Jobs Available for Teenagers in QLD: Paid Work & Apprenticeships

Want to find work as a teenager? It can be hard to know where to start.

We’ve compiled a list of the types of jobs you can find as a teenager in Queensland, how much each pays, and how you can land a job while in school.

We’ve also included a guide on what QLD law says about teenagers getting jobs in the state. That’s things like minimum age, hours limits, parental forms, and minimum wages.

And if you fancy earning money while learning a valuable skill, you should check out our school-based apprenticeships and traineeships you can get.

How Old Do You Have To Be To Work in QLD?

You must be 13 years old to work in Queensland according to state law. Under the Child Employment Regulation 2016, an employer must not permit a child under 13 to do any work.

There are two exceptions to that rule. Delivery work, defined as delivering newspapers or advertising material, opens at 11. Volunteer work and the entertainment industry have no minimum age.

These rules apply while you are a school-aged child, which the Child Employment Act 2006 defines as under 16 and still enrolled at school.

Jobs Available for Teenagers in Queensland

Once you are 13, the job description matters more than the industry. Most young people start in retail, supermarkets, fast food, and hospitality, because those companies run short shifts and build rosters around school.

Apprentice electrician

Electrical is the most competitive apprenticeship in Queensland and the one with the clearest ceiling. You work under a licensed electrician on domestic, commercial, or industrial sites, and you cannot work unsupervised until you are qualified and licensed.

Day to day, you are pulling and terminating cable, installing switchboards, power points, and lighting, testing circuits, and doing the fault finding that makes up most of a working electrician’s week. The first year is largely carrying, preparing, and watching.

A first-year apprentice who has not finished Year 12 starts at $16.39 an hour, rising to $26.50 by the fourth year. If you have finished Year 12, your starting rate is around $17.97.

Entry is open from Year 10 with no prior qualification, though employers look at maths and at whether you turn up. A Certificate III in Electrotechnology runs four years and ends in a licence, after which the paths are contracting for yourself, specialising in solar, data, or instrumentation, or moving into site supervision.

Apprentice Carpenter

Carpentry splits early into two different jobs. Formwork and framing put you on new residential and commercial builds, while finishing and joinery is fit-out work, including doors, stairs, decks, and cabinetry.

The duties are setting out, measuring and cutting, framing walls and roofs, installing windows and doors, and reading plans well enough to catch an error before it is built. You will be on tools from the first month.

A first-year apprentice who has not finished Year 12 starts at $17.22 an hour on residential work, reaching $29.00 in the fourth year. School-based apprentices get the same rate for the hours they work plus an extra 25%, which covers the training time they are not paid for.

It is the most accessible of the trades to start, because demand is steady and employers take on first-year employees with no experience. A Certificate III in Carpentry takes around four years, and carpenters move into leading hand and site supervision faster than most trades, or licence up as a builder.

Apprentice Mechanic

Light vehicle mechanics work on cars and small commercial vehicles in dealerships, independent workshops, and fleet servicing. Dealerships put you on one manufacturer and its diagnostic systems. Independents put you across everything.

The work is logbook servicing, brakes, suspension, steering, cooling, and increasingly diagnostics, because a modern fault is read off a scan tool before a spanner comes out. Expect tyres and oil changes for the first year while you learn the workshop.

A first-year apprentice who has not finished Year 12 starts at $14.73 an hour, rising to $25.92 by the fourth year. Finishing Year 12 lifts the start rate to $16.20. Third- and fourth-year rates are the same either way, so the Year 12 advantage is an early one.

No prior study is needed, and a genuine interest in cars counts for more than school results here. A Certificate III in Light Vehicle Mechanical Technology takes about four years, and qualified mechanics move into diagnostics, workshop management, heavy vehicle, or electric vehicle work, which is where the shortage is heading.

Trainee in Business or Aged Care

Traineeships are shorter than apprenticeships and sit in offices and care settings rather than on sites. They suit teenagers who want a qualification and a wage without the tools.

A business trainee handles reception, scheduling, records, invoicing, and customer contact, and picks up the software an office actually runs on. An aged care trainee supports personal care, mobility, meals, and social support in residential or home care, always under supervision.

Traineeship pay works differently. It comes from Schedule E of the Miscellaneous Award, and the rate depends on how much schooling you have finished and the level of the certificate rather than on a trade year. School-based trainees are paid for the hours they work and not for time spent in training, so ask what the hourly rate is before you sign.

Entry is open to school leavers and school-based students alike, and aged care requires clearances rather than grades. A Certificate III in Business or Individual Support typically runs 12 to 24 months, leading to administration and team leader roles on the business side, or into disability and community services and a Certificate IV on the care side.

Where To Find Job Opportunities

Apply in person where you can. Walking a resume into a store still works in retail and hospitality, and it puts a face to the page.

Check each company website for a careers page, then local community groups and family, because small businesses do their recruiting there rather than paying for advertising. The owner usually lives in the same suburb.

Job opportunities open up over the school holidays, so time your search. Marketing and office roles want experience you do not have yet, so start where the shifts are and the work holds your interest.

