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Floristry

Sectors

Beauty
Floristry
Funeral Services
Hairdressing

Overview

This page provides information on the Floristry sector, which is one component of the Personal Services industry.

The Floristry sector involves the display, arrangement and retailing of cut flowers and display foliage. This may include the provision of flower displays for events such as weddings, funerals and public events. Services may include the creation of tailored designs, requiring specialist creative and technical skills.

Nationally recognised training for Floristry is delivered under the SFL – Floristry Training Package.

For information on general retailing, please visit the Retail industry sector.

All data sources are available at the end of the page.

Employment trends

Employment snapshot

As detailed employment information was not available for the Floristry sector, the occupation ‘Florists’ has been used as a proxy for employment trends.

The vast majority of those employed in the Flower Retailing industry sector are Florists (70%), with some other general sales assistants (7%) and retail managers (6%) involved. Employment levels for Florists have been variable since 2001, ranging from a peak in 2015 of around 10,300 to a low of about 2,400 in 2017, after which there was a sharp increase to about 9,300 in 2018. This was followed by a decrease over the next two years to 6,500 in 2020, before an increase to 7,300 in 2021. Projections suggest a slight increase to this employment level, with around 7,800 Florists predicted to be employed by 2025.

Training trends

Training snapshot

Program enrolments in Floristry-related qualifications gradually increased year on year between 2016 and 2018 from roughly 2,270 to 2,340, before declining in 2019 and 2020 to approximately 2,150. Program completions increased overall from 860 in 2016 to just over 1,040 in 2019, before declining to approximately 870 in 2020.

Over the last five years the overwhelming majority of subject level enrolments have occurred in subjects delivered as part of nationally recognised program, recording over 98% in each year since 2018.

The highest proportion of program enrolments in this sector was in the Certificate III in Floristry, accounting for 81% of enrolments in 2020. The only intended occupation across all Floristry-related qualifications was Florist.

Almost three quarters (74%) of all Floristry-related qualifications were delivered at TAFE institutions, with private training providers delivering the rest. Overall, the majority of training is Commonwealth and state funded (84%), though the incidence of Commonwealth and state funding is higher for TAFE institutions (96%) and lower for private training providers (49%).

More half (62%) of the students in 2020 were from New South Wales, followed by smaller proportions from Victoria (14%) and Queensland (13%). Similarly, most training was delivered in New South Wales (63%), Victoria (15%) and Queensland (13%).

Apprentice and trainee commencements and completions have declined overall in Floristry-related qualifications since 2011, with 80 commencements and 30 completions recorded as of December 2020. All apprentices and trainees in this sector have an intended occupation of Florist. Victoria reported the highest proportion of Floristry apprentices and trainees in training (40%), followed by New South Wales (26%) and Queensland (15%).

For more data specific to your occupation, industry or training package, please visit NCVER’s Data Builder.

For more data specific to your region visit NCVER’s Atlas of Total VET.

If you are interested in extracting NCVER data to construct tables with data relevant to you, please sign up for a VOCSTATS account.

Industry insights

Industry insights on skills needs

According to the Personal Services IRC’s 2019 Skills Forecast, the top priority skills for the industry (inclusive of Florists) were identified as:

  • Teamwork and communication
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility
  • Self-management
  • Creativity.

In addition, the top ranked generic skills for the industry according to the Personal Services IRC’s 2019 Skills Forecast, were:

  • Customer service / Marketing
  • Communication / Collaboration including virtual collaboration / Social intelligence
  • Design mindset / Thinking critically / System thinking / Solving problems
  • Learning agility / Information literacy / Intellectual autonomy and self-management
  • Language, Literacy and Numeracy (LLN).

Job vacancy data suggests the key skills in demand from employers in the Floristry sector are:

  • Creativity
  • Communication skills
  • Organisational skills
  • Detail orientated
  • Energetic.

As a career the Australian Government Job Outlook suggests florists can expect stable future growth, a view also held in the National Skills Commission’s Skills Priority List: June 2021 which lists Florists in ‘occupations not in national shortage, with moderate future demand’.

According to the Personal Services IRC’s 2019 Skills Forecast, online sales of flowers have grown over the past five years at an annual rate of 6.4%, whereas bricks and mortar style flower shops have remained relatively unchanged in terms of growth. The Industry Developments and Workforce Challenges: Floristry suggests there are no identifiable skill shortages for the Floristry industry, however, in line with the growth of online sales, the report does highlight that digital technology training would be of great benefit to the industry.

The Environmental Scan 2015 by Service Skills Australia also notes the importance of digital and online technology for the future of Floristry. In addition to online ordering, the Environmental scan mentions the growing use of social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook to promote Floristry products and services. These platforms can also be used to connect directly with customers and promote positive customer experiences. The increasing necessity of technological integration was noted to present challenges for small businesses in the Floristry sector that may not have the resources available to dedicate staff to online engagement.

