Database Administrator
Database administrators build and maintain the systems that store an organisation's data, keeping it available, accurate and secure.
- Median salary
- $128,000
4.1%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 5,900
1.7%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +24%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Moderate
- automation risk
- Average hours
- 40/wk
matches all-jobs average
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
Database administrators work in IT teams, most often in professional services, government agencies or financial institutions, where large volumes of sensitive data need to stay available and accurate. The role sits closer to infrastructure than to software development: a database administrator configures, tunes and protects the systems under the applications rather than writing the applications themselves. That separates the job from a systems administrator, who looks after servers and networks more broadly, and from a cyber security analyst, whose focus is threats rather than day-to-day database performance.
How much do database administrators earn?
The median full-time salary for a database administrator is $128,000 per annum, before tax, up $26,800 since 2018.
Pay moves with the platform you specialise in and the sector you work in, with financial services, large government departments and technology firms generally paying above the middle of the range. On-call arrangements, which many database roles include, usually carry a rostered allowance on top of base pay, and contractors brought in for migrations or upgrades charge daily rates rather than a salary. Vendor certifications and cloud platform skills tend to lift pay faster than another general IT qualification.
What does a database administrator 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.
- Checking that last night's backups actually completed and can be restored, not just that the job ran
- Tuning a slow query or rebuilding an index because a report that used to take seconds now takes minutes
- Testing a patch or version upgrade in a non-production environment before touching anything live
- Reviewing who has access to which data and tightening permissions that have drifted over time
- Working out with an application team whether a performance problem sits in their code or in the database underneath it
What skills do database administrators need?
Employers look for data analysis, cloud infrastructure, cyber security, backed by SQL Server fluency and strong problem solving.
Specialist skills
- Data analysis
- Cloud infrastructure
- Cyber security
- Risk and internal controls
- Regulatory compliance
Software and tools
- SQL Server
- Oracle Database
- PostgreSQL
- AWS RDS
- MongoDB
General skills
- Problem solving
- Attention to detail
Is the job growing?
About 5,900 people work as database administrators in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 24% over the decade to 2035. That's very strong growth. Few roles in Australia are expanding this fast, and it points to solid demand for years to come.
How do you become a database administrator?
Here's the path most database administrators take, step by step.
- 1Start with a qualification in IT or computer science
A bachelor degree is the usual entry point, though a diploma or advanced diploma in information technology is accepted by some employers, particularly when it comes with vendor certification. The coursework that matters most covers database design, operating systems and networking.
- 2Learn at least one database platform properly
Employers hire for depth in a specific system, such as SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL or MongoDB. Vendor certifications from Microsoft, Oracle or the cloud providers are a common way to show that depth, and they can be taken while you work.
- 3Get in through a related role
Most database administrators start somewhere adjacent, in IT support, systems administration, data entry or a junior database or analyst position. These roles teach the production environment, change control and the habits that keep a live system safe.
- 4Add cloud database skills
Managed services such as AWS RDS and Azure SQL handle some of the traditional maintenance work, so employers now look for people who can provision, secure and cost-manage databases in the cloud. This is often the difference between a mid-level and a senior database role.
Study routes we have checked
Qualifications that are a recognised way into this role, and what else you need.
- Bachelor of Advanced Computer Science (Honours)
A recognised route into this role
Complete the relevant software, systems or database coursework and practical projects. The qualification is an education route; employers assess role-specific technical skills and experience.
- Bachelor of Computer Science
A recognised route into this role
Complete the relevant software, systems or database coursework and practical projects. The qualification is an education route; employers assess role-specific technical skills and experience.
- Bachelor of Computer Science (Advanced)
A recognised route into this role
Complete the relevant software, systems or database coursework and practical projects. The qualification is an education route; employers assess role-specific technical skills and experience.
- Bachelor of Computer Science (Professional)
A recognised route into this role
Complete the relevant software, systems or database coursework and practical projects. The qualification is an education route; employers assess role-specific technical skills and experience.
- Bachelor of Computer Science/Bachelor of Laws
A recognised route into this role
Complete the relevant software, systems or database coursework and practical projects. The qualification is an education route; employers assess role-specific technical skills and experience.
- Bachelor of Computer Science/Bachelor of Science
A recognised route into this role
Complete the relevant software, systems or database coursework and practical projects. The qualification is an education route; employers assess role-specific technical skills and experience.
- Bachelor of Computer Science/Master of Data Science
A recognised route into this role
Complete the relevant software, systems or database coursework and practical projects. The qualification is an education route; employers assess role-specific technical skills and experience.
- Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/Bachelor of Computer Science
A recognised route into this role
Complete the relevant software, systems or database coursework and practical projects. The qualification is an education route; employers assess role-specific technical skills and experience.
- Bachelor of Mathematics/Bachelor of Computer Science
A recognised route into this role
Complete the relevant software, systems or database coursework and practical projects. The qualification is an education route; employers assess role-specific technical skills and experience.
Ready to apply as a database administrator?
Whether you're working toward becoming a database administrator 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 database administrator move to?
