SHB30516 is the nationally recognised Certificate III in Barbering. It prepares you for work as a hairdresser. It is current on the national register, with no earlier version recorded. Employers posted about 460 hairdresser jobs in June 2026, down 8.8% on a year earlier.
The signals behind the Certificate III in Barbering are mixed, and both sides are worth weighing. Hairdressers are in national shortage. Job ads in June 2026 were down 8.8% on a year earlier and enrolments are falling. These are official statistics, not a promise about your result.
Employers are posting fewer hairdresser jobs than a year ago. About 460 hairdresser jobs were advertised online in June 2026, down 8.8% on a year earlier. Over the last 12 months there were about 6,100 job ads, while 2,445 people were training in the qualification nationally (2025). Ads show the market. Enrolments show the pipeline. Neither is a job promise.
Australia's official shortage list rates hairdressers as in shortage. The 2025 Occupation Shortage List rates Hairdresser as in national shortage.
Hairdresser jobs are projected to stay about flat. Jobs and Skills Australia projections put these occupations at 64,836 workers in May 2025, 65,320 by May 2030 (up 0.7%) and 68,472 by May 2035 (up 5.6%).
Certificate III in Barbering graduates find work less often than is typical at Certificate III level. In the 2025 NCVER Student Outcomes survey, 84.4% were employed or in further study after training. The typical Certificate III result is 88%, across 105 qualifications. Median income after training was $53,200, against $54,000 typical. 87.2% were satisfied with the training, against 90.6% typical. Income here is the survey median about six months after training. It includes part-time work, so it is not the full-time award rate.
Fewer people are enrolling in the Certificate III in Barbering than a year ago. Across Australia, 2,745 people enrolled in 2024. In 2025 it was 2,445, down 10.9% in a year.
The register and the national framework set some of this. Providers set the rest.
State funding for SHB30516 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.
The Certificate III in Barbering is 26 units: 21 core, plus 5 electives chosen from 12 options on the register. Prerequisites apply to Seven of them, marked below.
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 SHB30516 to its occupations using the register’s own outcome wording, shown with ANZSCO codes (here, 3911) 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 Certificate IIIs 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: NCVER Student Outcomes survey 2025 survey; Jobs and Skills Australia Internet Vacancy Index latest month June 2026; NCVER Total VET Activity 2025 collection; Occupation Shortage List 2025 assessment; employment projections May 2025 to May 2035 release; register training.gov.au, synced 6 September 2026; register synced 18 Sept 2026. Page last updated 19 Sept 2026.