According to the Service Sector Workforce Insights report released by the South Australian Training and Skills Commission, florists are experiencing some of the same challenges as the retail sector, as well as their share of the market being impacted by ‘bucket of flower’ retailers such as supermarkets, petrol stations, convenience stores and individual roadside sellers. In addition, some wholesalers and growers are taking advantage of online sales and using this channel to act as retailers and distributers as well.

The COVID-19 pandemic made floristry businesses adapt and innovate when mandatory shutdowns forced doors shut and supply chains to be cut off. Australia imports approximately $70 million of flowers annually, and the ABC report Surviving the coronavirus pandemic as a small business hasn't been easy. Here's how these owners did it reveals florists were forced to shift focus to what was growing locally to keep their businesses surviving.

Links and resources

Below is a list of industry-relevant research, organisations and associations. Hyperlinks have been included where available.

IRC and Skills Forecast

Relevant research

Australian Government Job Outlook – Australian National Skills Commission

Environmental scan 2015 – Service Skills Australia

Industry Developments and Workforce Challenges: Floristry – Retail and Personal Services Training Council (RAPS)

Service Sector Workforce Insights – Training and Skills Commission (TASC)

Skills Priority List: June 2021 - National Skills Commission

Surviving the coronavirus pandemic as a small business hasn't been easy. Here's how these owners did it - Rachel Pupazzoni, ABC News

Industry associations and advisory bodies

Australian Association of Floral Designers

Australian Flower Council

WildFlowers Australia

Data sources and notes

Department of Employment 2021, Employment Projections, available from the Labour Market Information Portal

  • by ANZSCO, selected occupations, employment projections to May 2025
    • 1421 Retail Managers
    • 3621 Florists
    • 6211 Sales Assistants (General)
    • 7321 Delivery Drivers
    • 8999 Other Miscellaneous Labourers.

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021, 6291.0.55.001 - EQ08 - Employed persons by Occupation unit group of main job (ANZSCO), Sex, State and Territory, August 1986 onwards, viewed 1 August 2021, https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed/may-2021

  • Employed total by ANZSIC 4 digit ‘3621 Florist’, 2001 to 2021, May Quarter.

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2017, 2016 Census – employment, income and unpaid work, TableBuilder. Findings based on use of ABS TableBuilder data.

  • Employment level by 4 digit Flower Retailing Industry, and 4 digit level occupations to identify the relevant VET-related occupations in the industry as a proportion of the total workforce.

Training data has been extracted from the National VET Provider Collection, Total VET Student and Courses from the following training packages or qualifications:

SFL Floristry Training Package & WRF Floristry Training Package

  • Certificate II in Floristry (Assistant)
    • SFL20110 - Certificate II in Floristry (Assistant)
    • SFL20115 - Certificate II in Floristry (Assistant).
  • Certificate III in Floristry
    • SFL30110 - Certificate III in Floristry
    • SFL30115 - Certificate III in Floristry
    • WRF30104 - Certificate III in Floristry.
  • Certificate IV in Floristry & Diploma of Floristry Design
    • SFL40110 - Certificate IV in Floristry
    • SFL40115 - Certificate IV in Floristry
    • SFL50110 - Diploma of Floristry Design
    • SFL50115 - Diploma of Floristry Design.

This includes superseded qualifications and training packages.

Data covers a range of selected student and training characteristics in the following categories and years:

  • 2016 to 2020 program enrolments
  • 2016 to 2020 program completions.

Total VET students and courses data is reported for the calendar year. Program enrolments are the qualifications, courses and skill-sets in which students are enrolled in a given period. For students enrolled in multiple programs, all programs are counted. Program completion indicates that a student has completed a structured and integrated program of education or training. Subject enrolment is registration of a student at a training delivery location for the purpose of undertaking a module, unit of competency or subject. For more information on the terms and definitions please refer to the Total VET students and courses: terms and definitions document.

Low counts (less than 5) are not reported to protect client confidentiality.

SFL Floristry Training Package & WRF Floristry Training Package apprentice and trainee data has been extracted from the National Apprentice and Trainee collection, including:

  • 2011 to 2020 commencements
  • 2011 to 2020 completions
  • apprentices and trainees in-training October to December 2020 collection, by qualification and state and territory.

Job vacancy data have been extracted from Burning Glass Technologies 2020, Labor Insight Real-time Labor Market Information Tool, Burning Glass Technologies, Boston, viewed July 2020, https://www.burning-glass.com.

Data shown represent most requested generic skills and occupations according to internet job postings in Australia between July 2018 and June 2021 filtered by ANZSIC and ANZSCO classification levels listed below.

  • Generic skills/Occupations
    • 4274 Flower Retailing.
  • Top employers
    • 362111 Florist
    • 621111 Sales Assistant (General)
    • 541211 Information Officer
    • 741111 Storeperson
    • 232511 Interior Designer
    • 4274 Flower Retailing.
Updated: 16 Dec 2021
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