How much does a Chef make in Australia? The average chef salary in Australia is $64,043 per year or $32.84 per hour. Entry-level positions start at $57,500 per year, while most experienced workers make up to $85,000 per year.
Looking more closely at salaries across Australia at the start of this year (2022), the average chef salary in Australia is $61,907 per year or $31.75 per hour. Entry-level positions start at $56,000 per year, while more experienced mid career chefs make up to $82,528 per year* *Based on 1540 salaries polled.
The average cook/chef salary in Australia is $60,000 per year or $30.77 per hour. Entry-level positions start at $55,000 per year, while most experienced workers make up to $72,500 per year.
The average kitchen chef salary in Australia is $64,000 per year or $32.82 per hour.
The foodservice industry is growing fast, which makes becoming a chef a lucrative and appealing career path for many people. Additionally, the growth of the Food Network and proliferation of YouTube celebrity chefs have glamorized the industry. But, working in the restaurant industry is not like what you see on TV.
Is Being a Chef Stressful? Yes! A career in the culinary profession is a stressful endeavor that can lead to chef burnout – a real problem in the culinary workplace today. Psychologists define burnout as a syndrome resulting from unmanageable stress, exhaustion and negativism related to one's job.
High turnover due to tough working conditions, high pressure, low pay and a “culture of machismo” meant that London was losing skilled chefs faster than they could be trained even before Covid struck, according to a report published by the Centre for London.
There is a lot of work for skilled and qualified chefs in Australia. Unlike several other trades, there's currently no licensing required to work as a chef in Australia. Many chefs work their way up working different roles in a kitchen.
According to the ABS, the average work week for a chef is estimated at 46 hours. But the reality tells a different story; those working within the industry have claimed to have worked weeks that have exceeded over 70 hours – 24 hours over the estimate.
The best Executive Chef jobs can pay up to $103,500 per year. An executive chef is the head of the entire kitchen operation of a restaurant. Executive chefs manage inventory, budgeting, menu planning, training, plating, and all kitchen staff, from sous chefs to dishwashers.
However, what many people don't realize is that the restaurant industry is one of the easiest fields for anyone to become extremely wealthy. No matter where you start in the restaurant industry, you can become a millionaire or more.
1. Surgeons: $394,303. Taking out the top spot on this list and earning a whopping average of $394,303 per year are surgeons.
Yes, chefs make good money.
The average annual salary of a chef in the United States is $52,160. This role's average is at an all-time high and surpasses the average national wage.
Working in a kitchen can be challenging as you are under pressure to deliver and spend a lot of time on your feet. However if you are fast and good at what you do, being a chef can be a real buz and a highly rewarding career.
The average age of an employed head chef is 40 years old.
Afternoon to dinner
Head culinary chefs will spend the time before dinner delegating key menu items and overseeing mise en place. Throughout the course of the dinner service, chefs will find their roles vary significantly as they coordinate kitchen staff, oversee quality and production speeds and assist with cooking.
Based on this list, and data on employment growth and job vacancies, hotels and restaurants will soon be crying out for well-trained chefs across Australia.
For a chef job in a restaurant, expect to work 7 days a week for 12 to 14 hours each shift. And that's pretty much the industry standard. No matter the level you are at in the kitchen, you can expect to work a minimum of 50 hours a week.
Sydney's Josh Niland Is the Only Australian to Make the Top 100 Best Chefs in the World List for 2022. The Best Chef Awards just served up its latest round of gongs — and seafood king Niland won the Best Chef Innovation Award, too.
To emigrate to Australia as a chef, you must first complete a skills assessment. All skilled visa applicants must have their skills assessed to ensure they match Australian standards. A chef skills assessment for Australia is completed with VETASSESS.
Getting qualified can take anywhere from 6 months to 3 years, but you'll need at minimum a Certificate III in Culinary Arts to work professionally. Working in a restaurant is not the only path available to you as a chef.
There are many opportunities out there that a chef can move into once they have some skills under their belt. This could be in professional catering, working for a food and beverage company developing products or even becoming a consultant to help restaurants develop their own menus.
Job Outlook
Employment of chefs and head cooks is projected to grow 15 percent from 2021 to 2031, much faster than the average for all occupations. About 24,300 openings for chefs and head cooks are projected each year, on average, over the decade.
Even before kitchens experienced unprecedented staffing shortages as a result of the recent pandemic and the Great Resignation that followed it, chefs were already some of the most overworked people on the planet.