Overview of this occupation
Counsellors provide information on vocational, relationship, social and educational difficulties and issues, and work with people to help them to identify and define their emotional issues through therapies such as cognitive behaviour therapy, interpersonal therapy and other talking therapies.
What they do:
- Advise others on social or educational issues
- Assist clients to access needed support, services, resources, or programs
- Collaborate with other professionals to assess client needs or plan treatments
- Confer with clients, customers, or designers to determine needs or discuss designs and plans
- Confer with clients, family members, or caregivers to discuss client treatment plans or progress
- Deliver inclusive, accessible, and culturally appropriate programs, policies or services
- Interview clients to gather information about their backgrounds, needs or progress
- Maintain a working understanding of the cultural, diversity and accessibility needs of others, and how this applies to the role
- Provide counselling to clients, patients, or family members
- Provide emotional, social, or mental health support in crisis situations
- Recommend technical design or process changes to improve efficiency, quality or performance
- Support individuals with diverse needs to understand, access and utilise information or services
What technology tools they use:
- Audio/video conferencing software
- Patient management systems and electronic health records
What their interests are:
- Creative – they enjoy designing, creating and decorating; composing, dancing and singing; writing and storytelling.
- Scientific – they enjoy investigating, experimenting, discovering new ideas and analysing data.
- Social – they enjoy focusing on social welfare and working with people.
Source: Australian Skills Classification, job and Skills Australia, Commonwealth of Australia. Used under Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence and Jobs and Skills Australia, ABS Census 2016, Customised Report.
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Quick facts
Counsellors
All employees nationwide 1
The number of people employed in an occupations as their main job across all Australian states.
Projected growth 2
The projected increase in employment in Australia from May 2023 to May 2028.
Working in NSW 3
The distribution of people employed in an occupation in NSW.
Median weekly earnings before tax 4
Earnings are before tax and include amounts salary sacrificed.
Median age of all workers 5
This shows the median age of all workers in this occupation.
Part-time workers 6
Those who usually work less than 35 hours per week.
See footnotes for source details and additional information.
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Skills and knowledge
What are they good at?
This table lists skills and knowledge categories according to how relevant they are for this occupation.
| High expertise | Intermediate |
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High expertise
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Intermediate
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Source: Australian Skills Classification, Jobs and Skills Australia, Commonwealth of Australia. Used under Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence.
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Education and qualifications
Counsellors – Skill level 1
Occupation at Skill Level 1 have a level of skill commensurate with a bachelor's degree of higher qualification .
At least five years of relevant experience may substitute for the formal qualification
Source: Conceptual basis of ANZSCO, ABS Survey, Release Nov 2021.
Qualifications in this workforce
This table shows the distribution of employment by highest qualification completed (in any field of study).7
Year 12 and below
Certificate III or IV
Diploma or Advanced Diploma
Bachelor`s degree
Post-graduate
Source: ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on place of usual residence.
Use this as a guide for understanding what qualifications are the most common in this field. For personalised support on your education journey, talk to a Careers NSW specialist.
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Talk to one of our specialists
At any career stage you can talk with a specialist from Careers NSW about your goals and how you can achieve them.