Community Development Officer
Community development officers work with local groups, councils and services to find out what a community needs and help build the programs that meet it.
- Median salary
- $95,900
3.6%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 28,400
0.7%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +11.9%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Low
- 3 out of 10
- Average hours
- 40/wk
matches all-jobs average
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
- Community development officers work for local councils, state agencies and non-government organisations, and spend as much time in halls and community centres as at a desk.
- The focus is a group or neighbourhood rather than an individual client, which is what separates the role from casework and support work.
- Much of it runs on grant money, so making the case for funding is as much a part of the job as running the program.
How much do community development officers earn?
The median full-time salary for a community development officer is $95,900 per annum, before tax, up $20,400 since 2018.
Local government classifications and enterprise agreements usually pay more than many community organisations doing similar work, and the gap between sectors can be larger than the gap between job titles. A lot of the work is funded project by project, so pay often comes with a fixed-term contract and a question mark over what happens when the grant ends. Seniority and the size of the program or budget you manage move pay more than the subject area does.
What does a community development officer do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Sitting in community meetings and listening for what people actually want, which is often not what the funding brief assumes
- Writing grant applications and acquittal reports that turn those conversations into evidence a funder will accept
- Building relationships between council, local groups and businesses that don't always trust each other
- Launching a program and reworking it once real turnout shows what works
- Learning a new subject area with each project, from housing and youth services to disability access
What skills do community development officers need?
Employers look for community engagement, project management, policy analysis and advice, backed by Microsoft Excel fluency and strong stakeholder management.
Specialist skills
- Community engagement
- Project management
- Policy analysis and advice
- Data analysis
Software and tools
- Microsoft Excel
- Salesforce Community Cloud
- Evaluation frameworks (logic models)
- GIS mapping software
- Project management platforms (Monday.com, Asana)
General skills
- Stakeholder management
- Written communication
- Problem solving
Is the job growing?
About 28,400 people work as community development officers in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 11.9% over the decade to 2035. That's healthy, above-average growth, and the role should stay in solid demand.
How do you become a community development officer?
Here's the path most community development officers take, step by step.
- 1Study community development, social science or human services
A degree in community development, social science or human services is a common entry point, and a diploma in community services (CHC52025) leads into the same jobs with less study time. Look for courses that include a placement, because the field experience is where you learn consultation, event planning and grant reporting.
- 2Get involved with a community group
Volunteering on a school committee, sporting club or neighbourhood group is how many people get their first taste of the work, and it counts on a job application. Paid support work with young people, older people or people with disability also builds the local knowledge and client experience employers look for.
- 3Complete the checks employers ask for
A police check is standard for council and non-government roles, and a Working with Children Check is required if the work involves young people. The name of that check and the process for getting one vary by state and territory, so check your own before you apply.
- 4Start in a project, engagement or graduate role
Councils, state agencies and community organisations advertise engagement, project and community development officer positions, often on fixed-term funding. An entry role usually covers one program or one neighbourhood, and moving between contracts is normal in the early years.
Study routes we have checked
Qualifications that are a recognised way into this role, and what else you need.
- Master of Development Studies
A step towards this role
Suits community and development program work; employers look for practical field or community experience.
Study that can help
No set qualification is needed for this role in our data. These qualifications are not required, but the study can help.
- Diploma of Community ServicesDiploma
Teaches running service programs and assessing community needs, which building programs from community input relies on.
- Certificate IV in Community ServicesCertificate IV
Teaches building networks and collaborative partnerships between services and groups.
- Bachelor of Community and Human ServicesBachelor degree
Teaches community development and program evaluation, which is the core of the role.
- Bachelor of Social ScienceBachelor degree
Builds research methods and understanding of social problems and inequality, which help in finding what a community needs.
Prefer something shorter?
A short course can build some of these skills without a full qualification. These aren't accredited, and we don't rank or recommend providers: compare a few before you commit.
Community services
Search on CourseraSearch on UdemySearch on LinkedIn Learning
Humanities and social sciences
Search on CourseraSearch on UdemySearch on LinkedIn Learning
These are ordinary links to each provider's own site. We don't currently earn anything from them.
Ready to apply as a community development officer?
Whether you're working toward becoming a community development officer or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can a community development officer move to?
Moving into Sports Administrator typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $52,000 a year more on average.
- Social WorkerRecorded move$112,900+$17,000
- CounsellorRecorded move$112,000+$16,100
- Sports AdministratorSuggested move$147,900+$52,000
- Health Promotion OfficerSuggested move$91,000−$4,900
Thick lines are moves people were recorded making in Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility (income tax records, 2011-12 to 2020-21). Thin lines are moves we suggest from skill overlap and entry requirements.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
Sports Administrator Community development officers with recreation experience move into sports administration, building on program coordination and stakeholder work. | +$52,000 | 24% | reskill |
Social Worker Community development officers bring needs assessment and community engagement to social work, but a social work degree and registration are required.Known move | +$17,000 | 19% | requalify |
Counsellor Community development officers bring engagement and program skills to counselling, with further study in counselling required.Known move | +$16,100 | 12% | reskill |
Health Promotion Officer Community development officers bring community engagement and program planning to health promotion, needing only minimal additional training. | −$4,900 | 78% | minimal |
Economic Development Officer Community development officers bring needs analysis and stakeholder engagement to economic development, with minimal retraining required. | −$18,700 | 67% | minimal |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as a community development officer?
The typical community development officer is 45 years old; 80% are women, 61% work full-time, and full-timers average 40 hours a week.
