Australian trade businesses by state: what the evidence looks like

Short answer

Across 8 states and territories, the evidence available on trade businesses is remarkably consistent — ABN publication and contact accuracy vary by only a few percentage points between states, far less than they vary between trades.

The state-by-state picture is less dramatic than the trade-by-trade one, which is itself a finding: where a tradesperson operates predicts far less about how well documented they are than what trade they are in.

StateBusinessesABNPhone confirmedPhone contradictsMedian reviews
NSW20,17421.5%59.6%6.2%40
VIC16,58817%57.7%6.8%41
QLD14,91221.7%61.2%7.2%40
WA7,10617.8%59.7%6.9%40
SA4,33816.9%62%7.2%39
TAS1,19715.3%60%8.7%25
ACT1,05216.3%63%7.5%41
NT68120.9%66.7%8.1%20

What this does and does not mean

These figures describe the businesses in this directory, which skews toward those with enough public presence to be found. Smaller states have smaller samples — NT has 681 businesses against 20,174 in NSW — so treat the smallest columns with proportionate caution.

Licensing also differs by state in ways this data does not capture, because there is no national register to check against. The regulator for your state is the authority on that.

Full state names

  • NSW — New South Wales: 20,174 businesses
  • VIC — Victoria: 16,588 businesses
  • QLD — Queensland: 14,912 businesses
  • WA — Western Australia: 7,106 businesses
  • SA — South Australia: 4,338 businesses
  • TAS — Tasmania: 1,197 businesses
  • ACT — the Australian Capital Territory: 1,052 businesses
  • NT — the Northern Territory: 681 businesses

Common questions

Which Australian state has the most trade businesses listed?
NSW (New South Wales), with 20,174 of the 66,104 businesses in this directory.
Do trade businesses differ by state?
Less than you would expect. ABN publication and contact accuracy vary only a few percentage points between states — far less than they vary between trades.

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