The industries hiring hardest
- Healthcare and aged care — registered nurses, enrolled nurses, aged and disability support workers, allied health and NDIS support coordination. Demand runs across every state and is strongest in regional areas.
- Construction and licensed trades — electricians, plumbers, carpenters, HVAC technicians, civil site supervisors. Licensing is the bottleneck, so qualified tradespeople have real leverage.
- Technology — cyber security analysts, cloud and platform engineers, data engineers and software developers. Hiring has cooled from its peak but security and cloud roles remain hard to fill.
- Education — secondary teachers in maths, science and special education, plus early childhood educators.
- Engineering and resources — mining, civil, structural and electrical engineers, with heavy concentration in Western Australia and Queensland.
Where the openings are, state by state
- NSW and VIC — the largest raw volume of advertised roles, weighted toward professional services, technology, health and education.
- QLD — construction, infrastructure and health, boosted by long-running project pipelines.
- WA — resources, mining services and FIFO trades, usually with the highest pay premiums.
- SA — defence, shipbuilding, space and advanced manufacturing.
- TAS, ACT and NT — smaller markets, but health, government and community services roles are persistently under-filled, and competition per ad is far lower.
In demand doesn't mean easy to get
An occupation being in demand tells you the volume of ads, not whether you will be shortlisted. Most rejections happen because a CV doesn't visibly show the specific licences, tools or years of experience the advertisement names. The fix is rarely a new qualification — it's usually making existing experience explicit.
- Name the licences and tickets in full (White Card, AHPRA registration, Working with Children Check).
- Use the same wording the ad uses for tools and systems, not internal company names.
- Show outcomes with numbers — team size, budget, patients per shift, tickets closed.
How to check your own fit in minutes
Instead of guessing, score yourself against real ads. Upload your CV to The Next Role Finder and every live Australian listing is ranked by how well you actually match, with the missing skills listed for each one. See also what a CV match score means.
Frequently asked questions
What jobs are in demand in Australia right now?
Healthcare and aged care, construction and licensed trades, cyber security and software engineering, teaching and early childhood education, and civil and mining engineering are consistently the hardest roles for Australian employers to fill.
Which state has the most job openings?
New South Wales and Victoria advertise the highest raw volume of roles, while Western Australia and Queensland lead for resources, construction and regional health roles relative to population.
How do I know if my skills match an in-demand job?
Compare your CV against live advertisements rather than job titles. The Next Role Finder scores every live Australian ad against your CV and shows the exact skills you are missing for each one.
