Journalist
Research, write and produce news, features and analysis across print, digital, audio and video.
Salary
Cited figures only: median full-time weekly earnings for the ANZSCO unit group Journalists and Other Writers (2124) 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 | $1842 | Your Career (2026-09-23) |
| Graduate starting salary | $66,000 | QILT (2026-08-31) |
Jobs, demand and who does this work
Figures for the ANZSCO occupation Print Journalist (212413), the closest official match for journalist, from Your Career (Jobs and Skills Australia data, sourced 2026-09-23).
- People employed
- 2,800
- Future demand
- Strong
- Work full-time
- 69%
- Average full-time hours
- 43 a week
- Women
- 51%
- Median age
- 40
Where the jobs are (share of workers)
| NSW | 40.7% |
| VIC | 25.6% |
| QLD | 13.1% |
| WA | 8.1% |
| SA | 5.7% |
| TAS | 2.9% |
| ACT | 3.1% |
| NT | 0.4% |
Highest qualification held by workers
| Postgraduate qualification | 16.9% |
| Bachelor degree | 58.3% |
| Diploma or advanced diploma | 4.5% |
| Certificate I-IV | 2.1% |
| Year 12 | 12.1% |
| Below Year 12 | 2.3% |
What a journalist actually does
A newsroom day starts with an editor's meeting where you pitch your stories and get assigned others. Mornings are heavy on phone calls and emails to chase sources, request interviews, and confirm facts. Most reporters file at least one story by mid-afternoon for digital and a longer piece by end of day. Television and radio journalists add scripting, voicing, and (for TV) shooting and editing time. Court and council rounds reporters spend chunks of the day in public galleries taking shorthand. Investigative and long-form journalists work to weeks-long deadlines but still hit a daily quota of background calls and document review. Hours sit at 38-45 in normal weeks but stretch during breaking news, elections and royal commissions. The Australian industry has shrunk in newspapers but grown in digital, podcasts and in-house corporate content. Pay has not kept up with that shift.
Typical tasks
- Pitch and develop story ideas.
- Interview sources and verify facts.
- Publish to deadline.
Skills you'll use
- Shorthand or fast typing for interview notes
- Source-cultivation and contact-management
- Clear, accurate writing to a strict word count and deadline
- Media law (defamation, contempt, suppression orders)
- Verification, FOI requests and document research
- Audio recording and basic editing for radio and podcast
- Filming and editing for video reporters (mobile journalism kits)
- CMS publishing (WordPress, custom newsroom systems)
How to become one
- 1Finish Year 12 with English (Advanced or Extension) - other subjects matter less
- 2Complete a 3-year Bachelor of Journalism, Bachelor of Communication or Bachelor of Arts with journalism electives
- 3Write for the student paper, intern at local newspapers, and start a portfolio of published clips
- 4Apply for cadetships at major news organisations (ABC, Nine, News Corp, Guardian Australia) in your final year
- 5Take a regional newspaper or in-house communications role if cadetships don't land
- 6Build a specialism (politics, business, sport, technology, environment) by year 5
- 7Join the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) for award rates and legal cover
Where you can work
- National broadcasters (ABC, SBS)
- Commercial TV and radio newsrooms (Seven, Nine, Ten, ARN, SCA)
- National and metro newspapers (digital and print)
- Online-only newsrooms and start-ups (Guardian Australia, Crikey, The Conversation)
- Trade and business titles (industry publications)
- In-house communications and corporate newsroom teams
- Independent podcasts and Substack newsletters
- Freelance contributing to multiple outlets
Career progression
Typical stages and roles. Years of experience are a rough guide; pay at each stage depends on the employer, award or agreement.
- Cadet or graduate0-2 yearsTypical roles: Cadet journalist, Graduate reporter, Production assistant
- Journalist3-7 yearsTypical roles: Reporter, Producer, Specialist round writer
- Senior or chief of staff8+ yearsTypical roles: Senior journalist, Chief of staff, News editor, Bureau chief, Foreign correspondent
Is this for you?
You might love this if
- You can talk to anyone and get them to open up
- You can write quickly to a tight word count without dropping accuracy
- You take public-interest reporting seriously
- You can keep a confidence and protect a source
- You're resilient with criticism, legal threats and social media pile-ons
This might not suit you if
- You want a job with regular hours and predictable workload
- You can't take editor's notes that cut your favourite paragraph
- You expect strong salaries (Australian journalism pay has flattened)
- You can't handle the emotional weight of crime, court or disaster reporting
- You want to advocate for causes; journalism asks for distance, not advocacy
Ways in
Uni and TAFE routes for journalist. We only list pathways that actually lead to this occupation.
University
Bachelor degrees that lead to this career.
Bachelor of Media and Communications
Macquarie University - NSW
Bachelor of Media and Communication
The University of Newcastle - NSW
Bachelor of Communication in Journalism
University of Technology Sydney - NSW
Bachelor of Professional Communication
RMIT University - VIC
Bachelor of Communication
Queensland University of Technology - QLD
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.