Business Communication

Training snapshot

Program enrolments and completions in Business Communication-related qualifications have fluctuated between 2017 and 2021 and declined overall during this period. Enrolments increased to a peak of 27,090 in 2019 before declining to a low of 21,970 in 2021. Completions also peaked in 2019 at 7,940, before declining to a low of 7,080 in 2021.

In 2021, the highest number of enrolments in this sector were at the certificate IV level, followed by diploma or higher levels and certificate III. The field of Marketing and Communication was the most common with 15,910 enrolments, coming in ahead of Customer Engagement with 6,070. Programs with an intended occupation of Contract, Program and Project Administrators or Marketing Specialist had the highest number of enrolments in 2021, followed by Call or Contact Centre Operator.

In 2021, the majority of enrolments in Business Communication-related qualifications were delivered by private training providers (86%). More than half (55%) of funding for subject enrolments in this sector was funded through international fee for service, followed by domestic fee for service (27%) and Commonwealth and state funding (18%). In 2021, over half of all program enrolments in this sector were by students residing overseas (53%), followed by New South Wales (23%) and Victoria (9%).

New South Wales delivered the largest proportion of training (57%), followed by Victoria (23%) and Queensland (8%).

Apprentice and trainee commencements and completions in this sector declined overall between 2012 and 2021, although slight increases occurred in commencements between 2015 and 2018 and completions between 2017 and 2019. There were approximately 1,350 commencements and 990 completions in 2021. Apprentices and trainees in this sector tend to have intended occupations of Call or Contact Centre Operator or Customer Service Manager. The greatest number of apprentices and trainees in Business Communications-related qualifications in 2021 were reported by New South Wales (40%) and Victoria (25%).

For more data specific to your occupation, industry group or training package, visit NCVER’s Data Builder.

For more data specific to your region visit NCVER’s Atlas of Total VET.  

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Industry insights on skills needs

Job vacancy data indicates that the occupations most in demand for the Business Communication and Compliance sector are Marketing Specialist, Customer Service Manager, Call or Contact Centre Operator, Market Research Analyst, and Call or Contact Centre Team Leader. The largest employers in this sector include Woolworths, state governments, and two of the ‘big four’ banks. These data also show the key skills in demand from employers in the Business Communication sector are:

• Communication skills
• Creativity
• Detail-orientated
• Planning
• Building effective relationships.

The skills and capability needs of small businesses are diverse. Electronic invoicing and social media marketing are now essential for many small businesses. In Future Work for Small Business: Skills, Capabilities and Potential, Marketing was identified as one of the five high-level skills and capability development areas needed by small businesses across Queensland.

In Impact of COVID-19 on Australian Business: A Joint ACCI-UniSA Survey, businesses reported that they needed new staff who could provide enhanced marketing skills that are adapted for an online communication environment. Small businesses reported having to organise better communication that was regular and engaging of staff working at home or remotely during the ongoing pandemic. For firms already expanding their online communication and big data platforms the pandemic has simply sharpened their motivation to keep focused on new technologies to innovate and maintain their competitive edge.

In the CommBank Business Insights National Report FY19, 43% of respondent organisations indicated communication and interpersonal skills as skills they are seeking to develop over the coming years, second only to adaptability and flexibility which were indicated by 46% of respondents.

The TAFE Enterprise white paper Soft Skills vs Hard Skills identifies soft skills such as communication skills as an ongoing need throughout many business areas. The ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues is identified as being important for employees in various industries.

Digital transformation and the accelerating speed with which technology and automation will continue to evolve gives us the chance to overcome many of our geographical challenges. In The Learning Country: Digital Transformation Skills Strategy, it is acknowledged that whilst digital transformation maybe synonymous with technology, it's those inherent human skills like communication skills which can't be replicated by an algorithm that will future-proof our workforce and are now essential to build.

Below is a list of industry-relevant research, organisations and associations. Hyperlinks have been included where available.

IRC and skills forecasts

Business Services Industry Reference Committee

• Business Services IRC’s 2019 Skills Forecast  

• Business Services IRC's 2018 Skills Forecast

• IRC membership  

• PwC’s Skills for Australia – Skills Service Organisation.

Relevant research

Future Work for Small Business: Skills, Capabilities and Potential - Jobs Queensland

Impact of COVID-19 on Australian Business: A Joint ACCI-UniSA Survey - Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the University of South Australia

CommBank Business Insights National Report FY19 – Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Soft vs hard skills: why successful Australian businesses need both – TAFE Enterprise

The Learning Country: Digital Transformation Skills Strategy - Digital Transformation Expert Panel

Industry associations and advisory bodies

Association for Data-Driven Marketing and Advertising

Australian Association of National Advertisers

Australian Market and Social Research Society

Australian Marketing Institute

Customer Service Institute of Australia

Interactive Advertising Bureau

Public Relations Institute of Australia

The Research Society

National Skills Commission 2022, Occupation Employment Projections viewed 10 August 2022, https://www.nationalskillscommission.gov.au/topics/employment-projections

• by ANZSCO, selected occupations, employment projections to May 2026
  
  • 2251 Advertising and Marketing Professionals
  • 1492 Call or Contact Centre and Customer Service Managers
  • 5411 Call or Contact Centre Workers.