- 45
- Median age
- 80%
- Female share
- 61%
- Full-time
- +0h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a community development officer?
The job moves with the funding calendar: a quiet stretch of consultation and planning, then a grant round, then the busy period of running something and proving it worked. Meetings land in the evening and the people you need are often part time or volunteering, so progress depends on patience and follow-up. It suits someone who likes being useful to a group rather than to a single client, and who can keep working on something whose future is never fully certain.
What people like
- You watch a group keep going without you. The measure of the work is a playgroup, committee or network that runs after your funding and involvement end, and you often see it happen years later.
- Every project teaches you a new subject. One year it's disability access and transport, the next it's youth services or housing, so the learning curve stays steep and general knowledge builds quickly.
- The mix of policy and street level work. You can spend the morning on a council strategy and the afternoon in a hall with residents, which suits people who would find either job on its own too narrow.
- The people you meet. Residents, volunteers, business owners and service managers all end up in your contacts, and those relationships are what get a program off the ground.
What people find hard
- Funding cycles set the clock. Short grants mean fixed-term contracts, reporting deadlines that bunch together and a genuine question about your job every time an application fails.
- Decisions sit with other people. Councillors, funding bodies and partner organisations can hold up work you have already planned, and there is little you can do except keep the relationships warm.
- Evening meetings are normal. Community consultations and committee meetings happen after hours because that is when residents and volunteers are free, so the role rarely fits neatly into a nine to five.
- You cannot fund everything. Groups come to you with good ideas and no money, and saying no, or explaining why a project does not fit the current priorities, is part of the job.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ community development officers?
Health Care and Social Assistance employs the largest share of community development officers, followed by Public Administration and Safety.
Top employing industries
- 1Health Care and Social Assistance
- 2Public Administration and Safety
- 3Other Services
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Bachelor degree | 25.3% | |
|---|---|---|
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 23.8% | |
| Certificate III/IV | 19.9% | |
| Postgraduate | 13.6% | |
| Year 12 or below | 13.6% |
Will AI replace community development officers?
Low exposure. Unlikely. AI will change some of the work around this job, not the job itself.
AI has limited reach into this job. Language models can transcribe consultations, theme survey responses and draft grant applications, and council systems already handle rostering and reporting, but the work is carried by relationships and local knowledge that a model cannot hold. The parts that decide whether a program survives are still done in person.
How a typical week splits
- Grant writing and program reporting20% of the week
Drafting an application or an acquittal is much faster with a language model, though the local evidence and the honest account of what the program did still have to come from you.
- Community consultation and engagement25% of the week
AI can transcribe a session and group the responses by theme, but running the meeting and reading the room is a person's job.
- Running programs and events30% of the week
Setting up a playgroup, coordinating volunteers and sorting out what went wrong on the day all happen on site and in real time.
- Building relationships between services and local groups25% of the week
Getting a council, a school and a neighbourhood group to work together rests on trust built over months, and no tool substitutes for turning up.
How we work this out
We break each job into its main tasks, estimate the share of a typical week each one takes, and judge how far current AI and automation tools reach into it. The score out of 10 starts from the job's overall rating (low is 1 to 3, moderate 4 to 6, high 7 to 10) and the task split places it within that range. Source: Career Tips analysis of each role's main tasks.
Common questions about becoming a community development officer
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much do community development officers earn?
Community development officers earn $95,900 per annum, before tax. Local government classifications and enterprise agreements generally pay better than many non-government organisations, and fixed-term funded projects can pay differently again from ongoing roles.
How do you become a community development officer?
Most people come in through a degree or diploma in community development, social science or community services, then apply for project or engagement roles at a council or community organisation. Experience with a community group, a placement or support work strengthens an application, and a police check plus a Working with Children Check are usually required.
Are community development officers in demand?
Community development officers are currently not in shortage, and employment is projected to grow 11.9% over the decade to 2035. The number of advertised roles depends heavily on government and philanthropic funding rounds, so openings cluster around budget decisions rather than arriving steadily through the year.
Will AI replace community development officers?
AI has limited reach into this job. It speeds up drafting grant applications, summarising consultation responses and analysing survey data, but the parts that decide whether a program works, building trust with a neighbourhood and holding a group of services together, are done face to face.
What can community development officers move into?
Health promotion is one move, since the engagement and program planning work overlaps, and it pays $4,900 less than this role. Economic development officers do similar needs analysis and stakeholder work and earn $18,700 less, while moving into social work means completing a social work degree and registering, for $17,000 more.
Do you need a degree to be a community development officer?
Not always, but most people in the role hold a post-school qualification. The most common is a Bachelor degree, held by 25% of the workforce, and a diploma in community services is accepted by many employers, particularly outside local government.
Related roles
- Health Promotion Officer
- Social Worker
- Counsellor
- Sports Administrator
- Economic Development Officer
- Disability Support Worker
Not sure this is you? Take the career quiz and get a ranked shortlist of roles that fit how you like to work.
Career advice
- Stress leave is really sick leave, and how to use itStress leave in Australia is taken as paid sick leave. What to tell your employer, what evidence they can ask for, and what to do if it runs out.
- How to change careers, and which moves are realisticData on 1,573 career moves across 350 Australian occupations shows 63.3% need no more than a short course, though skill overlap alone won't tell you which ones. Six worked examples, and how to check your own move.
- Skills to put on your resume (with skills finder)A resume skills section built for the job you're applying for. Search your occupation to see the specialist skills, tools and general skills it calls for, with worked examples and what to write if you have no work history yet.