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ANZSCO 2124Skill level 1Creative and media

Journalist

Research, write and produce news, features and analysis across print, digital, audio and video.

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Salary

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

FigureAUDSource
Full-time weekly earnings$1650Job Outlook (2025-06-01)
Graduate starting salary$60,000QILT (2025-03-01)

How far does this stretch in each city?

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

  1. 1Finish Year 12 with English (Advanced or Extension) - other subjects matter less
  2. 2Complete a 3-year Bachelor of Journalism, Bachelor of Communication or Bachelor of Arts with journalism electives
  3. 3Write for the student paper, intern at local newspapers, and start a portfolio of published clips
  4. 4Apply for cadetships at major news organisations (ABC, Nine, News Corp, Guardian Australia) in your final year
  5. 5Take a regional newspaper or in-house communications role if cadetships don't land
  6. 6Build a specialism (politics, business, sport, technology, environment) by year 5
  7. 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 salary bands. Salary figures are sourced from Job Outlook, QILT or industry bodies; brackets are 25th-75th percentile not absolute floors or ceilings.

  1. Cadet or graduate
    0-2 years
    Typical roles: Cadet journalist, Graduate reporter, Production assistant
    Salary band: $55,000 - $68,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  2. Journalist
    3-7 years
    Typical roles: Reporter, Producer, Specialist round writer
    Salary band: $75,000 - $100,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  3. Senior or chief of staff
    8+ years
    Typical 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

Three ways in

Uni, TAFE and trade routes for journalist. Not every career has all three; 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.

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.