Instructional Designer
Instructional designers plan and build the courses, modules and learning materials that help people pick up a specific skill or process, from new-starter onboarding to a TAFE unit.
- Median salary
- $101,700
3.8%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 33,700
1.2%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +14.9%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Moderate
- automation risk
- Average hours
- 42/wk
+2h vs all jobs
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
Instructional designers apply learning science and design principles to build training programs, online courses and other learning materials. They work out what learners actually need to know, structure the content, then decide how it will be delivered: a self-paced module, a workshop, or a mix of both. The role is distinct from delivering training, since an instructional designer builds the course while a trainer or facilitator usually runs it, and the work spans corporate onboarding, vocational training, government programs and university support.
How much do instructional designers earn?
The median full-time salary for an instructional designer is $101,700 per annum, before tax, up $21,000 since 2018.
Pay depends on the sector and the size of the employer, and on whether you work in-house or for a consultancy that bills clients for your time. Contract work is usually paid at a day rate, which can look generous until you account for leave and the gaps between contracts. Designers who lead a whole program, or who specialise in technical, compliance or vocational training, tend to sit above the middle of the range.
What does an instructional designer 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.
- Interviewing subject matter experts to work out what a course actually needs to teach
- Mapping the flow of a course, from the opening scenario through to the final assessment
- Building interactive modules in authoring tools such as Articulate Storyline or Adobe Captivate, or briefing a developer to build them
- Loading courses into a learning management system such as Moodle or Canvas and testing them on the devices learners will use
- Reviewing completion data and learner feedback to see whether the training changed anything, then revising the course
What skills do instructional designers need?
Employers look for curriculum and lesson design, business requirements analysis, project management, backed by Articulate Storyline fluency and strong stakeholder management.
Specialist skills
- Curriculum and lesson design
- Business requirements analysis
- Project management
Software and tools
- Articulate Storyline
- Adobe Captivate
- Moodle or Canvas LMS
- Figma or Adobe XD
- Microsoft 365
General skills
- Stakeholder management
- Written communication
- Problem solving
- Attention to detail
Is the job growing?
About 33,700 people work as instructional designers in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 14.9% over the decade to 2035. That's healthy, above-average growth, and the role should stay in solid demand.
How do you become an instructional designer?
Here's the path most instructional designers take, step by step.
- 1Get a qualification in learning design or education
A bachelor degree in education, instructional design or a related field is the most common way in, and a diploma or the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40122) opens the same doors for people already working in training. Employers weigh what you can build alongside what you studied.
- 2Build a portfolio of courses
Recruiters ask for work samples, so a short module built in Articulate Storyline or a redesign of an existing course shows your process better than a transcript. Unpaid work for a community group or not-for-profit counts, and it gives you something to talk through in an interview.
- 3Start inside a learning and development team
Many designers begin in a learning and development coordinator, e-learning assistant or training support role. It is paid work, and it teaches you the learning management system, the review cycles and how subject matter experts operate before you own a course yourself.
- 4Learn the authoring and delivery tools
Storyline, Captivate, Moodle or Canvas and the accessibility standards that go with them are mostly learned on the job. Short courses and vendor certifications help you get the first interview, particularly if your degree is in another field.
- 5Specialise as your experience grows
Designers who take on whole programs, mentor newer staff or specialise in compliance, technical or vocational training move into lead designer and learning architect roles, often with a shorter build load and more responsibility for strategy.
Ready to apply as an instructional designer?
Whether you're working toward becoming an instructional designer 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 instructional designer move to?
Moving into General Manager typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $46,500 a year more on average.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Manager Instructional designers bring expertise in learning and development to general management, often leading training or human resources functions.Known move | +$46,500 | 8% | reskill |
| Human Resources Manager Instructional designers bring a learning and development perspective to human resources management, overseeing training and staff capability.Known move | +$42,200 | 20% | reskill |
| VET Trainer Instructional designers bring curriculum design and learning theory to vet training, though a vet qualification is needed to teach.Known move | +$9,000 | 26% | reskill |
| HR Advisor Instructional designers bring learning and development expertise to hr advisory roles, supporting training and workforce capability initiatives.Known move | +$700 | 20% | reskill |
| IT Trainer Instructional designers bring structured learning design to it training, adapting technical content into effective courses for varied learners.Known move | −$9,100 | 29% | 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 instructional designer?
The typical instructional designer is 44 years old; 63% are women, 81% work full-time, and full-timers average 42 hours a week.
- 44
- Median age
- 63%
- Female share
- 81%
- Full-time
- +2h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being an instructional designer?
