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Metal Trades Assistant salary in Australia
The median full-time salary for a metal trades assistant is $67,600 per annum, before tax, up $14,400 since 2018.
DerivedIndicative estimate, not yet verified against official Jobs and Skills Australia / ABS data · Estimate
- Pay usually follows the manufacturing or building award, so base rates are modest and overtime, shift loadings and site allowances do much of the work.
- Mining and heavy industrial sites generally pay more than small workshops, and holding a forklift licence or a high risk work licence for rigging or crane work can lift the rate.
The median salary rose by $14,400 between 2018 and 2024; the dashed line shows a projection to 2028 based on the real ABS Wage Price Index growth rate, not a role-specific forecast.
Roles that pay more than metal trades assistant
The largest typical pay rise is $23,400 a year, moving into Fitter.
- Fitter+$23,400/yr
- Welder+$20,200/yr
- Fitter and Turner+$18,200/yr
How to negotiate a higher metal trades assistant salary
- Know the market rate before you ask. The median full-time metal trades assistant salary is $67,600; use that, not a guess, as your anchor, and adjust for your experience and employer.
- Lead with what's scarce, not just tenure. Skills like Hand and power tool work and Fabrication and finishing tend to command a premium over general metal trades assistant experience, name them specifically when you ask.
- Bring a real alternative to the table. Fitter pays a typical $23,400 a year more and draws on similar skills, even mentioning you're weighing it up is a legitimate data point in a pay conversation.
- Time it deliberately. Reviews, the end of a project you delivered, or taking on responsibility beyond your job description are stronger moments to ask than an arbitrary date on the calendar.
- Ask for a number, not a raise. "Based on the market rate and [specific contribution], I'd like to move to X" gets a clearer answer than "I think I deserve more."
Metal Trades Assistant salary questions
How much do metal trades assistants earn in Australia?
The median full-time salary for a metal trades assistant is $67,600 a year before tax. Seniority, specialisation, sector and the award or agreement you're employed under all move it.
Is metal trades assistant pay rising or falling?
The median metal trades assistant salary is up $14,400 since 2018. Figures from 2025 onward on this page are a projection, not a measured result.
What pays more than metal trades assistant?
Fitter pays a typical $23,400 a year more and draws on similar skills to metal trades assistant.
Related salaries
- Fitter salary
- Fitter and Turner salary
- Lagger salary
- Sheet Metal Worker salary
- Welder salary
- Assembler salary
Pay advice
- How to ask for a pay rise, and back it up with real numbersWhat national wage growth looks like right now, how to work out a figure for your own role, wording you can adapt for the conversation, and what to do if the answer is no.
- The average salary in Australia (2026)Full-time adults in Australia averaged $2,083.70 a week in May 2026. Several measures get called the average salary, and this explains which one fits your situation.
- Overtime pay, time in lieu and what your award saysOvertime rates come from your award or agreement, not one national rule. How rates work, what happens on a salary, and how time off in lieu works.