How to Become a Production Engineer in Australia | A Guide

A Production Engineer is a position in Australia (alternatively known as under the classification Production or Plant Engineers, ANZSCO 233513) that deals with the management and optimisation of the manufacturing process, equipment layout, efficiency, maintenance, quality, and safety.

Why Choose to Be a Production Engineer in Australia?

The following are some of the reasons why this would be an appealing career choice:

Good pay growth: As we will discuss later in the next section, the remuneration of production engineers in Australia is rather competitive to most other fields in engineering.

Varied industries: Production engineering functions can be executed in production, mining, resources and energy, chemicals, automotive, packaging, etc. This gives you flexibility.

Obvious demand: When there are many job vacancies (e.g., there were more than 7,000 job postings of production engineers in Australia at one moment).

Migration opportunity: The job belongs to an established engineering ANZSCO occupation (233513), and may be included in skilled migration programs (with appropriate skills evaluation).

All this implies that should you be ready to fulfill the demands and establish pertinent knowledge, then you can place yourself in a good position to achieve an enriching career in the field of engineering in Australia.

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Typical tasks include:

Calculating the allocation of materials, equipment, workflow, and manpower on the production floor.
Plant layouts, equipment specifications, and production system design or alteration to enhance efficiency.
Maintaining a cost-effective production that is both of standard quality and safety.
Maintain coordinates, inspect plant equipment, and Troubleshoot performance.
Collaboration with teams such as operations, maintenance, engineering, quality, and so on in order to maintain the manufacturing/production activities as flowing.

Due to the good manufacturing, mining, and resources and industrial sectors, Australia has a constant demand of engineers who could streamline the production processes. Job-market statistics show that there are thousands of job listings for Production Engineer in Australia.

Production Engineer in Australia – Salary Expectations

It is always a good idea to have a realistic view of what you could make as a Production Engineer in Australia.

The following are the current salary indicators:

In the webpage SEEK: the proposed salary of Production Engineers in Australia differs significantly, based on industry, location, work experience. Indicatively, Mining, Resources and Energy jobs have average wages of some positions that are AUD 144,598.

On Indeed: in one of the data sets, the average pay of a production engineer job is approximately AUD 86,453 per annum.

On Glassdoor: The average remuneration of a Production Engineer in Australia is approximated to be around AUD 101,000/yr, with the common range being AUD 75,000 to AUD 140,000 based on experience and position.

On PayScale: The base pay ranges between an average of AUD 79,703 per year (2025) with a range of about AUD 59k to AUD 126k based on experience.

Major lesson: When starting out in your career at a young age, a pay of between AUD 70k and 90k could be expected. At mid to senior experience, particularly in high-demand areas or remote locations (e.g. mining, resources) you might expect AUD 120k + or higher. Your compensation can be greatly influenced by location (state/territory), industry, FIFO/rural allowances, shift work, and many other factors.

Production Engineer in Australia – Requirements

The requirements to be a Production Engineer in Australia are; educational, professional, migration (where applicable), and personal. Here’s a breakdown:

Educational & professional requirements

Normally, you must have an appropriate qualification in engineering, such as a Bachelor of Engineering (mechanical, manufacturing, industrial, production) or equivalent. Such a degree is provided in many Australian universities.
To become an Australian resident or in order to be considered a skilled engineer, then you may need to have your qualification tested by the national body Engineers Australia (EA).
In the migration skills assessment process, you will be required to present your qualification certificates, transcripts, work experience, and test results in English.
Mark the current change: Since 1 September 2024, to identify advanced diplomas or associate degrees qualifications in RTOs, only qualifications accredited by the Dublin Accord pathway will be eligible to use the accredited pathway; otherwise, the Competency Demonstration Report (CDR) pathway is required.

Migration/visa & skills assessment requirements

When you are abroad (or planning to migrate professionally), you ought to be aware:

Production or Plant Engineer -ANZSCO 233513 is the occupation group that is used in migration and skills assessment.
As part of the skilled migration process, you are required to pass an assessment of skills as administered by Engineers Australia.
There are English language competency requirements (ex, IELTS, TOEFL, PTE) – this is something that must be shown in the process of skills assessment.
Depending on the visa subclass you are applying to, you might have to fulfill other visa requirements (age, points, state nomination, work experience).

