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ANZSCO 2241Skill level 1Science and environment

Statistician

Design and analyse data collection across health, government, research and industry.

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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$2250Job Outlook (2025-06-01)
Graduate starting salary$78,000QILT (2025-03-01)

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What a statistician actually does

Statisticians spend most of the day in front of a screen, working in R, Python, SAS or Stata. Mornings often start with a team stand-up, then move into data cleaning, exploratory analysis or model fitting. Afternoons trend toward designing studies, advising collaborators on sample size and randomisation, and writing up methods and results. Biostatisticians in health research split time between protocol-writing for clinical trials, reviewing case report forms, running interim analyses, and sitting on data safety monitoring boards. Government statisticians at the ABS and Department of Health spend time on survey design, weighting, official release publications and confidentiality reviews. Hours sit around 37 to 40 a week in government and 38 to 45 in consulting, with peaks around publication deadlines, grant submissions, or major survey collection rounds. Most roles are hybrid: two to three days in the office, the rest from home. Communication is a big part of the role; explaining what a p-value, confidence interval or Bayesian posterior actually means to clinicians, policymakers or executives.

Typical tasks

  • Design experiments and sample plans.
  • Build and validate statistical models.
  • Communicate insights to non-technical audiences.

Skills you'll use

  • Probability, regression and experimental design fundamentals
  • R, Python or SAS for analysis, with version control in Git
  • Bayesian and frequentist modelling techniques
  • Survey design, weighting and missing-data methods
  • Writing statistical analysis plans and reproducible reports
  • Translating model output for clinicians, policymakers and executives
  • Working with messy real-world data and documenting assumptions

How to become one

  1. 1Finish Year 12 with English plus Maths Methods or Advanced; Specialist or Extension Maths is strongly recommended
  2. 2Complete a 3-year Bachelor of Science, Mathematics or Data Science with a statistics major
  3. 3Add an Honours year (1 year of research project plus thesis) since most professional and research statistician roles assume at least Honours
  4. 4Get applied experience through summer scholarships, ABS Cadet program, or research-assistant work at a uni biostatistics group
  5. 5Apply for graduate roles with the ABS, RBA, Treasury, NHMRC-funded research centres or consultancies, or move into a Masters or PhD for research-led careers
  6. 6Complete a Masters or PhD (3-4 years) for senior biostatistics, academic, or principal-research roles, and consider Statistical Society of Australia (SSA) Accredited Statistician (AStat) status after 4+ years experience

Where you can work

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics and Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
  • Reserve Bank of Australia and Commonwealth Treasury
  • Medical research institutes (Doherty, WEHI, George Institute, Menzies)
  • Universities and NHMRC-funded centres of research excellence
  • Major hospitals and clinical trial units
  • Pharmaceutical companies and contract research organisations
  • Consulting firms (Nous Group, KPMG, EY, plus specialist analytics shops)

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. Graduate
    0-2 years
    Typical roles: Graduate statistician, Junior data analyst, ABS cadet or graduate
    Salary band: $70,000 - $90,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  2. Statistician
    3-6 years
    Typical roles: Statistician, Biostatistician, Senior analyst
    Salary band: $95,000 - $130,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  3. Senior statistician
    7-12 years
    Typical roles: Senior biostatistician, Senior research fellow, Lead statistician (consulting)
    Salary band: $130,000 - $175,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  4. Principal statistician or Director
    12+ years
    Typical roles: Principal biostatistician, Director of statistics, Chief statistician

Is this for you?

You might love this if

  • You like designing a study before the data has even been collected
  • You are comfortable saying "we don't have enough data to answer that"
  • You enjoy programming and reproducible workflows in R or Python
  • You can translate a model into plain English for clinicians or executives
  • You are willing to keep learning new methods through your career

This might not suit you if

  • You want a hands-on field or lab job rather than mostly screen-based work
  • You hate writing up methods and results in detail
  • You expect to lead the analysis without studying past a 3-year degree
  • You want a job where you can ignore the "boring" data-cleaning stage

Three ways in

Uni, TAFE and trade routes for statistician. 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.