The 218 jobs in demand in every state and territory

218 occupations are in shortage in all eight states and territories at once, on the 2025 Occupation Shortage List (released October 2025, the latest). That's the data's answer to a question families rarely think to ask: which qualifications travel? Train into one of these, and demand follows you from Perth to Hobart to Darwin.

Why "everywhere" is a different question from "here"

Most shortage coverage asks what's short in your state. But a 15-year-old choosing a path today might live in three states before they're 30. An occupation short only in your town ties the qualification's value to staying put; an occupation short everywhere is a passport. On the 2025 list, 344 occupations are short in at least one state — but only 218 clear every jurisdiction. (JSA publishes the ratings; the everywhere-cut is our analysis.)

The numbers

From the 2025 OSL:

• 344 occupations in shortage in at least one state or territory
• 218 in shortage in all eight — about one in four of everything rated
• 273 in national shortage (the national rating is its own assessment, not a tally of states)
• The everywhere-list is dominated by three families of work: trades, health and education

What's on the everywhere-list

The trades core. Nearly the full national trade shortage travels: electricians, plumbers, gasfitters, airconditioning and refrigeration mechanics, carpenters, joiners, bricklayers, stonemasons, plasterers, painters, glaziers, roof tilers, wall and floor tilers, motor mechanics, diesel and motorcycle mechanics, panelbeaters, vehicle painters, fitters, welders, metal fabricators, sheetmetal workers, aircraft maintenance engineers, bakers, butchers, cooks, hairdressers, cabinet makers, arborists, landscape gardeners. Fifty-two of these trades have also held national shortage every year since 2021 — the double-crown of demand signals.

Health, floor to ceiling. Registered nurses across nearly every specialty, Midwife, dentists, sonographers, radiographers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, hospital and retail pharmacists, ambulance officers and intensive care paramedics, dental hygienists and technicians, aged and disabled carers, child care workers — 64 health and care occupations make the everywhere-list.

Education. Early childhood, primary, middle, secondary, special-needs and vocational education teachers — seven teaching occupations, short in every jurisdiction.

The machinery backbone. Fourteen machinery and driving occupations are short in all eight jurisdictions too, including truck drivers, bus drivers, crane operators, excavator, grader and loader operators, drillers and train drivers.

Search and filter all of them at /occupations — every page shows the state-by-state grid, so you can verify the "everywhere" claim occupation by occupation.

Our read

The everywhere-list is what economists would call the national skills deficit, but at a kitchen table it reads simpler: these are the qualifications Australia has under-produced as a country, not as a postcode. For a family, that has a practical edge — a kid who tickets as an electrician or qualifies as a nurse isn't betting on their home town's economy. They can chase a partner's job, a lifestyle, a mining-boom wage or a quiet coast, and the demand data says the skill goes with them. Few decisions a 16-year-old can make buy that much freedom.

What this doesn't tell you

In-shortage-everywhere doesn't mean equally short everywhere — a nurse's market in Adelaide and Katherine differ in ways one badge can't show. It doesn't mean hiring everywhere either: shortage measures difficulty filling the roles that exist, and role counts vary enormously by place. And the list is a 2025 snapshot; the everywhere-club had different membership in 2022 and will again in 2027. The five-year strips on each occupation page are the antidote to over-reading one year.

FAQ

Which jobs are in demand in every state of Australia?

218 occupations on the 2025 Occupation Shortage List are rated in shortage in all eight states and territories — led by the construction, electrical, plumbing, automotive, metal and food trades; nurses, midwives, dentists and allied health; and teachers at every level.

What's the difference between "national shortage" and "in shortage in every state"?

JSA rates the national level as its own assessment, so the two don't perfectly overlap: 273 occupations are in national shortage while 218 are short in every individual jurisdiction. An occupation can be nationally short while one small state's market is fine, and vice versa. We show both on every occupation page.

Are these jobs guaranteed anywhere in Australia?

No job is guaranteed, anywhere — a shortage rating means employers have had difficulty filling roles, not that vacancies await every arrival. What the everywhere-rating supports is narrower and still valuable: the qualification's demand isn't hostage to one local economy.

What's the best "travels anywhere" trade?

The data doesn't rank, but the trades that combine the everywhere-rating with a five-year national streak — electricians, plumbers, carpenters, motor and diesel mechanics, welders, airconditioning mechanics — are the strongest candidates on pure demand evidence. Which is "best" for your kid depends on the kid.