SIT31121 is the nationally recognised Certificate III in Asian Cookery. It prepares you for work as a cook. It has been the current version on the national register since 2022, when it replaced SIT31116. Employers posted about 959 cook jobs in June 2026, down 8% on a year earlier.
The signals behind the Certificate III in Asian Cookery are mixed, and both sides are worth weighing. Cooks are in national shortage and employment is projected to grow through 2035. Job ads in June 2026 were down 8% on a year earlier and enrolments are falling. These are official statistics, not a promise about your result.
Employers are posting fewer cook jobs than a year ago. About 959 cook jobs were advertised online in June 2026, down 8% on a year earlier. Over the last 12 months there were about 12,800 job ads, while 45 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 cooks as in shortage. The 2025 Occupation Shortage List rates Cook as in national shortage.
Cook jobs are projected to grow. Jobs and Skills Australia projections put these occupations at 39,447 workers in May 2025, 41,804 by May 2030 (up 6%) and 44,394 by May 2035 (up 12.5%).
Enrolments in the Certificate III in Asian Cookery are dropping fast. Across Australia, 85 people enrolled in 2024. In 2025 it was 45, down 47.1% in a year. National data for SIT31121 starts in 2023.
The register and the national framework set some of this. Providers set the rest.
State funding for SIT31121 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 Asian Cookery is 24 units: 17 core, plus 7 electives chosen from 26 options on the register. Prerequisites apply to 32 of them, marked below.
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Browse coursesGet Course maps SIT31121 to its occupations using the register’s own outcome wording, shown with ANZSCO codes (here, 3514) 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. Funding rows appear only after verification against the official state program list. Source vintages: Jobs and Skills Australia Internet Vacancy Index latest month June 2026; NCVER Total VET Activity 2025 collection; employment projections May 2025 to May 2035 release; Occupation Shortage List 2025 assessment; register training.gov.au, synced 4 September 2026; register synced 18 Sept 2026. Page last updated 19 Sept 2026.