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About Counselling
You'll become
Average Salaries
Counselling workers may earn between $43,000 and $75,000 per year
Use your ability to connect with people to make a real difference by studying a rewarding counselling course.
You’re a good listener and want to use your career to make a difference in the lives of other people. Build the practical skills and vital personal insights needed to coach others to success by studying a dynamic and enriching course in counselling.
With approximately one in five Australians experiencing mental illness, but only 35 per cent of those people accessing mental health services, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there’s a clear need for skilled professional interventions to better support our population.
Working in similar ways to psychologists, counsellors offer support and assistance to people suffering emotional distress and provide people with practical tools and information to work through issues in their lives, careers and relationships.
Counsellors may use psychological tools like cognitive behaviour and interpersonal therapy, but do not undergo the same rigorous training and regulation as registered psychologists and psychiatrists, and as such their work is different from traditional psychological practice.
While counselling isn’t regulated in the same way as psychology, you must still complete an accredited course to be able to practice as a counsellor in Australia. The Australian Counselling Association has approved counselling courses at the diploma course level, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or post-graduate certificate level. After completing a counselling course, you’ll likely work in a small private practice or school setting, working with students, families or people affected by drug and alcohol issues.
What do counselling graduates do?
Counsellors work closely with clients to provide information on social, environmental and educational issues, helping clients to identify and work through issues in their lives, careers and relationships.
Counsellors may work in a variety of industries, including working in school counselling, drug and alcohol counselling, rehabilitation counselling and relationship counselling. As such, the nature of your work and the issues you discuss with clients will vary, depending on your role. However, you can generally expect to perform tasks like:
- Meeting with clients and asking questions to determine their background, environment and emotional and social issues;
- Examining and recording information relevant to the client and assessing client needs and goals;
- Providing information and resources to the client, including career advice, study and employment options, skills training, resources for drug and alcohol abuse, and information about other services;
- Conducting group or couple interviews with client and other family members, partners and relevant stakeholders;
- Assisting clients and stakeholders with understanding and adjusting attitudes, expectations and behaviours to develop more effective interpersonal relationships;
- Providing and demonstrating cognitive behaviour tools and therapies;
- Discussing avenues for behaviour change;
- Consulting with clients to develop rehabilitation plans, taking into account the broader societal context of the client’s environment, and their specific emotional and social needs;
- Providing general information, understanding and advice to clients.
Career Outcomes
Career Outcomes
Job opportunities are available for counsellors in a broader range of sectors than just traditional health assistance. The Australian Government’s Job Outlook reports that the majority of counsellors in Australia work in the following sectors:
- Health care and social assistance
- Education and training
- Public administration and safety
- Finance and administration
After completing a counselling course, you’ll be qualified to seek employment in a range of roles that involve advising, counselling and coaching people. You may work as a:
- Counsellor
- Human Resources Manager
- Youth Worker
- Social Worker
- Advertising Strategist
- Market Research Analyst
- Marketer/Marketing Manager
- Medical Device Developer
- Business Management
- Community Outreach Worker
- Research and Education
- Secondary School Teacher
- Primary Teacher
- Forensic Psychologist
- Clinical Psychologist
- Grief Counsellor
- Drug and Alcohol Counsellor
- Family and Marriage Counsellor
- Rehabilitation Counsellor
- Student Counsellor
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Is counselling right for you?
You’ll find working in counselling rewarding and enjoyable if you:
- Are empathetic
- Have excellent listening skills
- Are highly organised
- Have excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Want to help people in your work
- Have excellent administrative skills
- Can manage multiple pieces of information at once
- Like solving problems
- Have strong time management skills
- Are patient
- Care deeply about others’ wellbeing
Job opportunities
According to the Australian Government’s Job Outlook, counselling is a medium-sized but growing industry in Australia. Job Outlook reports that job opportunities in the sector have increased steadily over the last decade, and predicts that this trend will continue until at least 2020. Currently, approximately 20,700 people are employed as counsellors in Australia, and Job Outlook reports this will increase to approximately 25,500 people by 2020.
Average Salaries
According to PayScale, counsellors working in a school setting can expect to earn between $43,000 and $75,000 per year, with an average annual salary of approximately $66,000. PayScale notes a moderate positive relationship between experience and earning capacity for the first 10 years of a counsellor’s career, but observes that additional earning capacity flattens out. More than 85 per cent of the counselling profession has fewer than 20 years of work experience, indicating that people generally progress from working as counsellors to working in other roles within the counselling, health and social assistance sectors.