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Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters: where your skills can take you

Assemble, install, alter, and repair pipelines or pipe systems that carry water, steam, air, or other liquids or gases. May install heating and cooling equipment and mechanical control systems. Includes sprinkler fitters.

Most common qualification in Australia: a certificate or diploma (75% of workers, 2021 Census) · Australian median pay for Plumbers: A$103,500 full-time (Jobs and Skills Australia) · State plumbing licence or registration — mandatory for water, sewer, drainage and gas work

Job names and descriptions on this page come from the US government's job list (O*NET). Some use American words, for example "elementary school" for primary school.

Three moves that use what a plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitter already knows

Ranked by how much of the job's skills and knowledge carries over. Each one says what the move usually costs in study.

Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers

Most common: Certificate or diploma (74%) · A$109,200 median full-time for Airconditioning and Refrigeration Mechanics (Jobs and Skills Australia)

In national shortage — employers actively looking (Jobs and Skills Australia, 2025)

🧰 Your current job already uses finding the cause of a fault, repairing things, watching gauges and readings and installing equipment.

🎓 No more study. Your current level of study is usually enough. The most common level in Australia is a certificate or diploma (74%).

🪪 ARC refrigerant handling licence; some states (for example NSW, Vic, Qld) also need a state licence

🔎 Find courses for this job on training.gov.au ↗

Install or repair heating, central air conditioning, HVAC, or refrigeration systems, including oil burners, hot-air furnaces, and heating stoves.

Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers

Usual study level (from US data): Cert IV or Diploma (TAFE; if you have experience, recognition of prior learning can shorten it)

🧰 Your current job already uses finding the cause of a fault, repairing things, watching gauges and readings and keeping equipment in good order.

🎓 No more study. Your current level of study is usually enough. The most common level in the US is some college, a certificate or an associate degree (52%).

🪪 White Card (construction induction) — mandatory before any construction work

🔎 Find courses for this job on training.gov.au ↗

Assemble, install, repair, or maintain electric or hydraulic freight or passenger elevators, escalators, or dumbwaiters.

Sheet Metal Workers

Usual study level (from US data): Cert II–III (TAFE, often Fee-Free; apprenticeship/traineeship routes count)

🧰 Your current job already uses finding the cause of a fault, repairing things, watching gauges and readings and operating machines and controls.

🎓 No more study. Your current level of study is usually enough. The most common level in the US is high school or less (56%).

🪪 White Card (construction induction) — mandatory before any construction work

🔎 Find courses for this job on training.gov.au ↗

Fabricate, assemble, install, and repair sheet metal products and equipment, such as ducts, control boxes, drainpipes, and furnace casings. Work may involve any of the following: setting up and operating fabricating machines to cut, bend, and straighten sheet metal; shaping metal over anvils, blocks, or forms using hammer; operating soldering and welding equipment to join sheet metal parts; or inspecting, assembling, and smoothing seams and joints of burred surfaces. Includes sheet metal duct installers who install prefabricated sheet metal ducts used for heating, air conditioning, or other purposes.

These are the three closest moves. The full list holds 24. Answer four quick questions — how much more study, which field, what you want more of, where you live — and the list fits you. Subscribers can plan any move.

See all 24 moves →Take the free test

What this list is. A starting point, not advice. Australian pay is shown where a job maps cleanly. Check any course or registration with the body that runs it.

Data sources and licences

O*NET 30.3 — This service incorporates information from the O*NET 30.3 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. JobMatcha has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

ABS ANZSCO 2022 Australian Update — Australian occupation tags are derived from the Australian Bureau of Statistics ANZSCO 2022 Australian Update correspondence tables (ABS, © Commonwealth of Australia, licensed under CC BY 4.0), bridged to U.S. occupations via U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics SOC crosswalks (public domain). Only high-confidence (>= 0.8) one-to-one chains are shown; other mappings are withheld as 'Australian data unavailable'.

Australian pay and shortage lines: Jobs and Skills Australia.

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