How to Become a Personal Trainer in Australia
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, approximately 10,500 people begin their personal training qualification every year, and about 5,500 become fully qualified in Australia.
That’s approximately 16,320 people yearly, equating to about 15% of the country’s Sports and Physical recreation activities industry, with Personal Trainers expecting to grow annually on average by 5%.
Why is this important?
If you are passionate about health and fitness, now more than ever is THE TIME to take the plunge and commence a career in the fitness industry.
Imagine a career where you feel more fulfilled, aligned with your core values, and can ultimately get paid well doing what you love!?!
So, whether you want to work as an in-person personal trainer, or an online personal trainer (or both), this article will explain how you can do that in detail. Let’s dig into it.
Benefits of Becoming a Personal Trainer
At Clean Health, we believe personal trainers are at the forefront of healthcare because, on a base level, their sole purpose is to “coach” people on how to exercise effectively.
As we know, exercise is one of the best disease state interventions humans can apply for multiple health concerns and something as a “PT”, you’ll be responsible for helping your clients!
Whether high blood pressure, obesity, metabolic syndrome, lifting weights, or not being sedentary, scientific evidence is overwhelmingly conclusive that exercise positively impacts mental and physical health.
95% of Clean Health qualified personal trainers complete our Performance Nutrition Coach Certification, enabling them to provide nutrition coaching services to general population clients for fat loss, weight loss and general health.
This is where we see the future of modern-day personal trainers, not only able to serve their clients but armed with knowledge that gives them a competitive advantage within the industry.
A Clean Health qualified personal trainer can provide clients with bespoke lifestyle, nutrition, and training protocols to optimise health, longevity, and performance!
Becoming a qualified personal trainer gives you a host of benefits, including:
- Helping the greater society become healthier in body and mind
- Flexible work hours to run your own business or as an employee
- Greater fulfilment in life, doing what you love every single day
- 6 and even 7-figure earning potential within 3-5 years
- Multiple niches, including gym owner, strength coach, online coach & more
- Ability to live a healthier life in body and mind by embodying your career
That’s just a sample of what it will be like for you in your new career!
Why are Personal Trainers Important?
We discussed it above, but personal trainers are at the forefront of the obesity epidemic and making society healthier.
As a personal trainer, your clients see you more regularly than the Doctor, therapist, or ANY other allied health professional.
As such, a much deeper relationship is formed, which gives you the power to influence people positively to help them take control of their health.
Personal trainers are like troops on the battlefield.
Sure, there may be generals calling the shots on best practice, but ultimately troops win wars as they are on the ground in the trenches, working intimately to achieve their goal the same way we do with our clients!
What Makes a Great Personal Trainer?
Becoming known as an industry-leading personal trainer is not as simple as getting your initial Certificate III and Certificate IV in Fitness formal qualification, which is essentially just a badge that legally qualifies you as a personal trainer.
After educating over 70,000 personal trainers worldwide, we’ve found those that:
- Have empathy and can relate to their clients
- Are constantly re-investing back into themselves
- Apply what they learn and coach 25 hours minimum per week (experience)
- Can “learn” new skills such as marketing, sales etc.
Clean Health personal trainers are more likely to earn within the top 10% of fitness professionals worldwide.
Remember that the journey to fitness career success takes time and doesn’t happen overnight!
How to Become a Personal Trainer?
Age Limit
To become a qualified personal trainer within Australia, you must be over 16 years old, have completed year 10 or equivalent, and meet the Language, Literacy and Numeracy (LLN) standards set by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA).
Qualifications
To become a qualified personal trainer that can work out of gyms, you must have enrolled with a government-accredited registered training organisation (RTO) and complete the following qualifications:
- Certificate IV in Fitness (Government code SIS40221)
- Are constantly re-investing back into themselves
Once you have completed Certificate III in Fitness, you are legally qualified to coach groups in exercise classes. Finally, when you have completed Certificate IV in Fitness, you’re legally eligible to provide 121 personal training services.
However, you technically do not need those qualifications if you want to work exclusively as an online fitness coach, which has become an emerging market since 2020, which we discuss below.
At Clean Health, we go above the industry norm and have packaged some of our unique training and nutrition certification programs with the standard curriculum to build the world’s leading fitness education framework.
You can choose from three different pathways, which we go through in depth below.
