Chef

Hospitality trade preparing and producing food in commercial kitchens. Not a licensed trade, but food-safety supervisor training is required for the head-chef role in every state.

Jobs, demand and who does this work

Figures for the ANZSCO occupation Chef (351311), the closest official match for chef, from Your Career (Jobs and Skills Australia data, sourced 2026-09-23).

Median weekly earnings (full-time): $1,330
People employed: 131,000
Future demand: Strong
Work full-time: 78%
Average full-time hours: 43 a week
Women: 26%
Median age: 34

Where the jobs are (share of workers)

NSW	31.5%
VIC	27.4%
QLD	19.5%
WA	11%
SA	5.6%
TAS	1.9%
ACT	1.8%
NT	1.3%

Highest qualification held by workers

Postgraduate qualification	3.6%
Bachelor degree	14.4%
Diploma or advanced diploma	22.3%
Certificate I-IV	37.3%
Year 12	10.9%
Below Year 12	6.7%

What a chef actually does

Chefs work split shifts that revolve around service. A typical restaurant day starts around 9 or 10am with prep: butchery, veg prep, stocks, sauces, mise en place for the section. Lunch service runs from 12 to 2:30 in busy CBD or tourist venues. Quieter restaurants skip lunch and start at 2pm for dinner only. Dinner service is the intense window - 6pm to about 10pm - working hot on a section (grill, sauce, pastry, larder) with a dozen tickets up at once. After service comes break-down, clean, and prep notes for the next day. Most kitchens finish by midnight in fine dining, earlier in cafes and pubs. The work is hot, fast and pressured, with long hours on your feet and a Friday-Saturday- Sunday rhythm that doesn't match the rest of the world. Apprentices rotate sections and spend a lot of time on prep and pastry until they're trusted on the line. The trade culture is improving on hours, harassment and pay but still has problems in places.

Skills you'll use

Knife skills and butchery
Stock, sauce and base preparation
Section cooking under pressure (grill, sauce, larder, pastry)
Menu costing and recipe scaling
Food safety, HACCP and allergen management
Kitchen brigade communication and call-outs
Stocktake and ordering for a section

How to become one

1Finish Year 10 with English
2Get a Food Safety Supervisor (FSS) certificate
3Sign a 3-year apprenticeship at a restaurant, pub kitchen or hotel
4Complete the SIT30821 Certificate III in Commercial Cookery through TAFE block-release
5Optional - complete a Certificate IV in Kitchen Management to lead a kitchen
6Optional - work overseas (London, NYC, Tokyo) for 1-2 years to add fine-dining experience

Where you can work

Cafes and casual restaurants
Pubs, clubs and gastropubs
Fine-dining and hatted restaurants
Hotel restaurants, banquets and room service
Catering companies and events
Aged care, hospitals and remote-site catering
Self-employed - own restaurant, cafe or food truck

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.

Apprentice
3 years
Typical roles: First-year apprentice (commis), Third-year apprentice (demi chef)
Chef de partie
0-4 years
Typical roles: Chef de partie, Section chef, Pastry chef
Sous chef
5-8 years
Typical roles: Sous chef, Senior sous chef
Head chef
8+ years
Typical roles: Head chef, Executive chef, Restaurant owner

Is this for you?

This might not suit you if

You want a Monday-to-Friday 9-to-5 routine
You can't handle heat, hot oil and burns risk
You can't commit to 3 years on apprentice cookery wages
You can't tolerate evenings and weekends away from family and friends

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	No trade-specific licence listed
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

Careers this trade leads to

Chef
ANZSCO 3513