Facilities Administrator
Facilities administrators coordinate the maintenance, contractors and records that keep a building safe and running.
- Median salary*
- $77,000
3.8%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 3,800
0.0%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +10.6%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Moderate
- automation risk
- Average hours
- 40/wk
matches all-jobs average
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
The work happens wherever a building needs looking after: government offices, hospitals, schools, universities and corporate sites. A facilities administrator handles the day to day side of that, logging maintenance requests, booking contractors and keeping compliance records current, while a facilities manager carries the budget and the team. Most people in the role sit in an administration or operations team, and some look after a single site while others cover a portfolio.
How much do facilities administrators earn?
The median full-time salary for a facilities administrator is $77,000 per annum, before tax, up $15,900 since 2018.
Pay moves with the sector and the agreement that covers it, since government, health and education employers often pay above the award and enterprise agreements set the steps. Looking after more than one site, or holding responsibility for compliance and budget records, usually pushes it higher. Contract and labour hire roles can pay differently again, sometimes with a loading in place of paid leave.
What does a facilities 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.
- Logging and tracking maintenance requests through a computerised maintenance management system
- Booking contractors and checking they hold current insurance and licences before they start
- Managing access passes and the schedules for security, cleaning and other building services
- Processing invoices and purchase orders for facilities work and keeping asset registers up to date
- Answering calls and emails from staff, tenants and building management, and chasing jobs that have stalled
What skills do facilities administrators need?
Employers look for operations management, regulatory compliance, budgeting and forecasting, backed by Microsoft Excel fluency and strong stakeholder management.
Specialist skills
- Operations management
- Regulatory compliance
- Budgeting and forecasting
Software and tools
- Microsoft Excel
- Computerised maintenance management systems (CMMS)
- Microsoft Outlook
- SAP
- Archibus
General skills
- Stakeholder management
- Written communication
- Attention to detail
- Customer service
Is the job growing?
About 3,800 people work as facilities administrators in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 10.6% over the decade to 2035. That's healthy, above-average growth, and the role should stay in solid demand.
How do you become a facilities administrator?
Here's the path most facilities administrators take, step by step.
- 1Start with a qualification in business or administration
A Certificate IV in Business (BSB40120) or a related administration qualification is a common entry point, offered at TAFE and private providers over about six months full time or part time while you work. It covers the records, scheduling and spreadsheets the job leans on.
- 2Get in through an administration or reception role
Many facilities administrators begin in general administration, reception or a helpdesk position where they already handle calls, bookings and records. Employers often move someone into facilities work internally once they know the building and its systems.
- 3Learn the maintenance systems
Computerised maintenance management systems such as Archibus and SAP are where requests, assets and contractor records live, and confidence with them is something employers screen for. Excel matters too, because much of the reporting runs through spreadsheets.
- 4Build your compliance knowledge
You need to understand work health and safety basics, essential services such as fire and emergency systems, and what documentation a contractor must hold before starting. Short courses in work health and safety or facilities management are a common way to fill that in, and the role itself requires no registration or licence.
- 5Step up to facilities manager when you're ready
After a few years, the move into facilities management opens up and adds budget and team responsibility. Facilities managers typically earn $32,200 more than facilities administrators.
Ready to apply as a facilities administrator?
Whether you're working toward becoming a facilities 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 facilities administrator move to?
Moving into Project Coordinator typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $33,800 a year more on average.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project Coordinator Coordinating maintenance schedules and contractors builds useful groundwork for supporting project timelines and budgets.Known move | +$33,800 | 33% | reskill |
| Contract Administrator Experience with service agreements and compliance documentation helps in preparing and administering construction contracts.Known move | +$33,800 | 29% | reskill |
| Facilities Manager Facilities administrators already coordinate maintenance and compliance, so they can step up to manage building services and teams.Known move | +$32,200 | 45% | short course |
| Office Manager Their scheduling, vendor liaison and office systems experience transfers directly to running an office and supervising administrative staff.Known move | +$13,000 | 80% | minimal |
| Strata Manager Building compliance, contractor coordination and shared facilities knowledge provide a strong base for managing strata schemes. | +$13,000 | 71% | short course |
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 facilities administrator?
The typical facilities administrator is 47 years old; 60% are men, 83% work full-time, and full-timers average 40 hours a week.
- 47
- Median age
- 40%
- Female share
- 83%
- Full-time
- +0h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a facilities administrator?
