Executive Assistant
Executive assistants manage a senior leader's time, information and workload so that person can focus on the decisions only they can make.
- Median salary
- $95,300
4.3%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 50,900
0.2%vs last year
- Projected growth
- −5.8%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Moderate
- automation risk
- Average hours
- 41/wk
+1h vs all jobs
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
Executive assistants work directly for one senior leader or a small executive team, usually in professional services firms, government agencies or health care organisations. They differ from an administration officer in the authority they carry: an executive assistant decides what reaches the executive's desk and what can be handled without them. Most learn the role on the job, building the judgement a particular executive relies on over several years rather than through a single qualification.
How much do executive assistants earn?
The median full-time salary for an executive assistant is $95,300 per annum, before tax, up $20,100 since 2018.
What you are paid depends heavily on who you support and where. An assistant to a chief executive in a large firm or a government department sits well above someone supporting a single manager in a small business, and public sector classification levels set pay more rigidly than the private market does. Managing a team of administrative staff, or holding a formal qualification in business, can move you into a higher band again.
What does an executive assistant do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Triaging the executive's inbox each morning, deciding what reaches them and what gets handled directly
- Coordinating board papers, meeting packs and briefing notes to a deadline the executive cannot move
- Rebuilding a full day of meetings and travel when a flight is cancelled or a hearing runs long
- Drafting correspondence and presentations that read as though the executive wrote them
- Handling confidential information and difficult calls with the discretion the relationship depends on
What skills do executive assistants need?
Employers look for project management, data analysis, backed by Microsoft Office Suite fluency and strong stakeholder management.
Specialist skills
- Project management
- Data analysis
Software and tools
- Microsoft Office Suite
- Outlook & Calendar Management
- Zoom & Teams
- Project Management Software (Asana, Monday.com)
- SharePoint & Document Management
General skills
- Stakeholder management
- Written communication
- Attention to detail
- Time and deadline management
- Problem solving
Is the job growing?
About 50,900 people work as executive assistants in Australia, and employment is projected to decline 5.8% over the decade to 2035. That's a real decline, worth weighing carefully before training into the role.
How do you become an executive assistant?
Here's the path most executive assistants take, step by step.
- 1Start with a business or administration qualification
A Certificate III or IV in Business or Business Administration is the common entry point, and a Diploma of Business (BSB50120) adds the project and reporting skills larger employers ask for. These are not licences to practise, so the qualification matters less than the experience you build alongside it.
- 2Get into an administrative role first
Receptionist, team assistant and administration officer roles are the usual starting points, and they teach the diary management, document preparation and client contact that executive support is built on. Internal moves are common, because employers often promote someone they already know over an outside applicant.
- 3Build the software and reporting skills the job uses
Microsoft 365, Outlook calendar management, SharePoint, Teams and a project tool such as Asana or Monday.com appear in most job ads, and short courses in these are enough to close a gap. Minute taking and basic budget tracking are worth adding, since both come up regularly.
- 4Step up to supporting an executive
The move usually comes after a few years of team support, either through promotion or by applying to a firm that wants someone with the right temperament. From there the work becomes more autonomous: you sit in on senior meetings, prepare board papers and act on the executive's behalf without checking first.
- 5Consider further study if you want to keep moving
A bachelor degree or a postgraduate qualification in business or management helps in government and large corporates, where formal criteria apply to senior support and management roles. Many executive assistants study part time while working.
Ready to apply as an executive assistant?
Whether you're working toward becoming an executive assistant or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can an executive assistant move to?
Moving into Customer Experience Manager typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $19,400 a year more on average.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Experience Manager Executive assistants bring client liaison, issue resolution and coordination skills to managing customer experience and service standards.Known move | +$19,400 | 69% | minimal |
| Project Coordinator Executive assistants bring scheduling, documentation and stakeholder liaison into coordinating project tasks, timelines and reporting.Known move | +$15,500 | 57% | short course |
| Office Manager Executive assistants bring executive diary management, correspondence and stakeholder coordination to running an office and its administrative team.Known move | −$5,300 | 25% | reskill |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as an executive assistant?
The typical executive assistant is 43 years old; 97% are women, 72% work full-time, and full-timers average 41 hours a week.
- 43
- Median age
- 97%
- Female share
- 72%
- Full-time
- +1h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being an executive assistant?
The shape of the job is set by someone else's calendar, so the work arrives in bursts around board meetings, travel and reporting deadlines. In those weeks the role can mean early starts and late finishes, while quieter periods go to planning ahead and clearing the backlog. It suits people who like anticipating what someone will need before they ask, and who are comfortable with influence that is rarely visible from outside.
