might not suit you if
- You're only interested in screen-based or 2D design
- You hate the constraints that manufacturing puts on a "nice idea"
- You can't stand the small Australian market and the slow pace of physical products
- You want a purely creative role without engineering and cost trade-offs
- You expect quick career progression (most projects run 18-36 months)
Ways in
Uni and TAFE routes for industrial designer. 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.