The work swings between talking to people and long stretches alone at a screen. Scoping a course means interviews, meetings and negotiation with subject matter experts, then the build happens in authoring tools over days or weeks, so the job suits someone who is comfortable holding both halves. Deadlines cluster around launch dates and compliance cycles, when a course has to be finished, tested and live by a set date.
What people like
- You can see a course come together. A blank page turns into a finished module with interactions, quizzes and a clear structure, and you know exactly what the learner should be able to do at the end.
- The audience is specific. You design for one group with a real problem, such as new starters who need to use a rostering system, which keeps the work grounded in something you can check.
- The subject matter keeps changing. A designer might build compliance training for a bank, safety induction for a mine and a unit for a TAFE provider in the same year, so the content rarely gets stale.
- Making messy material clear. Subject matter experts hand over dense documents, spreadsheets and half-finished slides, and turning that into something a beginner can follow is the satisfying part.
What people find hard
- Subject matter experts are busy. Interviews get moved and reviews come back late, which squeezes the build into a shorter window before the launch date.
- Feedback from everyone. A course can pass through several reviewers whose comments contradict each other, and working out which changes to make takes almost as long as making them.
- Scope grows during the build. A module that started as a ten-minute overview picks up extra scenarios and assessments, and the schedule rarely moves with it.
- Constraints you did not choose. The learning management system, the client's brand rules and the budget decide a lot of what a course can do, and those limits are usually fixed before you start.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ instructional designers?
Education and Training employs the largest share of instructional designers, followed by Public Administration and Safety.
Top employing industries
- 1Education and Training
- 2Public Administration and Safety
- 3Financial and Insurance Services
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Bachelor degree | 25.8% | |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate III/IV | 21.3% | |
| Postgraduate | 18.4% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 18.2% | |
| Year 12 or below | 13.8% |
Will AI replace instructional designers?
The job is moderately exposed: AI now handles much of the drafting and production work, but not the analysis that comes before it. Producing first-draft scripts, quiz questions and alternative text is quicker with a language model, and authoring tools increasingly suggest layouts and interactions. What stays with the designer is deciding what the course must teach, working with subject matter experts, and checking that the finished module works for the people taking it.
Share of typical working time by exposure level
- Drafting scripts, scenarios and quiz questionsA language model can produce a usable first draft from the source documents in minutes, which leaves the designer editing for accuracy, tone and reading level.30%high
- Building modules in an authoring toolArticulate Storyline and similar tools suggest layouts, interactions and translations, but the designer still assembles the structure and checks how it behaves on a phone.25%moderate
- Scoping the course with subject matter expertsWorking out what a group of learners already knows and what they must be able to do afterwards comes from interviews and judgement, not a prompt.25%low
- Checking completion data and revising the courseAnalytics can flag where learners drop out, but deciding whether the cause is the content, the assessment or the workplace takes someone who knows the course.20%moderate
Common questions about becoming an instructional designer
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much do instructional designers earn?
$101,700 per year before tax, based on full-time workers. Pay moves with the sector, the size of the employer and whether you work in-house or contract, and lead designers who own a program usually earn above the middle of the range.
How do you become an instructional designer?
Most people come in through a degree in education, instructional design or a related field, or through a training or writing background plus a portfolio of courses they have built. Paid entry points include learning and development coordinator, e-learning assistant and training support roles, which teach the authoring tools and the learning management system on the job.
Do you need a teaching degree to become an instructional designer?
Not usually. Employers look for design and authoring skills, and while a teaching or training background helps with learning theory, plenty of designers come from writing, project management or subject matter roles. A qualification in education or instructional design makes the first move easier, particularly with schools, TAFEs and universities.
Are instructional designers in demand?
Instructional designers are currently not in shortage, and employment is projected to grow 14.9% over the decade to 2035. The work sits mainly in education and training, government and financial services, and much of it follows organisations moving more of their training online.
Will AI replace instructional designers?
AI is changing the production side of the job rather than replacing it. Drafting scripts, generating quiz questions and producing first-pass translations are all quicker with AI, while working out what learners need, interviewing subject matter experts and judging whether a course actually works still depend on a person. Designers who use the tools and check their output carefully are the ones employers want.
What can instructional designers move into?
Moving into a VET trainer or IT trainer role keeps you close to course design but shifts you into delivery, and IT training pays $9,100 less compared with instructional design, while VET training usually needs a qualification such as the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. HR advisory work uses the same learning and development knowledge aimed at workforce capability, with pay $700 more. Broader people management is a longer step, and human resources manager roles pay $42,200 more.
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