Executive Assistant
An executive assistant runs a senior leader's diary, inbox and paperwork so their time goes where it matters most.
- Median salary
- $95,300
4.3%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 50,900
0.2%vs last year
- Projected growth
- −5.8%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Moderate
- 5 out of 10
- Average hours
- 41/wk
+1h vs all jobs
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
- You would work directly for one senior leader or a small executive team, most often in professional services firms, government agencies or health care organisations.
- The difference between this and an administration officer is authority: an executive assistant decides what reaches the executive's desk and what gets handled without them.
- Employers do not require a particular degree or certificate, and most people learn the judgement a specific executive relies on over several years on the job.
How much do executive assistants earn?
The median full-time salary for an executive assistant is $95,300 per annum, before tax, up $20,100 since 2018.
Who you support and where you work decide your pay far more than the label on the role: assistants to chief executives in government departments and large firms are usually covered by an enterprise agreement with set increments, while a small business negotiates each salary individually. Ask whether the figure assumes regular after-hours contact, because many executive assistants field calls and messages well outside standard hours, and check whether time in lieu or overtime applies. Ask about the pay band, the review cycle and who the role reports to when the executive is away.
What does an executive assistant 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.
- Triaging the inbox each morning, deciding what reaches the executive and what you deal with yourself
- Pulling together board papers, meeting packs and briefing notes for a deadline the executive cannot move
- Rebuilding a whole day of meetings and travel when a flight is cancelled or a hearing runs long
- Drafting correspondence and presentations that read as though the executive wrote them
- Sitting in on confidential discussions and difficult calls, then keeping what you heard to yourself
What skills do executive assistants need?
Employers look for project management, data analysis, backed by Microsoft Office Suite fluency and strong stakeholder management.
Specialist skills
- Project management
- Data analysis
Software and tools
- Microsoft Office Suite
- Outlook & Calendar Management
- Zoom & Teams
- Project Management Software (Asana, Monday.com)
- SharePoint & Document Management
General skills
- Stakeholder management
- Written communication
- Attention to detail
- Time and deadline management
- Problem solving
Is the job growing?
About 50,900 people work as executive assistants in Australia, and employment is projected to decline 5.8% over the decade to 2035. That's a real decline, worth weighing carefully before training into the role.
How do you become an executive assistant?
Here's the path most executive assistants take, step by step.
- 1Finish Year 12 with solid written English and confidence in office software
No degree is required, and most executive assistants hold Year 12 or a certificate. What employers screen for at this point is clear writing, accurate spelling and the ability to pick up new systems quickly.
- 2Spend two or three years in an administrative role
Receptionist, administration officer and team assistant positions teach you scheduling, records and correspondence in a low-risk setting. They also give you referees who can vouch for your reliability, which counts for more with most employers than the qualification on your resume.
- 3Add a Certificate IV or Diploma of Business (Business Administration) if you want a formal edge
These courses cover records management, business writing and meeting procedures, and many are offered part time or online so you can keep working. Government agencies in particular often list a certificate or diploma as desirable for their executive support roles.
- 4Move into executive support through a temp agency or an internal transfer
Short-term placements are a common route in, because an employer wants to see how you handle a real executive before offering a permanent job. If you already work in a large organisation, tell the executive team you are interested when a position opens.
- 5Take on board papers, budget tracking or project work to move up
Senior executive assistant and chief of staff roles go to people who can run a budget cycle or coordinate a project, not only a calendar. Volunteering for that work early is what opens the next step.
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.
- Certificate IV in BusinessCertificate IV
Teaches writing complex business documents and using digital tools to collaborate, which briefing notes and correspondence depend on.
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.
These are ordinary links to each provider's own site. We don't currently earn anything from them.
Ready to apply as an executive assistant?
Whether you're working toward becoming an executive assistant 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 an executive assistant move to?
Moving into Customer Experience Manager typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $19,400 a year more on average.
- Customer Experience ManagerRecorded move$114,700+$19,400
- Project CoordinatorRecorded move$110,800+$15,500
- Office ManagerRecorded move$90,000−$5,300
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
Customer Experience Manager Executive assistants bring client liaison, issue resolution and coordination skills to managing customer experience and service standards.Known move | +$19,400 | 69% | minimal |
Project Coordinator Executive assistants bring scheduling, documentation and stakeholder liaison into coordinating project tasks, timelines and reporting.Known move | +$15,500 | 57% | short course |
Office Manager Executive assistants bring executive diary management, correspondence and stakeholder coordination to running an office and its administrative team.Known move | −$5,300 | 25% | reskill |
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 an executive assistant?
The typical executive assistant is 43 years old; 97% are women, 72% work full-time, and full-timers average 41 hours a week.
- 43
- Median age
- 97%
- Female share
- 72%
- Full-time
- +1h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being an executive assistant?
Your day is built around someone else's calendar, and it changes without warning: a flight is cancelled, a minister calls, a board paper needs rewriting by four. You hold a lot of small details at once and rarely finish one task before the next lands, which is why people who like order and stay calm when it disappears do well here. The reward is proximity. You sit close to how decisions get made and often know more about what is happening than managers two levels up. If you need public credit for your work, the role will frustrate you, because your best days are the ones where nothing went wrong.
