How to become a visual artist in Australia
Visual Arts and Crafts Professionals create visual two- and three-dimensional concepts and forms through painting, drawing, carving, sculpting, modelling, printmaking, video, multimedia, found objects, ephemera, soundscapes and other media to communicate concepts and ideas.
The all-jobs median is $1,852 a week. Jobs in the visual arts and crafts professionals group are projected to grow 11.8% between May 2025 and May 2035, slower than the 13.3% projected for all jobs. Projections are indicative, not forecasts, and JSA says they don't yet reflect generative AI.
What the job involves
- Conceiving and developing ideas, designs and styles for paintings, drawings, pottery pieces and sculptures
- Arranging objects, positioning models, and selecting landscapes and other visual forms according to chosen subject matter
- Selecting artistic media, method and materials
- Applying media to surfaces using appropriate techniques
- Moulding clay into functional and artistic articles by wheel-throwing, moulding and hand-building
- Mixing glazing materials and applying glazes to dried pottery by dipping and painting
How to get there
What it usually takes. A bachelor degree or higher. This is the skill level Jobs and Skills Australia gives the visual arts and crafts professionals group, and some roles differ.
What people in the job have. Highest qualification held: 45% a degree or higher, 16% a diploma, 11% a Certificate III or IV.
Many jobs also need registration, a licence or a specific accredited course. Check the professional body or regulator before you choose.
Courses that can lead here
Estimate your ATAR and this page shows the gap to each course. Your marks stay on your device.
Victoria25 matches
VTAC lowest selection ranks, December 2025 offer round.
Creative Arts (Visual Arts major) · Deakin, Melbourne Burwood60.60 Visual Arts and Design · ACU, Melbourne59.10 Visual Arts · La Trobe, Bendigo58.10Diplomas and other ways in
Diploma in Visual Arts and Design · ACU, Melbourne50.75Showing 10 of 25 matches. Search every course.
NSW and ACT20 matches
UAC lowest selection ranks, December Round 2, 2025-26 admissions.
Bachelor of Fine Arts · UNSW83.20 Bachelor of Visual Arts · Griffith72.45 Bachelor of Creative Arts (Visual Arts) · Wollongong65.05 Bachelor of Creative Arts (Visual Arts and Design) · Wollongong65.05 Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design · ACU60.15Diplomas and other ways in
Diploma in Visual Arts and Design · ACU51.15Showing 11 of 20 matches. Search every course.
Queensland10 matches
QTAC course pages, ATAR/Selection Rank profile for semester 1, 2026.
Bachelor of Creative Arts (Visual Arts) · QUT, Kelvin Grove70.55 Bachelor of Visual Arts · Griffith, Brisbane City63.90Diplomas and other ways in
Showing 8 of 10 matches. Search every course.
Western Australia5 matches
TISC Course Search: lowest ATAR offered for 2026 entry and guaranteed offer ATARs.
Bachelor of Visual Arts · ECU, City70.00 guaranteed Bachelor of Creative Arts (Fine Art) · Curtin, Perth63.85 Bachelor of Education (Secondary Education) - The Arts Education in Visual Arts · Curtin, Perth63.20 Bachelor of Education (Secondary) - Visual Arts Education · ECU, Joondalup60.50Matched on course names, 60 across four admissions centres. A lowest selection rank includes adjustment points and moves every year. Check prerequisites and whether the course is accredited for this job.
Graduate outcomes, national
Undergraduates surveyed about four to six months after finishing, in 2025, across all providers. Full-time work is among those available for it. All graduates: 75.4% and $77,000. These are national figures for the study area, not for this course or uni, and a first-year salary says little about later pay. Source: QILT Graduate Outcomes Survey 2025.
Does it fit your interests?
Strongest interest areas for this kind of work: Artistic, Realistic, Investigative.
From O*NET ratings for "Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators", the closest US occupation in JSA's correspondence (a good match). US ratings are a guide to Australian jobs, not a measurement of them.
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Share your storyJob data: © Commonwealth of Australia, Jobs and Skills Australia occupation profiles, February 2026 and Employment Projections, May 2025 to May 2035 (Victoria University), CC BY 4.0. Jobs and Skills Australia, ANZSCO 2013 Version 1.2 to O*NET-SOC 2019 Taxonomy correspondence.
Graduate outcomes: QILT Graduate Outcomes Survey 2025, National Report Tables (Social Research Centre, for the Australian Government).
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Curve ATAR has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.