These Are the Industries Working the Most Hours per Week in Australia

How many hours do you work in a week? If you work about 38 hours per week, you’re in line with the Australian weekly median according to the recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census, but some industries go well above this.

“Ten years ago, 45 per cent of Australians were working 40 hours or more a week,” statistician Doctor David Gruen said.

“The median hours worked by Australians remained unchanged at 38 hours. Interestingly, School Principals worked as many hours as Surgeons, with each recording a median of 50 hours worked a week.”

Here are the hours you can expect to work across most industries in Australia, according to the latest Census data.

2021 Census data: weekly working hours

According to Census data from 2021, released on October 12, 2022, the most hours worked in any Australian industry, by median, is in mining.

People in the mining industry work a median of 48 hours per week, above the Australian average of 38.

It’s ahead of the next most-worked industry by quite a far margin. Here’s the top 20, as per the ABS:

• Mining: 48 hours
• Agriculture, forestry and fishing: 40
• Construction: 40
• Electricity, gas, water and waste services: 40
• Financial and insurance services: 40
• Professional, scientific and technical services: 40
• Wholesale trade: 39
• Information media and telecommunications: 38
• Manufacturing: 38
• Public administration and safety: 38
• Other services: 38
• Rental, hiring and real estate services: 38
• Transport, postal and warehousing: 38
• Education and training: 35
• Health care and social assistance: 32
• Administrative and support services: 31
• Arts and recreation services: 30
• Retail trade: 29
• Accomodation and food services: 20

Interestingly, technical services has shot into the top 20, according to the Census data and as pointed out by IT News.

“Software and Application Programmer now appears in the top 20 occupations in Australia, and security science is the fastest growing field of study. Advances in technology are also reflected in declining occupations. There are 41,000 keyboard operators in 2021, compared to 170,000 stenographers and typists 50 years ago,” the ABS wrote.

When broken down within the industries, it was found that crop farmers, principals, surgeons and miners (drillers and shot firers) have the highest median hours of work per week at 50 hours. This is followed by chief executives, managing directors and livestock farmers, who work a median of 45 hours per week.

If you’d like to check out the Census data, you can do so on the ABS website. Or take a look at the eye-watering average salaries for Australia’s highest-paid jobs.