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2022, 6291.0.55.001 - EQ08 - Employed persons by Occupation unit group of main job (ANZSCO), Sex, State and Territory, August 1986 onwards, viewed 1 August 2022, https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed/may-2022

• Employed total by ANZSCO 4 digit selected occupations, 2002 to 2022, May Quarter
  
  • 2251 Advertising and Marketing Professionals
  • 1492 Call or Contact Centre and Customer Service Managers
  • 5411 Call or Contact Centre Workers.

Training data has been extracted from the National VET Provider Collection, Total VET Students and Courses from the following training package or qualifications:

• BSA Administration and BSB Business Services Training Packages
• Advertising
  
  • BSB40107 - Certificate IV in Advertising
  • BSB40115 - Certificate IV in Advertising
  • BSB40601 - Certificate IV in Business (Advertising)
  • BSB50107 - Diploma of Advertising
  • BSB50115 - Diploma of Advertising
  • BSB60107 - Advanced Diploma of Advertising
  • BSB60110 - Advanced Diploma of Advertising
  • BSB60115 - Advanced Diploma of Advertising
• Customer Engagement
  
  • BSB20207 - Certificate II in Customer Contact
  • BSB20211 - Certificate II in Customer Contact
  • BSB20215 - Certificate II in Customer Engagement
  • BSB30207 - Certificate III in Customer Contact
  • BSB30211 - Certificate III in Customer Contact
  • BSB30215 - Certificate III in Customer Engagement
  • BSB40307 - Certificate IV in Customer Contact
  • BSB40311 - Certificate IV in Customer Contact
  • BSB40312 - Certificate IV in Customer Contact
  • BSB40315 - Certificate IV in Customer Engagement
  • BSB50307 - Diploma of Customer Contact
  • BSB50311 - Diploma of Customer Contact
  • BSB50315 - Diploma of Customer Engagement
• Marketing and Communication
  
  • BSB40701 - Certificate IV in Business (Marketing)
  • BSB40820 - Certificate IV in Marketing and Communication
  • BSB41307 - Certificate IV in Marketing
  • BSB41315 - Certificate IV in Marketing
  • BSB42415 - Certificate IV in Marketing and Communication
  • BSB50620 - Diploma of Marketing and Communication
  • BSB50701 - Diploma of Business (Marketing)
  • BSB51207 - Diploma of Marketing
  • BSB51215 - Diploma of Marketing
  • BSB52415 - Diploma of Marketing and Communication
  • BSB60507 - Advanced Diploma of Marketing
  • BSB60515 - Advanced Diploma of Marketing
  • BSB60520 - Advanced Diploma of Marketing and Communication
  • BSB61315 - Advanced Diploma of Marketing and Communication.

This includes superseded qualifications and training packages.

Data covers a range of selected student and training characteristics in the following categories and years:

• 2017 to 2021 program enrolments
• 2017 to 2021 program completions
• 2021 subject enrolments

Total VET students and courses data is reported for the calendar year. Program enrolments are the qualifications, courses and skill-sets in which students are enrolled in a given period. For students enrolled in multiple programs, all programs are counted. Program completion indicates that a student has completed a structured and integrated program of education or training. Location data uses student residence. Subject enrolment is registration of a student at a training delivery location for the purpose of undertaking a module, unit of competency or subject. For more information on the terms and definitions, please refer to the Total VET students and courses: terms and definitions document. 

Low counts (less than 5) are not reported to protect client confidentiality.

Percentages are rounded to one decimal place. This can lead to situations where the total sum of proportions in a chart may not add up to exactly 100%.

BSA – Administration and BSB – Business Services Training Packages apprentice and trainee data has been extracted from the National Apprentice and Trainee Collection, including:

• 2012 to 2021 commencements
• 2012 to 2021 completions 
• apprentices and trainees in-training October to December 2021 collection, by qualification and state and territory of data submitter.

Job vacancy data have been extracted from Lightcast 2022, Labor Insight Real-time Labor Market Information Tool, Boston, viewed August 2022, https://lightcast.io/apac.

Data shown represent most requested generic skills, occupations and employers according to internet job postings in Australia between July 2019 and June 2022 filtered by ANZSIC and ANZSCO classification levels listed below. ANZSCO occupations have been used as industry filters because they provide more relevant job vacancy data for this sector.

• Generic skills/Occupations
  
  • 2251 Advertising and Marketing Professionals
  • 1492 Call or Contact Centre and Customer Service Managers
  • 5411 Call or Contact Centre Workers.
• Employers
  
  • 225113 Marketing Specialist
  • 149212 Customer Service Manager
  • 541112 Call or Contact Centre Operator
  • 225112 Market Research Analyst
  • 541111 Call or Contact Centre Team Leader.