The fifth-largest city in Australia, Adelaide is the capital of South Australia and home to over 75% of the state's population. While Adelaide makes a significant contribution to Australia's GDP, the city has experienced higher levels of unemployment compared to the likes of Sydney and Melbourne in recent years. Even so, accounting and finance is the fourth most popular line of employment in the city.
In the past few years, there have been mixed reports suggesting both that Australia has too many and too few accounting graduates. Accountants are always in demand across Australia's businesses but bear in mind that a large percentage of graduates will migrate to the financial districts of Melbourne and Sydney.
Accounting graduates have the advantage of being able to branch out into a number of roles, including bookkeeper, finance officer and payroll manager.
The big four auditing firms all have bases in Adelaide, as do chartered accountants PKF Kennedy, BDO, Pitcher Partners and Grant Thornton. All of the above hire candidates through graduate programmes, so check out their individual websites if you want to find out more information.
The average salary for an accountant in Adelaide is AU$52,792, around AU$3,000 per year below the Australian median. Graduates can expect to pick up around AU$40,000 a year to start with, although promotion prospects are good and after a few years they could be earning up to AU$65,000 a year, plus bonuses.
The cost of living in Adelaide is the cheapest in Australia's big cities. Rent, for example, is around half the price you would expect to pay in Sydney.
Associate – Private Advisory at Grant Thornton Australia at Grant Thornton
Graduate – Analytics and Information team, Technology department, Commonwealth Bank at Commonwealth Bank