Start with the big job boards. Seek, Indeed, and the government’s Workforce Australia filter by location and casual hours. Major Training’s jobs board lists apprenticeship, traineeship, and entry level vacancies with Queensland employers we train for.

Important Considerations When Looking for a Job

Finding a job opening is one thing, and getting picked is another. These are the things worth checking before you apply, and the questions worth asking once someone calls you back.

• Read the duties, not the adjectives. “Exciting opportunity” and “key member” describe how the company sees the role, and “operational excellence” is a company value, not a duty.
• Decode the ad language. “Light duties” means cleaning and carrying, “training provided” means no experience needed, and “hands-on experience” means you will be on the floor.
• Know what exceptional customer service means: greeting customers, restocking, handling a register, and enough product knowledge to answer without fetching someone.
• Emphasise your interpersonal and communication skills. Employers hiring their first teenage staff member are buying willingness and reliability, because nobody expects experience yet.
• Ask what a high-performing team culture means in practice. A dynamic team or a passionate team can describe a good crew, or short staffing.
• Check whether it is a permanent position or seasonal work. A listed start date means they need someone now, and “assisting clients” is the same job as assisting customers.

How Many Hours Can Teenagers Work During School Term?

In a single school week, teenagers cannot work more than 12 hours. On a school day, the limit is 4.

The part almost nobody knows is that hours for any employer count toward those limits. A Saturday job and a weeknight job share the same 12 hours between them.

You cannot work between 10pm and 6am, and after 4 consecutive hours, you must be given an hour of rest.

School holidays lift the cap

Outside a school week the weekly limit rises to 38 hours and the daily limit to 8, so employers plan casual rosters then.

What Your Employer Has To Sort Out First

Before your first shift, your employer needs a parent’s consent form. It carries your date of birth, the employer’s name, your parent’s consent, and your required school hours.

They also cannot roster you during required school hours. Both carry a maximum penalty of 100 penalty units, so neither is paperwork an employer can skip.

Your employer must also give you induction training appropriate to your age, including workplace health and safety. In a kitchen that covers food safety. On a site it covers hazards and gear.

How Much Do Teenagers Get Paid in Queensland?

There is no single teenage wage in Australia. Junior rates are a percentage of the adult rate, set by the award covering that job, so a retail junior and a hospitality junior differ.

Where no award or agreement applies, the floor comes from the National Minimum Wage order. From the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026 that floor is $9.73 an hour under 16, $12.51 at 16, $15.29 at 17, $18.06 at 18, $21.82 at 19, and $25.84 at 20. Casual rates add 25% on top.

Read those as the safety net, not the going rate. Most teenage jobs are award-covered and pay more, and the Fair Work Ombudsman’s pay tool gives the figure for your job.

Get Paid During School Hours with an Apprenticeship

Apprenticeships and traineeships sit outside all that, and two separate Queensland laws say so.

The Child Employment Act’s definition of work excludes work forming part of work experience, an apprenticeship, or a traineeship. The Education (General Provisions) Act carves the same arrangements out of the offence of employing a school-aged child during school hours.

That is not a loophole and does not leave you unprotected. A school-based apprentice works under a registered training contract, an award, and the same work health and safety law as everyone else on site.

The shape of the deal changes. A casual job caps you at 12 hours in a school week. A school-based apprenticeship requires at least 7.5 hours of paid work a week, averaged quarterly, with training time excluded.

One is a ceiling. The other is a floor.

To start you need enrolment in Years 10 to 12, assistance and support from your school, and a parent’s permission if under 18. The work has to affect your timetable, which is rather the point.

Leaving School at 16? You Must Complete Training

Finishing Year 10 or turning 16 ends compulsory schooling and starts something else. The compulsory participation phase runs until you gain a senior statement, a certificate III or IV, complete two years of eligible options, or turn 17.

An apprenticeship, a traineeship, and a VET course from a registered training organisation all count. So does VETiS, which lets eligible students finish one nationally recognised qualification at school at no cost, on their first VETiS-funded course.

University is one route. It is not the only one, and not the fastest way to achieve a paid trade qualification.

Where a First Job in Queensland Can Lead

A casual shift teaches you to turn up on time, take instruction, and hold a conversation with a stranger. A school-based apprenticeship adds a nationally recognised qualification underneath that, which is why many Queensland trades start in Year 11.

Major Training is a registered training organisation, RTO 6139, delivering apprenticeships, traineeships, and VETiS programs from campuses at Yatala, Dinmore, Morayfield, Virginia, and Cairns. Our NSW location is Newcastle in the Hunter, not Sydney NSW.

Talk to our team about where to start.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a 14-year-old work in Queensland?

Yes. The general minimum age is 13, so a 14-year-old can take most jobs, provided the employer holds a parent’s consent form and keeps to the hours limits.

Can a teenager work during school hours in Queensland?

Generally no. An employer must not roster a school-aged child while that child is required to attend school. The exception is an apprenticeship or traineeship, which the legislation deliberately excludes.

How much does a 16-year-old get paid an hour?

It depends on the award covering the job. Where no award applies, the minimum from 1 July 2026 is $12.51 an hour, or $15.64 as a casual. Most retail and hospitality roles sit under an award and pay above that floor.