Registering for Professional Membership
As a personal trainer in Australia, you have two main registration options, Aus Active and Fit Rec.
Fit Rec provides ongoing support and continuing professional development to personal trainers. They do this based on the competency of a select group of industry expert course providers combined with experience.
Aus Active requires you to do only CEC-approved (continuing education credits) courses registered through them.
We recommend to our students that you look at both and make a choice yourself!
In Person or Online Personal Trainer
Since 2020, the fitness industry has seen an explosion in online personal training, which has disrupted the industry in a very good way!
Gone are the days when you must trade time for money and charge by the hour as a personal trainer in your local gym.
Clean Health students sell the solution based on value and provide the complete lifestyle, nutrition and training package to transform their clients’ lives forever.
We provide in-person and online career pathways for our students, allowing you to create your dream life and career on your terms!
We’ve also created the world’s first Online Personal Trainer Certification, designed specifically for people who want to work online and not in person.
Now in terms of figuring out whether in-person or online is right for you?
As a general rule, we recommend all our students spend the first 12-18 months of their career gaining experience in their local gym as an in-person personal trainer and, over time, transitioning online to do it full-time or as a hybrid coach (both).
However, if you already have a lot of experience in the gym, look the part and are on social media with an engaged following, then going straight online is the ideal option for you regarding return on time investment.
Either way, our team has expert in-person and online personal trainers to help you adapt to the times and guide you through your new career
Finding a Job as a Personal Trainer
Traditionally, many personal trainers would find this part difficult due to a lack of networks and experience; however, due to Clean Health’s Australian domestic network of over 750 gym sites (and 2000+ globally), we’ve got you covered.
Check out some of our partners here.
Our students get access to our global network of partner gyms, including some of the biggest gym brands worldwide, including BFT, Anytime Fitness, Fitness First, Good Life Health clubs, and many more.
We also give you access to online coaching businesses such as Biolayne, PT Domination and more if you want to work as an employed online personal trainer instead of launching your own business.
Our master coaches and student support team are there every step of the study journey to help line up your practical hours and recruitment opportunities to ensure you have a smooth transition from student to working personal trainer.
Our mission is to have all our students set up their own business or job before they finish their studies.
How do You Find Clients as a Personal Trainer
Starting any new career can be daunting, especially as a personal trainer; however, after coaching 300,000+ clients in person and online between 2008-2022, our curriculum and mentors can help fast-track this process.
Step 1 to growing a successful personal training business in person or online is knowing what you’re talking about. As a Clean Health student, you can rest easy knowing you are learning literally from world-leading fitness experts, including:
- Dr Layne Norton, Evidence-Based Nutritionist and Fitness expert
- Hattie Boydle, WBFF World Champion Fitness Model and Expert Coach
- Professor Bill Campbell, Sports Scientist and Nutrition Expert
- Jackson Peos, PhD, Sports Nutritionist, Bodybuilder and Online fitness coach
- Sebastian Oreb, Strength Coach to World Champion Athletes
- Astrid Naranjo, Clinical Dietitian and World-Renowned Nutrition Expert
- Brian Mark, the World’s Leading Fitness Business Coach
- Daine McDonald, the Founder and CEO of Clean Health
… and many more!
Step 2 is that once you’ve learned the latest science, you need to learn the skill of sales and marketing (yes, they can be taught) to monetise your passion into a profitable, financially rewarding career.
Together, our team holds virtual fitness business classes every month for our students to help level up their fitness business skills in sales, marketing, and operations for in-person coaches, gym owners and online fitness coaches.
The Number 1 Online Personal Training Course in Australia
Finding the correct Certificate III and IV in Fitness nationally recognised personal training qualifications can be tricky!
Most traditional fitness institutes give you a ton of dry academia; however, they don’t show you how to apply them to get results… unlike Clean Health.
Founded in 2008 by expert PTs, and our CEO, Daine McDonald, Clean Health is the trusted source of results-based fitness education for personal trainers worldwide.
Check out our Instagram and YouTube channels to see what we’re discussing!
We began as a PT and nutrition coaching organisation focused on getting epic results using the science of lifestyle, nutrition, and training. In 2012, we opened our first of several gyms that did 300,000+ coaching sessions over their lifespan.
Today, our academic team includes the best in the industry, Layne Norton, Bill Campbell, Sebastian Oreb, Jackson Peos, Hattie Bodyle and more!
