Cabinet maker
Joinery trade designing and making fitted cabinetry, kitchens and built-in furniture.
Jobs, demand and who does this work
Figures for the ANZSCO occupation Cabinetmaker (394111), the closest official match for cabinet maker, from Your Career (Jobs and Skills Australia data, sourced 2026-09-23).
- Median weekly earnings (full-time)
- $1,216
- People employed
- 33,100
- Future demand
- Stable
- Work full-time
- 89%
- Average full-time hours
- 43 a week
- Women
- 5%
- Median age
- 35
Where the jobs are (share of workers)
| NSW | 23.7% |
| VIC | 28.2% |
| QLD | 23.9% |
| WA | 12.2% |
| SA | 9.1% |
| TAS | 1% |
| ACT | 1.3% |
| NT | 0.5% |
Highest qualification held by workers
| Postgraduate qualification | 0.8% |
| Bachelor degree | 3.4% |
| Diploma or advanced diploma | 3.6% |
| Certificate I-IV | 62.9% |
| Year 12 | 13.7% |
| Below Year 12 | 13.3% |
What a cabinet maker actually does
Cabinet makers split their day between a factory or joinery workshop and the customer site. Workshop days run 7am to 4pm and start with cutting sheets of melamine, MDF or solid timber on a panel saw or CNC router, then edge-banding, drilling for hardware and assembling carcasses. Modern shops are CAD-CAM driven - cabinet drawings come off Microvellum or 2020 Design straight to the CNC. Install days mean loading the van with completed carcasses, doors and benchtops and fitting them to plumb, square and level inside someone's house or business. Kitchens are the bread and butter; wardrobes, bathroom vanities and shop fit-outs round out the work. Stone benchtops are usually subcontracted to a stonemason. Expect sawdust, edge banding trim and a lot of measuring. Most workshops use dust extraction but noise and particulates are still a daily reality. Custom one-off pieces (heritage, high-end joinery) are rewarding but slow.
Skills you'll use
- Reading cabinet drawings and cutting lists
- Operating panel saws, edgebanders and CNC routers
- Hand-finishing solid timber doors and panels
- Hardware installation (hinges, drawer runners, lift mechanisms)
- Site measurement and scribing benchtops to walls
- Reading CAD files (DXF, 3D models) for nesting
- Customer site installation and finishing
How to become one
- 1Finish Year 10 with maths and English
- 2Sign a 4-year apprenticeship with a joinery shop or Group Training Organisation
- 3Complete the MSF30322 Certificate III in Cabinet Making and Timber Technology through TAFE
- 4Optional - complete additional units in CNC operation or stone fabrication
- 5White Card (CPCWHS1001) for any site install work on building sites
- 6For self-employment - register a business and check small contractor licensing in your state
Where you can work
- Kitchen and bathroom joinery shops
- Commercial shop-fitters for retail and hospitality
- Custom furniture and high-end residential joinery
- Caravan, motorhome and marine interior manufacturers
- Modular building and prefab housing factories
- Heritage restoration workshops
- Self-employed sole trader or small joinery business
Career progression
Typical stages and roles. Apprentice and tradesperson pay is set by the modern award or enterprise agreement that covers the job; check it with the Fair Work Ombudsman's Pay and Conditions Tool.
- Apprentice4 yearsTypical roles: First-year apprentice cabinet maker, Fourth-year apprentice cabinet maker
- Tradesperson0-4 yearsTypical roles: Bench cabinet maker, CNC operator, Kitchen installer
- Leading hand or designer5-10 yearsTypical roles: Workshop leading hand, Cabinet designer / drafter, Production supervisor
- Joinery business owner8+ yearsTypical roles: Joinery shop owner, Custom furniture maker
Is this for you?
You might love this if
- You enjoy precision work with timber and sheet materials
- You're comfortable with CAD and CNC technology
- You can stand and concentrate for long periods at a bench
- You have a good eye for grain, finish and detail
- You enjoy seeing a finished kitchen come together on install day
This might not suit you if
- You can't commit to 4 years of low apprentice pay
- You have lung or skin sensitivity to MDF dust or solvent finishes
- You'd rather work outdoors than in a workshop
- You can't tolerate repetitive cutting and assembly when production is busy
Entry requirements
- Year 10 or equivalent
- A signed apprenticeship training contract with a host employer.
State licensing
Not nationally licensed. Some states impose contractor licensing once work exceeds a value threshold.
| State | Licensing authority |
|---|---|
| NSW | Building Commission NSW (joinery contractor licence for residential work over $5,000) |
| VIC | No trade-specific licence listed |
| QLD | No trade-specific licence listed |
| SA | No trade-specific licence listed |
| WA | No trade-specific licence listed |
| TAS | No trade-specific licence listed |
| NT | No trade-specific licence listed |
| ACT | No trade-specific licence listed |