The most in-demand jobs in the ACT (2026 read)

256 occupations are officially in demand in the Australian Capital Territory — the lowest count of any jurisdiction, but still more than a quarter of everything the government rates — according to the 2025 Occupation Shortage List from Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), released October 2025 and the latest available. Canberra's list leads with trades (83 occupations), health and teaching, plus a distinctly capital-city gap: cyber security.

The numbers

From the 2025 Occupation Shortage List, ACT ratings:

• 256 occupations in shortage out of 916 rated — down from 295 in 2024
• By group: 127 professional occupations, 83 trades, 19 community and personal service, 15 machinery operators and drivers
• 11 occupations in shortage in the ACT but not nationally — including both cyber security occupations on the list
• The ACT is the only jurisdiction with no regional/metro split in its ratings — it's effectively all metro, so every rating is a straight "Shortage" or "No shortage"

What's in demand in the ACT

Trades — yes, even in the public-service capital. Eighty-three trades occupations are rated short: electricians, plumbers, gasfitters, carpenters, plasterers, painters, tilers, motor mechanics, diesel mechanics, panelbeaters, fitters, welders, bakers, hairdressers. Canberra's houses and cars break like everyone else's. Browse with the ACT filter at /occupations.

Health and teaching. Registered nurses across the specialties, midwives, dentists, allied health professionals, and teachers from early childhood to special education — the national core, present in full.

The capital signature: cyber and systems. In shortage in the ACT but not nationally: Cyber Security Analyst and Cyber Security Advice and Assessment Specialist, plus Multimedia Specialist, Electronics Engineer and Industrial Engineer. Our read: the national tech-shortage cooldown of 2025 didn't reach the security clearance economy. Government and defence demand for cyber skills runs on its own clock.

Rounding out the ACT-only list: Nurse Educator, Nurse Researcher, Social Worker, Family Day Care Worker, Cafe or Restaurant Manager and Motor Vehicle Parts Interpreter.

The wider bench. The ACT also shares the national universals: physiotherapists, occupational therapists, sonographers, radiographers, retail pharmacists, ambulance officers, intensive care paramedics, dental hygienists, aged and disabled carers and child care workers are all rated short here — as they are in every other jurisdiction. Truck drivers, bus drivers, crane operators and excavator and grader operators round out a machinery-and-driving lane that's short in Canberra too.

What an ACT parent can do with this

Filter /occupations to the ACT and test your kid's two or three genuine interests against the ratings and the five-year trends. If a trade shortlists, ask the school about a school-based apprenticeship — the ACT runs them like every jurisdiction, so a senior student can earn and train while finishing school. And if your kid is tech-leaning, note the nuance the 2025 list hands you: general software demand normalised nationally, but Canberra's cyber gap held — a specific, local signal worth building a subject-selection conversation around.

Our read

Canberra's reputation says "degree town," and the professional shortages back that — but the quieter story is 83 trades in shortage inside a compact, high-income city. A tradie in Canberra competes with fewer peers than in Sydney and serves customers with steadier pay-cheques. And for a teenager eyeing tech, the cyber gap is the rare ICT shortage that survived 2025's cooldown — with a clear route (and a security clearance) attached to a government town.

What this doesn't tell you

Shortage ratings measure how hard employers found roles to fill in 2025 — not job counts, not salaries. The ACT's small size means single large employers (a hospital, a department) can move an occupation's rating. And Canberra's market bleeds into Queanbeyan and surrounding NSW, which this data files under NSW. As always, the five-year trend on each occupation page beats a single year's badge.

FAQ

What jobs are most in demand in the ACT?

Trades (83 occupations in shortage on the 2025 list), health professionals (nurses, midwives, dentists, allied health), teachers — and, distinctively for Canberra, cyber security roles, which are short in the ACT despite dropping off the national list in 2025.

Are trades in demand in Canberra?

Strongly, by the government's own rating: 83 trades occupations in shortage, spanning construction, electrical, plumbing, automotive, metal and food trades. Most have held that rating for years.

Why is cyber security in shortage in the ACT but not nationally?

The list doesn't give causes. What it shows: both cyber security occupations were rated out of national shortage in 2025 as the tech market cooled, but remained in shortage in the ACT (and a couple of other states). Our read is that government and defence demand — much of it clearance-gated — doesn't follow the private tech cycle.

How current is this data?

It's the 2025 Occupation Shortage List, released October 2025 by Jobs and Skills Australia — the latest available. The next list is due late 2026.