SFI20219 is the nationally recognised Certificate II in Fishing Operations. It prepares you for work as a deck hand. It has been the current version on the national register since 2019, when it replaced SFI20211. Employers posted about 31 deck hand jobs in June 2026, down 8% on a year earlier.
The independent signals behind this qualification are positive. Specifically: its main occupation is rated in national shortage and national enrolments are rising. These are official statistics, not a promise about any individual's result.
Employers are advertising fewer of these roles than a year ago. Across Deck Hand, about 31 jobs were advertised online in June 2026 (down 8% on a year earlier). Roughly 419 openings were advertised over the last 12 months, while 25 people enrolled in the qualification nationally in 2024. Enrolment counts people in training, not completions, so the two figures describe the pipeline and the market, not a job guarantee.
At least one occupation this qualification leads to is officially rated as in national shortage. In the 2025 Occupation Shortage List assessment, Deck Hand is rated in national shortage; Fishing Hand is rated not in shortage.
Employment in these occupations is projected to stay about flat. Government projections put them at 6,300 workers in May 2025, 6,200 by May 2030 (down 1.2%) and 6,500 by May 2035 (up 3%).
More people are choosing this qualification each year. National enrolments rose from 10 in 2023, to 25 in 2024 (up 150%).
The register and the national framework set some of this. Providers set the rest.
State funding for SFI20219 is being verified against official program lists.
Eligibility and student contributions vary by program and provider. The official state listing is the source of truth. In a subsidised place the government pays most of the tuition and you pay a co-contribution set by the program and provider.
No Get Course partner currently lists this qualification. Check the national register for organisations approved to deliver it, and remember that approval to deliver is a regulatory fact, not a recommendation. You can browse live courses from our partners and enquire today.
Browse coursesGet Course maps SFI20219 to its occupations using the register’s own outcome wording, shown with ANZSCO codes (here, 8992) so the mapping can be checked. Job advertisement counts come from the Jobs and Skills Australia Internet Vacancy Index and count online ads, not vacancies filled. Enrolment counts come from NCVER Total VET Activity and count people in training, not completions. Outcome benchmarks marked “typical” are medians computed by Get Course across all qualifications at the same level in the same NCVER collection; they are derived figures, not official NCVER benchmarks. Funding rows appear only after verification against the official state program list. Source vintages: Occupation Shortage List 2025 assessment; employment projections May 2025 to May 2035 release; NCVER Total VET Activity 2024 collection; register training.gov.au, synced 24 August 2026; Jobs and Skills Australia Internet Vacancy Index latest month June 2026; register synced 29 Aug 2026. Page last updated 30 Aug 2026.