The rhythm follows the building: stretches of routine scheduling interrupted by a lift breaking down or a contractor who never arrived. The work suits someone organised who enjoys being the person who knows how the place runs, and who does not mind interruptions setting the order of the day. It is a supporting role, so a building that works well rarely draws attention to the person keeping it that way.
What people like
- You can see what you fixed. A door that opens again, a cleaner who turned up, a compliance certificate filed before the audit: the results are concrete and usually arrive quickly.
- No two days look the same. Between maintenance requests, contractor bookings and invoice queries, the work shifts constantly, and you can deal with a plumber, a manager and a tenant in the same afternoon.
- The systems knowledge adds up. Learning how a building's services fit together, what an essential services check covers and who to call for what is knowledge that carries straight into management roles.
- Steady hours at a place you know. Most of the work is weekday hours at one site, much of it at a desk with regular walks around the building.
What people find hard
- You are the one people ring when something breaks. Complaints about temperature, noise, parking or a stalled lift land with you first, even when the fix sits outside your control.
- Chasing paperwork. Contractor insurance certificates, service reports and invoices often arrive late, and following them up is a fixed part of the week.
- Budget season squeezes the routine work. When budgets are being set or an audit is approaching, reporting and reconciliation take over and the backlog of routine requests builds up.
- Answering to several people at once. You report to a facilities manager, rely on contractors and serve everyone in the building, and their priorities do not always line up.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ facilities administrators?
Public Administration and Safety employs the largest share of facilities administrators, followed by Education and Training.
Top employing industries
- 1Public Administration and Safety
- 2Education and Training
- 3Health Care and Social Assistance
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Certificate III/IV | 30.1% | |
|---|---|---|
| Year 12 or below | 25.1% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 18.8% | |
| Bachelor degree | 16.3% | |
| Postgraduate | 6% |
Will AI replace facilities administrators?
This is a moderately exposed role. The record-keeping and reporting side of the job is being automated steadily, while the parts that depend on knowing a particular building are not. Maintenance management systems now raise and route work orders on their own, and invoice matching and compliance reporting increasingly run without manual entry, but someone still has to walk the site, decide which job matters first and get a contractor through the door.
Share of typical working time by exposure level
- Logging and triaging maintenance requestsA CMMS can raise a work order from a tenant email and route it to the right trade, but someone still sorts the urgent from the routine.30%moderate
- Keeping asset and compliance recordsAsset registers, service dates and audit reports are increasingly generated and reconciled by the system rather than typed up by hand.25%high
- Coordinating contractors and answering building occupantsShowing a contractor where the plant room is, or working out why the west wing is cold, takes someone who knows the building.25%low
- Processing invoices and purchase ordersInvoice matching against a purchase order and coding to the right cost centre is largely automated in SAP and similar platforms.20%high
Common questions about becoming a facilities administrator
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much does a facilities administrator earn?
Facilities administrators earn $77,000 per year before tax. Pay depends on the sector and the enterprise agreement covering the role, how many sites you look after, and whether you carry compliance or budget responsibilities.
How do you become a facilities administrator?
Most people come in through general administration, reception or a helpdesk role and learn building systems on the job, often with a Certificate IV in business (BSB40120) or facilities management behind them. Experience with a maintenance management system and a working knowledge of work health and safety are what employers look for.
Are facilities administrators in demand?
Facilities administrators are currently not in shortage, and employment is projected to grow 10.6% over the decade to 2035. Demand tracks the building stock rather than the wider economy, since offices, hospitals, schools and campuses keep needing maintenance, records and contractors managed. For someone applying, the openings tend to be steady and cluster in government, health and education.
Will AI replace facilities administrators?
AI and automation are taking over parts of the paperwork: maintenance requests can be logged and triaged automatically, and invoices and service reports are increasingly matched without manual entry. Knowing the site, judging which job matters first and getting a contractor through the door are much harder to automate.
What can a facilities administrator move into?
The most direct step is facilities manager, which adds budget and team responsibility and typically pays $32,200 more. Office manager is a close fit because the scheduling, vendor liaison and systems work overlaps heavily and pays $13,000 more. Project coordinator is a further option, where schedule and cost support becomes the centre of the job.
Do you need a degree to be a facilities administrator?
No, and most people in the role do not have one: Certificate III/IV is the most common qualification held, by about 30% of the workforce. Employers tend to care more about systems experience and reliability with compliance paperwork than about the level of the qualification.
Related roles
- Facilities Manager
- Office Manager
- Project Coordinator
- Strata Manager
- Contract Administrator
- Administration Officer
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