SIR30116 is the nationally recognised Certificate III behind pharmacy sales assistant work. It has been the current version on the national register since 2016, when it replaced SIR30112. About 238 pharmacy sales assistant jobs were advertised in June 2026, down 4.5% on a year earlier.
The independent signals behind the Certificate III in Community Pharmacy are weak right now. The official shortage list does not rate its occupations in shortage and enrolments are falling. Weigh both sides.
Job ads for pharmacy sales assistants are holding steady. About 238 pharmacy sales assistant jobs were advertised online in June 2026, down 4.5% on a year earlier. Over the last 12 months there were about 2,900 job ads, while 1,770 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 pharmacy sales assistants as not in shortage. The 2025 Occupation Shortage List rates Pharmacy Sales Assistant as not in shortage.
Pharmacy sales assistant jobs are projected to stay about flat. Jobs and Skills Australia projections put these occupations at 42,513 workers in May 2025, 43,539 by May 2030 (up 2.4%) and 45,292 by May 2035 (up 6.5%).
Certificate III in Community Pharmacy graduates find work less often than is typical at Certificate III level. In the 2025 NCVER Student Outcomes survey, 85.8% were employed or in further study after training. The typical Certificate III result is 88%, across 105 qualifications. Median income after training was $52,900, against $54,000 typical. 96.4% 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 Community Pharmacy than a year ago. Across Australia, 2,450 people enrolled in 2024. In 2025 it was 1,770, down 27.8% in a year.
The register and the national framework set some of this. Providers set the rest.
State funding for SIR30116 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 Community Pharmacy is 19 units: 11 core, plus 8 electives chosen from 24 options on the register. Prerequisites apply to 14 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 SIR30116 to its occupations using the register’s own outcome wording, shown with ANZSCO codes (here, 6214) 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 Total VET Activity 2025 collection; NCVER Student Outcomes survey 2025 survey; Jobs and Skills Australia Internet Vacancy Index latest month June 2026; 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.