SIR30216 is the nationally recognised Certificate III in Retail. It prepares you for work as a sales assistant (general). It has been the current version on the national register since 2016, when it replaced SIR30212 and SIR30312. Employers posted about 8,334 sales assistant (general) jobs in June 2026, down 0.4% on a year earlier.
The independent signals behind the Certificate III in Retail are weak right now. Enrolments are falling. Weigh both sides.
Job ads for sales assistant (general)s are holding steady. About 8,334 sales assistant (general) jobs were advertised online in June 2026, down 0.4% on a year earlier. Over the last 12 months there were about 106,300 job ads, while 12,680 people were training in the qualification nationally (2025). Ads show the market. Enrolments show the pipeline. Neither is a job promise.
Sales assistant (general) jobs are projected to stay about flat. Jobs and Skills Australia projections put these occupations at 569,429 workers in May 2025, 583,907 by May 2030 (up 2.5%) and 609,185 by May 2035 (up 7%).
Certificate III in Retail graduates do worse than is typical at Certificate III level. In the 2025 NCVER Student Outcomes survey, 82.2% were employed or in further study after training. The typical Certificate III result is 88%, across 105 qualifications. Median income after training was $47,600, against $54,000 typical. 87.8% 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 Retail than a year ago. Across Australia, 16,345 people enrolled in 2024. In 2025 it was 12,680, down 22.4% in a year.
The register and the national framework set some of this. Providers set the rest.
State funding for SIR30216 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 Retail is 13 units: 8 core, plus 5 electives chosen from 30 options on the register. Prerequisites apply to Two of them, marked below.
Providers listed on Get Course offering this qualification or its pathway. Enquire and the provider confirms details directly.
Get Course maps SIR30216 to its occupations using the register’s own outcome wording, shown with ANZSCO codes (here, 6211) 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; 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.