TLI40122 is the nationally recognised Certificate IV in Specialist Driving Operations. It prepares you for work as a tanker driver. It has been the current version on the national register since 2022, when it replaced TLI40121. Employers posted about 2,675 tanker driver jobs in June 2026, up 1.8% on a year earlier.
The signals behind the Certificate IV in Specialist Driving Operations are mixed, and both sides are worth weighing. Tanker drivers are in national shortage. Enrolments are falling. These are official statistics, not a promise about your result.
Job ads for tanker drivers are holding steady. About 2,675 tanker driver jobs were advertised online in June 2026, up 1.8% on a year earlier. Over the last 12 months there were about 33,400 job ads, while 15 people were training in the qualification nationally (2024). Ads show the market. Enrolments show the pipeline. Neither is a job promise.
Australia's official shortage list rates truck driver (general)s as in shortage. The 2025 Occupation Shortage List rates Truck Driver (General) as in national shortage; Aircraft Refueller, Furniture Removalist, Tanker Driver and Tow Truck Driver as not in shortage.
Tanker driver jobs are projected to stay about flat. Jobs and Skills Australia projections put these occupations at 189,200 workers in May 2025, 190,350 by May 2030 (up 0.6%) and 196,852 by May 2035 (up 4%).
Enrolments in the Certificate IV in Specialist Driving Operations are dropping fast. Across Australia, 15 people enrolled in 2024. In 2025 it was 0, down 100% in a year. National data for TLI40122 starts in 2023.
The register and the national framework set some of this. Providers set the rest.
State funding for TLI40122 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 IV in Specialist Driving Operations is 12 units: 5 core, plus 7 electives chosen from 37 options on the register. Prerequisites apply to Two 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 TLI40122 to its occupations using the register’s own outcome wording, shown with ANZSCO codes (here, 7331) 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: NCVER Total VET Activity 2024 collection; Occupation Shortage List 2025 assessment; employment projections May 2025 to May 2035 release; Jobs and Skills Australia Internet Vacancy Index latest month June 2026; register training.gov.au, synced 6 September 2026; register synced 18 Sept 2026. Page last updated 19 Sept 2026.