Discover the skills, day-to-day responsibilities, and required qualifications to become a data scientist in Australia. Explore statistics on salary potential, weekly hours, and the biggest regions or industries for employment.
Overview
Data scientists are responsible for gathering data sets and assessing them for any apparent trends or patterns. Analytical conclusions or actionable insights are then extracted for this information – which are then used to help bolster business decisions.
Using the tools at their disposal, typical everyday tasks may include collecting large sets of both structured or unstructured data; assessing and organising the data to ensure accuracy and “completeness”; analysing and interpreting the data to pinpoint solutions and issues regarding their organisation; and communicating this information to stakeholders.
Employment for data scientists is expected to grow quite strongly in the coming years – with a 12.9% projected increase in employment by 2025.
Key Skills
- Sharp analytical skills – required to accurately examine and interpret a variety of data sets
- Ability to craft actionable solutions when issues or problems are displayed through the data
- Excellent communication skills for disclosing data analysis with stakeholders
- Strong mathematical abilities
- Experience and skills in programming (i.e. Python, SQL, and SAS)– may be required to build algorithms or systems for mining big sets of data
- Excellent organisational skills for cleaning and systematically arranging raw data
Quick Facts
Data scientists can find work across Australia, with New South Wales and Victoria currently holding the largest share of employment. Weekly salary potential is much higher than the all-jobs average, with plenty of opportunity for full-time work.
Salary Range
$63,000 – $130,000 (Median: $94,000)*
Average Weekly Hours
42 hours (vs. all jobs average of 44 hours)*
Main Industries
Financial and Insurance Services; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services; and Education and Training
Most Common Qualification Level
45.4% hold a Postgraduate or Graduate Diploma
STUDY PATHWAYS
Getting the skills you need is simple by studying one of our information technology courses below.
- ICT50615 – Diploma of Website Development
- ICT50118 – Diploma of Information Technology
- Certified Cyber Security Professional
- Certified Data Science Professional
*Sources: payscale.com.au and joboutlook.gov.au – All information is to be used as a guide only, and are accurate at the time of publication.
Techtalk
Get the latest news from AIICT, industry updates and course information.
Industry Partnerships
A BALANCED APPROACH TO TRAINING WITH DDLS
DDLS is Australia’s largest provider of corporate IT and process training, with the widest portfolio of strategic partners and courses in Australia. For more than 25 years, DDLS has been an award-winning non-accredited training provider, spanning across Australia and into Asia.
DDLS partners with world-class companies to help organisations and individuals in the IT industry remain up-to-date with new processes, technology and platforms to reduce risk and enable efficient business practices.
GAIN A COMPETITIVE EDGE WITH THE MICROSOFT AZURE
Azure Dev Tools for Teaching provides developer tools and learning resources that students need to build their cloud-based skills. It also allows students to build, deploy, and manage applications with comprehensive Azure cloud services. Whether you’re a student getting started, or just interested in building cloud-based skills in your community, this platform has got the cloud development resources you need. Azure based tools and environments are profoundly used during the AIICT learning cycle and assist the students in becoming familiar with the Microsoft Azure environment utilised in the IT industry.
Specifically designed around building your expertise in today’s most popular technologies, the Microsoft Imagine Academy is focused on helping you to gain Microsoft Certification, a globally recognised credential that will give you a distinctive edge in the competitive job market.
SUPPLEMENT YOUR QUALIFICATION WITH LINKEDIN LEARNING
As an AIICT student, you will gain unlimited access to the global leader in online video training, Linkedin Learning, an on-demand library of high-quality instructional videos covering a vast range of software, business and creative skills. LinkedIn Learning combines industry-leading content from Lynda.com with personalized course recommendations based on insights from LinkedIn’s network.
GLOBALLY RECOGNISED CERTIFICATIONS TO PUT YOU AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION
For our Certified Cybersecurity Professional course offering, AIICT has partnered with the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA). CompTIA is the leading provider of vendor-neutral IT certifications in the world. These certifications are accredited by International Organisation for Standardisation and the American National Standards Institute (ISO/ANSI)
