In This Article
- How does a business analyst add value to an organisation?
- Business analyst roles and responsibilities across industries
- Key business analyst skills
- The typical business analyst salary in Australia
- Business analyst salary expectations
- How to become a business analyst
- Benefits of studying an MBA
- Work towards a competitive business analyst salary with a postgraduate business degree
A business analyst conducts detailed investigations into how a business operates, gathering data and information that they use to inform positive changes. A business analyst will introduce and oversee these changes, ultimately making things more efficient and cost-effective for the organisation.
Business analysts are in demand, and the industry is set to expand in the coming years. According to SEEK, this role is expected to grow by 23.2 per cent in the next five years.
Read on to discover more about what a business analyst does and how they add value to an organisation, as well as the typical business analyst salary in Australia.
How does a business analyst add value to an organisation?
Business analysts provide highly valuable services to organisations. With specialised skills, including analysis, project management and problem-solving, they ensure businesses are operating in the best way possible.
Business analyst job description
A business analyst:
- Investigates processes and analyses data
- Identifies areas that need improvement
- Translates findings into human-centred language that stakeholders can understand
- Offers suggestions on how technology can optimise processes
- Introduces and manages the changes
Ultimately, this leads to better processes, greater employee satisfaction and better financial results for the business.
Business analyst roles and responsibilities across industries
Employers seek out business analysts across many industries, including agriculture, marketing, government, finance, healthcare and more. A business analyst's duties may vary according to the industry they work in. For example, a business analyst in healthcare may find ways to optimise healthcare delivery and improve patient satisfaction. A business analyst working in marketing may examine market trends and customer behaviour to enhance the effectiveness of marketing efforts.
Within each industry, a business analyst may occupy a more specialised role, such as a systems analyst, process analyst or product manager. They may be employed full-time, part-time or as a contractor.
Key business analyst skills
Business analysts possess a unique set of specialised skills. By continuously refining and building on these skills, an analyst can maximise their business analyst salary.
Such skills include:
- Decision-making
- Communication
- Time management
- Research and analysis
- Project management
- Stakeholder management
- Technological literacy
The typical business analyst salary in Australia
The demand for business analysts is on the rise as more organisations are looking to refine their operations, resulting in an increase in job openings across many workplaces.
Given the demand and earning potential for business analysts, now is a great time to upskill and look towards a career in this rewarding field.
Business analyst salary expectations
As business analysts are in demand, employers offer competitive salaries for qualified candidates.
Australia’s average business analyst salary range is $105,000 to $125,000 per year, according to SEEK.
The exact figure an analyst earns will depend on the industry and the candidate’s qualifications and experience.
Here are the average annual business analyst salaries across the top-paying industries in Australia:
- IT: $140,000-$150,000
- Banking: $135,000-$145,000
- Insurance and superannuation: $135,000-$145,000
- Healthcare and medical: $115,000-$125,000
- Consulting and strategy: $110,000-$120,000
- Government and defence: $110,000-$120,000
- Accounting: $110,000-$120,000
- Education and training: $105,000-$115,000
How to become a business analyst
Explore how you can become a business analyst with this step-by-step guide:
1. Pursue an undergraduate degree
Most business analysts complete some form of formal education before practising. They usually pursue an undergraduate qualification, such as a bachelor's degree, in business administration, business analytics, information technology (IT) or a related field. These courses help them develop knowledge and skills in navigating business processes.
Pursuing higher education also opens doors to a wide variety of business analyst roles as employers typically require candidates to have a tertiary degree. Working professionals who don't have a background in this field and want to switch careers can also study a bachelor's degree to help them transition.
2. Acquire work experience
Besides education, becoming a business analyst usually requires relevant practical experience. An aspiring business analyst can build their portfolio by doing an internship or taking on junior roles that involve data, analytics and business intelligence tools. Since business analytics is an important function in most organisations, they can find employment across various industries such as IT, communications, business or healthcare.
The duties of a junior business analyst may involve gathering business requirements and assisting in project documentation and process improvement projects. As they progress in their career, their responsibilities typically grow as well. They may analyse existing business processes for improvement, liaise with technical teams and key stakeholders to develop and execute business strategies as well as monitor the progress of implemented changes.
3. Obtain a postgraduate degree
From here, anyone wondering how to plan a career path as a business analyst can evolve further by pursuing a postgraduate qualification such as a business analyst master’s or an MBA. The qualification can help them develop their expertise and improve their professional credibility in the eyes of prospective employers.
Benefits of studying a postgraduate degree in business analytics
Completing a postgraduate degree will not only help launch a career in business analytics, but it can also give candidates a competitive edge over their peers.
Obtaining this qualification tells a potential employer that a candidate:
- Has advanced knowledge in their field
- Is serious about their career
- Possesses a unique set of skills, including leadership, self-discipline, problem-solving, communication, strategic
- thinking and more
- Is committed to lifelong learning
- Is qualified for a competitive business analyst salary
Due to its flexibility, a postgraduate degree is a good option for anyone wondering how to make a career change at any age. Studying online allows students to work full-time while studying and balancing their commitments. It also introduces students to professionals from across the globe who are all working towards common goals.