We have three online personal training qualification options for you to choose from, with all initial personal training qualifications including:
- Self-paced study, so you can do as much or as little as you like every day
- 2 years to complete from enrolment (average student completion is 8 months)
- Access to our student community and weekly live tutorials and masterclasses
- Access to our job network and partners to line up your job before you finish
- Access to our mentors and student team if you get stuck or need help
Option 1: Clean Health Master Personal Trainer Program ®
This is our premium personal training qualification, which many of the world’s leading fitness experts have done over the last decade, combining 13 different program design, nutrition coaching, fitness business certifications, and government-accredited Certificates III and IV in Fitness personal training qualification.
You do this program instead of attending university and doing a double degree in sports science and nutrition because it gives you 101 modules (yes, not a typo) of the latest evidence-based science at a fraction of the cost and time complete!
You do this program instead of attending university and doing a double degree in sports science and nutrition because it gives you 101 modules (yes, not a typo) of the latest evidence-based science at a fraction of the cost and time complete!
In it, you’ll learn from educators like Layne Norton and Sebastian Oreb, and to help your transition into fitness be smoother, it provides real-world tools to integrate into your fitness business from day one.
This program allows you to work as a personal trainer in gyms or an online fitness coach.
Option 2: Clean Health Elite Personal Trainer Program ®
This is our entry-level personal training qualification, with nothing entry-level about it! It combines 8 different program design, nutrition coaching, fitness business certifications, and government-accredited Certificates III and IV in Fitness personal training qualification.
You do this program if you want to get qualified within 6 months and learn across 73 modules the science and practical systems to optimise fat loss, body composition, hypertrophy nutrition, and fitness business to get started the right way as a coach.
Option 3: Clean Health Online Personal Trainer Certification ®
This program is the world’s only specifically designed online fitness coaching certification and combines 17 different program design, nutrition coaching, and fitness business certifications taught across 99 modules.
In it, you get taught directly by world-leading fitness experts such as Layne Norton, Sebastian Oreb, Brian Mark, Cole Da Silva and more.
You enrol in this if you want to work as an online fitness coach who provides nutrition and training plans for their clients, having flexible work hours and living life on your terms.
This program allows you to work as an online personal trainer and fitness coach only; it does not allow you to work out of gyms due to the insurance requirements of brick-and-mortar businesses.
In summary, no other fitness institute within Australia provides the science, support, and systems to start and grow your personal training career, and with over 1000+ 4.9-star reviews across our Google, Trust Pilot and Facebook accounts, don’t just take our word for it.
Interested in seeing some of our student success stories? Watch what our students are saying 👇🏻
How Much Do Personal Trainers Get Paid?
Based on public data and internal surveys conducted across our 70,000 students, you can see in the table below the massive gap in earning potential between our students and the rest. (1-4)
Country
Average Income
Top 10% Income
CH AvgIncome
CH Top 10% Income
CH % Variance Increase
Australia
$62,400+ AUD
$140,000+ AUD
$95,000+ AUD
$200,000+ AUD
+40-50%!
United States
$62,953+ USD
$80,000+ USD
$80,000+ USD
$150,000+ USD
+44-88%!
Country: Australia
Average Income:
$62,400+ AUD
Top 10% Income:
$140,000+ AUD
CH Avg Income:
$95,000+ AUD
CH Top 10% Income:
$200,000+ AUD
CH % Variance Increase:
+40-50%!
Country: Australia
Average Income:
$62,953+ USD
Top 10% Income:
$80,000+ USD
CH Avg Income:
$80,000+ USD
CH Top 10% Income:
$150,000+ USD
CH % Variance Increase:
+44-88%!
We have over 5000 students earning $100,000 per annum as personal trainers online and in person, with some earning above $500,000 online.
So, if you’re serious about turning your passion for health and fitness into a profitable fitness career, learning with Clean Health is the ONLY option!
Want to learn more?
In conclusion, becoming a personal trainer will help you positively impact society while personally and professionally feeling happier and more aligned with yourself.
So, what are your next steps?
References
(1) https://nationalindustryinsights.aisc.net.au/industries/sport-fitness-and-recreation/fitness
(2) https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed/may-2021
(3) https://www.au.talent.com/salary?job=personal+trainer
(4) https://www.payscale.com/research/AU/Job=Personal_Trainer/Hourly_Rate
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