Industry/employer requirements

Employers will require them even in situations where formal qualifications and migration credentials are not provided:

The appropriate work experience in the production/manufacturing engineering, process improvement, optimization of plant layout, maintenance coordination, etc.
The understanding of manufacturing systems, Lean, Six Sigma, continuous improvement strategies, and CAD/design tools can be useful.
Knowledge of the regulatory, quality, health, and safety standards in Australian industry.
Good communication, teamwork, problem-solving solving and the capability to fit into the Australian work setup (particularly in the case of a migrant).

Additional personal factors

Ready to work in a manufacturing/industrial setting (with possible shift work).
May have to work FIFO (fly-in/fly-out) or have to relocate depending on the sector (e.g., mining, remote site).
Ongoing professional growth: technologies in the engineering profession change fast, and thus learn continuously.
Your professional career and visibility can be facilitated with networking and local professional membership (e.g., membership in Engineers Australia).

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How to Get Started: Step-by-Step to Becoming a Production Engineer in Australia

The following is a suggested path to the role of Production Engineer in Australia:

Step 1: Select and undertake a corresponding qualification in engineering

Undertake a course of Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial, Production) , preferably in an institution that is recognised in Australia.
Give attention to the courses that are connected with the manufacturing systems, production engineering, plant design, and process optimisation.
Get practical experience (internships, work-integrated learning, projects) -this contributes to your resume and meets the expectations of employers.

Step 2: Gain appropriate experience and skills

Post (or post-degree) work: attempt to secure positions (even entry-level) in manufacturing/production facilities: e.g., manufacturing engineer trainee, process engineer, production support engineer.
Learn how to: plan production, analyze plant layout, automation systems, quality control, Lean manufacturing, and cost-reduction projects.
Record your accomplishments: in the case of migration and employment applications, you will have to demonstrate certain work, outcomes, and duties.

Step 3: In case of migrating, achieve skills test and visa qualification

In case you are planning to work and live in Australia under a skilled visa, a skills assessment of migration should be applied at Engineers Australia.
Select the appropriate assessment route (Australian qualification, Washington/Sydney/Dublin Accord route or CDR route based on your background).
Get necessary papers ready: academic transcripts, job reference, curriculum vitae, and English language test result.
Take into account state nomination/points: each of the states/territories in Australia might provide some extra points or certain conditions for an occupation.

Step 4: Interview for be Production Engineer in Australia

Use large job boards (e.g., SEEK, Jora, LinkedIn) and filter to Production Engineer in Australia. The labor market is very dynamic.
Make your resume and cover letter tailored: put emphasis on your experience in production/manufacturing engineering, process improvement, measures of success (cost saved, production increased, downtime reduced).
Good demand targeted industries: mining/resources, manufacturing, packaging, heavy industry.
It can be location flexibility: certain positions can be regional or remote, and they can attract better salaries or benefits.

Step 5: Ongoing professional growth and professional advancement

Upon taking up a position, look at joining Engineers Australia, becoming a Chartered Engineer (CPEng) where appropriate, attending industry conferences, and becoming more skilled in Lean/Six Sigma, automation, and digital manufacturing.
The engineers who have achieved the rank of Production engineer can further advance to the position of senior production engineer: Production Manager, Plant Manager, Engineering Manager, and so on, and these positions will also provide higher salaries and responsibility.
Keep abreast with the new trends: Industry 4.0, intelligent production, IoT in production, manufacturing sustainability, etc.

Closing Thoughts

Being a Production Engineer in Australia provides a strong career perspective with good pay prospects, a wide range of industry exposure, and career development prospects. Be it you are already in Australia or you are intending to migrate, the best steps are to have the right qualification, relevant production/manufacturing experience, satisfy assessment and visa requirements (where applicable), and make strategic applications to positions.