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.
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 pay bands. Figures are sourced from Job Outlook, the Fair Work Building Industry Award, or industry bodies; brackets are 25th-75th percentile.
- Apprentice3 yearsTypical roles: First-year apprentice (commis), Third-year apprentice (demi chef)Salary band: $25,000 - $48,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
- Chef de partie0-4 yearsTypical roles: Chef de partie, Section chef, Pastry chefSalary band: $55,000 - $75,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
- Sous chef5-8 yearsTypical roles: Sous chef, Senior sous chefSalary band: $70,000 - $95,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
- Head chef8+ yearsTypical roles: Head chef, Executive chef, Restaurant ownerSalary band: $85,000 - $150,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
Is this for you?
You might love this if
- You thrive under fast-paced, time-pressured service
- You can handle being on your feet 10 hours a day
- You enjoy the satisfaction of a clean service ticket
- You don't mind working Friday and Saturday nights
- You can take and give direct feedback under pressure
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 | Not licensed in this state |
| VIC | Not licensed in this state |
| QLD | Not licensed in this state |
| SA | Not licensed in this state |
| WA | Not licensed in this state |
| TAS | Not licensed in this state |
| NT | Not licensed in this state |
| ACT | Not licensed in this state |