What people like
- You see how decisions actually get made. Papers, arguments and timing pass across your desk before they land anywhere else, so you learn how an organisation really works. That knowledge travels with you into whatever you do next.
- The relationship with one executive. A good pairing gives you unusual autonomy. Once your judgement is trusted, you act for the executive in meetings and correspondence without checking every step.
- No two days line up. The mix shifts constantly between logistics, writing, stakeholder calls and quiet admin, which keeps the work interesting if repetition bores you.
- You build a wide network quickly. You deal with board members, clients, government contacts and every team in the organisation, and those relationships often open doors later.
What people find hard
- The credit usually goes to someone else. A well-run day looks effortless from the outside, and the assistant behind it is rarely the one thanked publicly. You need to take satisfaction from the work itself.
- Your plans are never fully yours. You can block out a quiet afternoon and lose it to one urgent request. Everything you schedule sits behind the executive's priorities.
- The boundaries are hard to hold. Messages at ten at night and calls on weekends are common in some roles, especially when the executive travels or works across time zones. Ask about this at interview.
- The work can plateau. Without project, budget or people responsibilities, the pay and the variety level off once the routine becomes familiar. You have to reach for those tasks yourself.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ executive assistants?
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services employs the largest share of executive assistants, followed by Public Administration and Safety.
Top employing industries
- 1Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
- 2Public Administration and Safety
- 3Health Care and Social Assistance
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Year 12 or below | 33% | |
|---|---|---|
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 21.4% | |
| Bachelor degree | 16.9% | |
| Certificate III/IV | 16.6% | |
| Postgraduate | 4.8% |
Will AI replace executive assistants?
Moderate exposure. Not replaced, but changed. AI is taking on some tasks and the rest of the job shifts around them.
AI reaches into the routine work here, and scheduling assistants, transcription software and drafting tools already carry a real share of it in larger organisations. What they cannot do is read a room, hold a confidence or know that a particular client needs a call instead of an email. Get fluent with whatever scheduling and document tools your employer runs from day one, and put your effort into written judgement and stakeholder relationships.
How a typical week splits
- Diary and travel scheduling20% of the week
Tools that check availability across time zones and rebook a cancelled flight do much of this work, but working out which meeting matters more when two clash is a call you make.
- Inbox triage and routine replies25% of the week
Drafting software can produce standard acknowledgements and chase-ups, yet sorting a hundred messages into what the executive must read today depends on knowing that person's priorities.
- Meeting notes, minutes and action tracking20% of the week
Transcription and summary tools capture the record accurately, but deciding which side comment becomes a formal action needs someone who knows the politics of the room.
- Confidential liaison and stakeholder contact35% of the week
Board members, clients and government contacts ring the assistant because they trust that person's discretion, and that trust is built in person over years.
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 an executive assistant
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much does an executive assistant earn in Australia?
The median is $95,300 per year before tax for full-time executive assistants. Where you work and who you support move the figure most: government departments and large firms pay to set bands, small businesses negotiate each salary individually, and roles with regular after-hours contact usually pay more. Ask what the band is and when it is reviewed.
How do you become an executive assistant?
Most people come through an administrative role, such as receptionist, administration officer or team assistant, then step up to supporting a senior leader. A Certificate IV or Diploma of Business (Business Administration) helps with government and larger employers, but experience and referees matter more. Temp placements are a common route in, because the employer sees you handle a real executive before offering a permanent job.
Are executive assistants in demand?
Executive assistants are currently not in shortage, and employment is projected to decline 5.8% over the decade to 2035. That decline largely reflects organisations consolidating support roles, so more openings come from people leaving than from newly created positions. Your chances improve if you can support more than one executive, or bring project and reporting work alongside the diary.
Will AI replace executive assistants?
Scheduling tools that negotiate meeting times, transcribe calls and draft routine replies are already in use, and they take over part of the workload. What stays with a person is deciding what the executive should see, handling confidential material and reading a tense situation before it becomes a problem. Learn the tools your employer runs, and put your effort into the judgement and relationships around them.
What can an executive assistant move into?
Project coordination is a common step, using the same scheduling, documentation and stakeholder skills, and it pays $15,500 more. Moving into an office manager role often means less pay but more control over an administrative team, while customer experience management suits assistants who enjoy client liaison and pays $19,400 more. Each move works because the coordination skills carry over, though you will need to pick up budget or team responsibility along the way.
Is being an executive assistant a dead-end job?
Not if you keep adding responsibilities. Assistants who take on board papers, budget tracking, event management or project coordination build a case for senior executive assistant, chief of staff or operations roles. Those who stay on the diary alone tend to find both the pay and the challenge level flatten out.
Related roles
- Office Manager
- Project Coordinator
- Customer Experience Manager
- Administration Officer
- Secretary
- Receptionist
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
- Time management at workTime management at work comes down to a few decisions you make again and again: what gets your attention first, how you protect time for work that needs concentration, and how you adjust when the day doesn't go to plan.
- Transferable skillsTransferable skills are the skills you can take from one job into another, even when the job title, industry or workplace changes.
- 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.