Accommodation and Food Services

Overview

EMPLOYED

966,000

PART-TIME SHARE

60%

WORKFORCE SHARE

6.6%

FEMALE SHARE

52%

MEDIAN WEEKLY EARNINGS

$1,300

MEDIAN AGE

25

About this data

Accommodation and Food Services is a large employing industry. Around 6.6% of workers have their main job in this industry.

This industry includes:

  • short-term accommodation providers
  • cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services
  • pubs, taverns, bars and clubs
  • clubs providing hospitality services to members.

Median earnings are $1,300 per week, lower than all industries median earnings of $1,700.

Details

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    Employment

    Employment in the Accommodation and Food Services industry grew over the 20 years to August 2025.
    The number of workers grew by 18,700 (or 2%) over the last year.

    Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, August 2025, Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) trend data.
    Note: Over the COVID-19 pandemic period (highlighted section in the chart above), some industries have censored values, resulting in a broken series for impacted industries. This is due to large quarterly fluctuations in employment resulting in trend data being unreliable for these quarters. Where data are available over the COVID-19 pandemic period, JSA recommends caution when using these trend estimates.
    Quarterly employment, Accommodation and Food Services Employment
    677700
    673300
    668900
    669000
    673800
    680800
    688600
    694800
    698900
    700700
    703000
    706500
    710200
    713700
    718300
    724900
    731900
    736800
    740500
    745300
    750700
    757600
    763300
    765600
    764600
    762100
    761300
    765400
    771600
    777500
    781700
    783600
    783100
    783200
    786400
    792900
    802100
    811700
    819200
    823800
    826600
    830500
    835600
    842000
    847900
    853200
    859000
    865800
    870900
    873400
    875300
    878800
    882100
    886900
    893000
    900300
    906600
    911300
    914100
    912000
    917100
    924400
    930100
    931400
    929200
    925000
    923000
    927200
    937100
    947300
    953900
    957300
    960700
    966000

    Sectors

    Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services is the largest sector in the Accommodation and Food Services industry, employing 688,400 workers.

    Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, August 2025, Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) trend data.
    Note: the sum of sectoral employment may not equal the industry total as data are trended separately, and not further defined (nfd) classifications have been excluded.
    Employment by industry sectors Employment
    Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 688400
    Pubs, Taverns and Bars 107100
    Accommodation 105000
    Clubs (Hospitality) 49700

    Occupations

    Waiters is the largest employing occupation in the Accommodation and Food Services industry.

    The 10 largest employing occupations are shown below.

    Some occupations are common across a number of industries.

    Largest employing occupations

    Source: Ranked using ABS, Labour Force Survey, 2024, four-quarter average data, customised report.
    ANZSCO CodeOccupation title
    4315Waiters
    3513Chefs
    4311Bar Attendants and Baristas
    8513Kitchenhands
    6211Sales Assistants (General)
    1411Cafe and Restaurant Managers
    8511Fast Food Cooks
    1421Retail Managers
    4312Cafe Workers
    3514Cooks
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      Data Downloads

      Industry data

      This file contains data for all 19 industries to make comparing industry data easy. Information available includes:

      • industry overview
      • industry employment (20-year time series)
      • industry sector employment
      • top employing occupations by industry.

       

      Industry data - August 2025.xlsx

      industry_data_-_august_2025.xlsx105972

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