What people like
- Trust turns into real autonomy. Once an executive knows how you work, you decide what reaches them and what you handle yourself, and that latitude grows as the relationship does.
- You see how decisions are actually made. Sitting beside a senior leader gives you a view of how an organisation really runs, from the budget to the personnel problems, that few roles at this level provide.
- The work spans the whole business. One week is board papers and a recruitment panel, the next is a client event and an overseas trip, so the content rarely settles into a routine.
- The networks you build. You get to know board members, clients and counterparts across the industry, and those contacts often open the door to the next role.
What people find hard
- Your day belongs to someone else. Late requests, early calls with an overseas office and changes at short notice are part of the job, and your own plans are usually the first thing to move.
- The work is invisible when it goes well. A smoothly run week looks as though it happened on its own, and the credit goes to the executive rather than the person who organised it.
- Mistakes are public. A double booking, a missing page in a board pack or an instruction that slipped through is seen immediately, and the margin for error around senior meetings is small.
- Progress can depend on one person. Your position often rests on a single executive staying put, so a restructure or a departure can mean rebuilding the relationship somewhere else.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ executive assistants?
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services employs the largest share of executive assistants, followed by Public Administration and Safety.
Top employing industries
- 1Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
- 2Public Administration and Safety
- 3Health Care and Social Assistance
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Year 12 or below | 33% | |
|---|---|---|
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 21.4% | |
| Bachelor degree | 16.9% | |
| Certificate III/IV | 16.6% | |
| Postgraduate | 4.8% |
Will AI replace executive assistants?
Executive assistant work sits in the middle: the scheduling, correspondence and document handling that fill much of the week are exactly what AI tools are good at, and most assistants already use them. The parts that hold the role together are the ones software cannot take on, including reading how an executive wants bad news delivered, holding a difficult call with a board member and knowing which of forty emails actually matters today. Expect routine coordination to shrink and the judgement side to grow.
Share of typical working time by exposure level
- Managing diaries, inboxes and meeting requestsScheduling tools already negotiate meeting times across calendars and AI assistants sort and summarise inboxes, leaving the assistant to decide what gets escalated and what gets handled quietly.30%high
- Drafting correspondence, minutes and briefing notesA first draft of a routine email or a set of meeting minutes can be generated in seconds, so the value shifts to checking tone, correcting the detail and knowing what the executive would never sign off on.30%high
- Coordinating meetings, events and travelBooking systems handle flights and venues, but rearranging a three-day itinerary when a hearing runs over, or keeping a board dinner on track, still needs a person on the phone.25%moderate
- Handling confidential matters and acting for the executiveSitting in on a restructure discussion or fielding a sensitive call from a board member depends on discretion and trust built over years, and no system is given that access.15%low
Common questions about becoming an executive assistant
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much does an executive assistant earn in Australia?
Full-time executive assistants earn a median of $95,300 per year before tax. Pay moves with the seniority of the person you support, the size of the organisation and the sector, so government classifications and large professional services firms sit at the higher end while small business support roles sit lower.
How do you become an executive assistant?
Most people come through administrative work: a receptionist, team assistant or administration officer role, then a move into supporting a manager or an executive. A Certificate III or IV in Business or Business Administration helps with the first step, and employers look for calm judgement around senior people as much as formal study.
Are executive assistants in demand?
Executive assistants are currently not in shortage. Employment is projected to decline 5.8% over the decade to 2035 over the decade to 2035, so there are fewer new positions opening up than there are today, and openings tend to go to people who already have executive support experience or a connection inside the organisation.
Will AI replace executive assistants?
AI is already in the job, with calendar tools finding meeting times and drafting routine emails, so those parts of the week take less time than they used to. What it does not do is read the politics of a room, hold a difficult conversation with a board member or judge which item an executive needs to see first. Those judgements are where the role is heading.
What can an executive assistant move into?
The nearest move is office manager, which uses the same diary and correspondence work and usually pays $5,300 less. Project coordinator pays $15,500 more and customer experience manager $19,400 more, both drawing on the scheduling and stakeholder liaison you do daily, though each means answering for outcomes rather than for one person's time.
Is being an executive assistant stressful?
The pressure comes from working to someone else's schedule, and it clusters around board meetings, travel and reporting deadlines rather than running at the same level all year. A misbooked flight or an instruction that slipped through lands publicly, which is why the role rewards thoroughness over speed.
Related roles
- Office Manager
- Project Coordinator
- Customer Experience Manager
- Administration Officer
- Secretary
- Receptionist
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