Receptionist Salary and Job Outlook

Careers Business Employment Outlook

A Receptionist often deals face to face with customers and clients. They are the first point of contact when someone enters a business or office. Duties include administrative tasks as well as attending to the needs of clients and visitors to the office. This could entail welcoming guests and helping with administration.

Average wage for

Employment Levels

Around 162,200 people are currently employed as Receptionists in Australia. This is set to increase slightly to 175,000 people by 2019, according to the Department of Employment.

Employment by State

29% of all Receptionists are employed in NSW. The area with the lowest number of Receptionists is NT, with only 1.3%.

Gender Split

This is a very female dominated industry with 5.7% of Receptionists being male and 94.3% female.

Age Brackets

The most popular age for people working as Receptionists is 45-54 years old, with 20.5%. A small percentage (5.7%) of people get into this career path older, aged 60-64. There is also a number of people who enjoy a career as Receptionists, with 15.4% aged 35-44.

Hours Worked

Receptionists work an average of 36.3 hours a week which is 4.6 hours lower than the average for all occupations.

Education Level

The majority of Receptionists have a Year 12 qualification (30%) or are at a Years 11 & 10 level (21.7%). 44.9% of people have a Cert III or higher, whilst 55.1% have a qualification which is Year 12 or lower.

Receptionist Duties & Tasks

Greeting and welcoming visitors, and directing them to the appropriate person
Arranging and recording details of appointments
Answering inquiries and providing information on the goods, services and activities of the organisation
Answering, connecting and transferring telephone calls
Receiving and resolving complaints from clients and the public
Receiving and distributing correspondence, facsimile messages and deliveries
Maintaining the reception area
Advising on and arranging reservations and accommodation
May perform other clerical tasks such as word processing, data entry, filing, mail despatch and photocopying

Professional Associations & Groups

Australian Institute of Office Professionals

_{*The information provided on this page is from the Department of Employment’s Job Outlook website. All salary ranges are from Payscale. Where jobs are not exact matches, job areas have been used. This information is to be used as a guide only.}

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