Moving into IT Project Manager typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $44,100 a year more on average.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
| IT Project Manager Database administrators bring technical delivery and migration experience to it project manager roles, with further study in project management.Known move | +$44,100 | 14% | reskill |
| Business Analyst Database administrators bring modelling and systems knowledge to business analyst work, though a degree is usually needed.Known move | +$12,200 | 16% | requalify |
| DevOps Engineer Database administrators bring automation, scripting and infrastructure knowledge to devops engineer roles, with further study in delivery pipelines.Known move | +$3,900 | 22% | reskill |
| Systems Administrator Database administrators bring server, storage and troubleshooting skills that transfer well into systems administrator roles.Known move | +$0 | 61% | minimal |
| Cyber Security Analyst Database administrators bring access control, backup and protection skills into cyber security analyst roles with minimal retraining. | +$0 | 74% | 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 database administrator?
The typical database administrator is 44 years old; 61% are men, 82% work full-time, and full-timers average 40 hours a week.
- 44
- Median age
- 39%
- Female share
- 82%
- Full-time
- +0h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a database administrator?
The job has a steady rhythm interrupted by moments of real pressure. Much of the week is planned work, monitoring, patching, tuning and housekeeping, and then a failed upgrade or a corrupted table pulls everyone towards the person who knows the system best. It suits someone methodical who likes understanding one technology deeply and who is comfortable being the person others check with before they change something.
What people like
- Problems with a definite answer. A slow report or a failed backup has a cause, and you can find it. Much of the work ends with something measurably better than it was that morning.
- Deep knowledge of a system. Over time you hold a mental map of the schemas, jobs and dependencies that no one else on the team has. That knowledge makes you genuinely useful in a way that general IT work often does not.
- Mostly planned, calm work. Outside incidents and on-call, the week is largely scheduled: maintenance windows, upgrades, documentation and reviews. People who like order tend to settle into it well.
- Contact across the whole business. You deal with developers, analysts, finance teams and vendors, so you see what the organisation actually does with its data rather than only the technical layer.
What people find hard
- On-call and out-of-hours work. Patches, migrations and major upgrades usually happen at night or on weekends because the database cannot go down during business hours. Many employers run a rostered on-call arrangement on top of ordinary hours.
- One mistake has a long tail. A dropped table, a wrong permission or a change made without a rollback plan can affect hundreds of people and take days to unpick, which is why the work rewards double-checking everything.
- You often hear about changes last. Application teams can alter code or add load without telling the database team, and you find out when something breaks. A good part of the job is chasing that information before it becomes an incident.
- Administrative load builds up. Access requests, audit evidence, documentation and licence reviews pile up behind the technical work, and they rarely get the same attention until an audit or a security review arrives.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ database administrators?
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services employs the largest share of database administrators, followed by Public Administration and Safety.
Top employing industries
- 1Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
- 2Public Administration and Safety
- 3Financial and Insurance Services
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Bachelor degree | 41.2% | |
|---|---|---|
| Postgraduate | 23.6% | |
| Year 12 or below | 13.5% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 10.9% | |
| Certificate III/IV | 7.3% |
Will AI replace database administrators?
This is a moderately exposed role. Monitoring, backups, patching and index maintenance are increasingly handled by cloud platforms such as AWS RDS and Azure SQL and by database management tools, which removes a lot of routine hands-on work. What remains is judgement about the specific system: whether a schema change is safe, how a migration will behave under load, and who should hold which permissions.
Share of typical working time by exposure level
- Query tuning and index managementTools will point at the slowest queries and suggest an index, but changing one can slow writes elsewhere, so the decision still rests on knowing how the application uses the table.30%moderate
- Backups, patching and routine maintenanceCloud platforms now schedule backups, apply patches and run integrity checks automatically, though someone still has to confirm the restores work and the retention rules match what the business needs.25%moderate
- Design, migrations and capacity planningMoving a large database to a new platform or planning storage for three years of growth means weighing cost, downtime and risk against how the business actually runs.25%low
- Access control and security reviewsAutomated tools can list who holds which privileges, but working out whether a permission is appropriate for a particular role usually means talking to the team that requested it.20%moderate
Common questions about becoming a database administrator
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much do database administrators earn in Australia?
The median for full-time database administrators is $128,000 per year before tax, so half earn more and half less. Pay rises with cloud platform skills, vendor certification, seniority and on-call duties.
Do you need a degree to become a database administrator?
Not always, though it is the common path: the most widespread qualification among database administrators is a Bachelor degree, held by 41% of them. A diploma plus strong vendor certification, or several years in IT support or systems administration, can also get you there.
Are database administrators in demand?
Database administrators are currently not in shortage, and employment is projected to grow 24% over the decade to 2035. The projection runs to 2035, so it depends on how much database work organisations keep in house as cloud services take on more of the routine maintenance.
Will AI replace database administrators?
AI tools already write and explain queries, flag slow statements and suggest indexes, and cloud platforms automate backups, patching and monitoring. They do not take responsibility for a production database, and design, migration and tuning decisions still need someone who knows the schema and the applications that depend on it.
What can database administrators move into?
Database administrators often move into systems administration or cyber security analysis, since server, backup and access control skills carry across; systems administrators earn about the same and cyber security analysts about the same. DevOps engineering ($3,900 more), business analysis ($12,200 more) and IT project management ($44,100 more) are also open, though each needs study in its own discipline.
Do database administrators have to work on call?
Many do, because upgrades, migrations and emergency fixes have to happen outside business hours. On-call duty usually comes with a rostered allowance or loading, and larger teams rotate it so the same person is not always on.
Related roles
- Systems Administrator
- Business Analyst
- Cyber Security Analyst
- DevOps Engineer
- IT Project Manager
- Systems Administrator
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