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Tailors and Dressmakers jobs in Burnie

Tailors and Dressmakers in Burnie do the same work as tailors and dressmakers anywhere in Australia, but who employs them, and under which licence, is local. Burnie's largest employing industries are Health Care and Social Assistance, Manufacturing and Retail Trade, which shapes both where the work is and how steady it tends to be. Licensing is set by Tasmania, not nationally — the requirements below are the ones that apply here.

Vacancies

Current tailors and dressmakers vacancies in Burnie

No tailors and dressmakers roles are advertised in Burnie right now. Licensing and who hires locally still apply — this page updates when a matching role appears.

Licensing

Licensing for tailors and dressmakers in TAS

Tailoring and dressmaking is not a licensed occupation in any Australian state or territory. No jurisdiction issues a tailor's or dressmaker's licence and no registration is required to make, alter or repair garments commercially. The regulation that genuinely matters in this trade is not occupational licensing but outworker protection: the Textile, Clothing, Footwear and Associated Industries Award 2020 contains specific provisions for TCF outworkers, and Commonwealth and state textile, clothing and footwear laws impose record-keeping and supply chain obligations on businesses that give out work to be performed in private homes. Those obligations sit with the business engaging the outworker, not with the tailor as an occupational licence.

Tasmania
Not a licensed occupation. Consumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS) does not list tailoring or dressmaking as a licensed occupation. No licence is required.

Licensing rules change. Confirm with the regulator named above before quoting or contracting — this page is a starting point, not advice.

Local market

Who hires tailors and dressmakers in Burnie

Burnie's employment base is heavy industry and freight rather than services. Grange Resources runs the Savage River magnetite mine and Port Latta pellet plant from a Burnie head office, Elphinstone manufactures underground mining equipment in the city, and TasPorts' Port of Burnie is Tasmania's main container gateway.

Grange Resources (Savage River magnetite mine and Port Latta pellet plant; head office in Burnie), Elphinstone Pty Ltd (underground mining equipment manufacturing), TasPorts (Port of Burnie) and Department of Health Tasmania (North West Regional Hospital) are among the largest employers in Burnie. Most tailors and dressmakers here, though, are hired by small and mid-sized businesses rather than by the names everyone recognises — which is why so many local vacancies never reach a big job board.

Largest employing industries

Health Care and Social AssistanceManufacturingRetail TradeTransport, Postal and WarehousingEducation and TrainingConstruction

20,420 people (Burnie (City, Local Government Area), ABS Estimated Resident Population at 30 June 2025. The Burnie - Somerset Significant Urban Area, which crosses into Waratah-Wynyard, was 28,643 at the same date.).

Role

What the job involves

Tailors and dressmakers make, alter and repair tailored garments, formal wear, couture and special occasion clothing including suits, dresses, coats, evening wear and bridal wear. It is not a licensed occupation anywhere in Australia, though the applicable modern award carries specific protections for textile, clothing and footwear outworkers.

  • Consult with clients on style, fabric, fit and finish and take measurements
  • Draft, adapt and grade patterns to a client's measurements
  • Lay out, mark and cut fabric with minimal wastage
  • Sew garments by machine and hand, including linings, interfacings and canvas
  • Fit garments on the client and mark and execute alterations
  • Press, finish and detail garments to a saleable standard
  • Repair, remodel and restore existing garments
  • Estimate materials, time and cost, and maintain machines and equipment

Training

Qualifications and training

  • MST31022 Certificate III in Apparel, Fashion and Textiles - the current national qualification, which superseded MST30819 Certificate III in Applied Fashion Design and Technology
  • MST30819 Certificate III in Applied Fashion Design and Technology - superseded; training and assessment could not be delivered past 31 January 2025 and existing students were required to transition to MST31022
  • Traineeship or on-the-job training with an established tailor, alterations business or workroom; there is no licence and no mandatory qualification
  • Higher-level fashion, patternmaking or design study for progression into design, production or workroom management

Skills

Skills employers ask for

Patternmaking, drafting and grading to measurement · Precision cutting and fabric layout for minimal wastage · Industrial and domestic machine sewing and hand finishing · Fitting and alteration judgement on the body · Fabric knowledge across weight, drape, stretch and behaviour · Tailoring construction including canvas, interfacing and pressing · Client consultation and expectation management on bridal and formal work · Quoting, time estimation and workroom scheduling

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Tailors and Dressmakers work in Burnie — licensing, hiring and what employers look for.

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Sources

  • Tailors and Dressmakers — occupation data · verified 2026-08-04. ABS ANZSCO 2022 - https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/classifications/anzsco-australian-and-new-zealand-standard-classification-occupations/2022; Jobs and Skills Australia, Dressmakers and Tailors (393213) - https://www.jobsandskills.gov.au/data/occupation-and-industry-profiles/occupations/393213-dressmakers-and-tailors; training.gov.au MST31022 Certificate III in Apparel, Fashion and Textiles - https://training.gov.au/Training/Details/MST31022; training.gov.au MST30819 Certificate III in Applied Fashion Design and Technology (superseded) - https://training.gov.au/training/details/MST30819; Fair Work Ombudsman, Textile, Clothing, Footwear and Associated Industries Award 2020 - https://awards.fairwork.gov.au/MA000017.html; NSW Fair Trading - https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/; Consumer Affairs Victoria - https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/
  • Burnie — local data · verified 2026-08-04. ABS Regional population, 2024-25 (https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/regional-population/2024-25); ABS Census of Population and Housing 2021, industry of employment (https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021); Department of Health Tasmania (https://www.health.tas.gov.au); Burnie City Council (https://www.burnie.tas.gov.au); Grange Resources (https://www.grangeresources.com.au)

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