Upon completing this qualification, students will be able to launch their business analyst careers with confidence.
Here are a few master's programs in business analytics from Australian universities.
Through an intensive one-year program, you will learn how to define and structure business problems, use data to provide insight and communicate those insights to senior leaders. A personal effectiveness component will also develop your skills in areas such as teamwork, negotiations and ethical decision-making.
Graduates of this program are developed to be exceptional from both a technical and business perspective.
A Master of Business Analytics advances your ability to convert data into insights and solutions. In this multi-disciplinary course, you'll master the analytical lifecycle, diversify your career path and deliver data-driven business and social solutions.
Contemporary technologies and communication techniques will also be examined to build your data and analytical capabilities along with your ability to converse with expert and non-expert stakeholders. Ultimately, you will learn how to elicit business requirements and recommend analytical solutions that seamlessly embed within business flows. The unique course design also provides the ability to link into other study opportunities for further career development, including a Master of Business Administration or Master of Business Information Systems.
The Master of Business Analytics will equip you with a significantly enhanced strategic thinking, problem-solving and decision-making ability. Develop your capacity to formulate, evaluate and effectively communicate evidence-based solutions to contemporary commercial challenges using quantitative analysis. Gain advanced abilities in the use of business analytics to inform and support commercial strategies, both domestic and international.
Acquire high-level knowledge of using business analytics to highlight innovation opportunities and entrepreneurial options. You'll also gain deep insight into the ethical, sustainability and governance considerations of data management and analysis, and intellectual property rights.
Become empowered as a quantitative citizen. By leveraging open data and the most powerful open-source software available today, you will learn how to fish rather than be fed.
This course is designed to develop thinking, computing and analytic skills for working with data for evidence-based solutions to today's problems. You will learn how to critically assess information provided by others by sourcing and analysing data yourself, with a strong emphasis on ethical and reproducible methods.
This course suits those with undergraduate degrees in quantitative disciplines, including mathematics, statistics, computer science and engineering. The content is student-centred, inclusive and accessible. Participants will be expected to operate as a connected cohort of like-minded people ready to build a better society.
Measuring performance is big business. Today, most of the world’s major companies employ business analytics to gain valuable business insights and get an edge on their competitors. Using data modelling and statistical analysis, business analytics allows companies to measure their past performance, improve efficiency, increase profits, innovate and make educated decisions that drive them forward.
The comprehensive, flexible Master of Business Analytics has a strong focus on the real-world application of business analytics tools and techniques. Become adept at recognising the importance of ethical reasoning in the solution of analytics-related problems. You'll also learn how to collaborate effectively with diverse teams to achieve a range of purposes in varied contexts.
Alternatively, you can explore MBA courses that offer units related to business analytics to advance your expertise. For example, the University of Sydney's MBA program contains the Data Analytics and Modelling unit as an elective. In this unit, you will be introduced to tools and modelling techniques that are used to gain insights from various forms of data.
Southern Cross University also offers the Business Analytics unit in its MBA course. Some of the topics you will cover in this unit are statistical distributions, introduction to regression modelling and confidence interval estimations.
Below are some MBAs with units relevant to business analytics.
The part-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) is purpose-built to unlock your personal and professional ambitions and refine your leadership skills.
This postgraduate coursework degree will develop your leadership, communication and critical thinking skills, and prepare you for applying these skills in the complex global business environment.
In this course, you'll gain a broad understanding of contemporary management operations, as well as learning how to solve complex issues and manage the challenges of technology and finance, and other critical business factors.
Your professional expertise will be honed by completing practical assessment activities in leadership, problem solving and communication skills. In addition to core units, the course builds substantial expertise in an area through the completion of a research project.
You have the option of selecting either a specialisation, which includes an industry research project, or choosing two elective units from a wide range of subjects together with the industry research project. The industry research project is ideal for developing extensive knowledge of an issue related to your current workplace or to a career you wish to pursue.
The Master of Business Administration program is designed to provide students with a range of analytical, strategic, and leadership skills that will prepare them for increasingly competitive careers in business management in the corporate and public sectors.
The program offers a grounding in fundamental business areas such as accounting, organisational behaviour, marketing and management. Analytic and problem-solving skills are emphasised through an applied understanding of the theoretical framework within which today’s managers must operate, as well as the acquisition of practical skills in teamwork, writing, presentation and time management. The ability to cope with rapid organisational and technological change is developed through an understanding of organisational behaviour, information systems and organisational change and development.
Developed in line with global best practices, the Melbourne Business School Online Master of Business Administration (MBA) has a rigorous and comprehensive offering of subjects that will prepare you for important and demanding careers, both domestically and internationally.
Supported by the best in business and connected to a network of like-minded professionals, the online MBA program prepares you to ignite ideas, lead organisations and meet change head-on.
Focus on opportunities to get valuable industry experience through professional placements and applied research projects. This Master of Business Administration (MBA) Global could also be a step towards doctoral studies after you complete the course.
Work towards a competitive business analyst salary with a postgraduate business degree
Becoming a business analyst is a rewarding career. By making tangible changes within an organisation, business analysts can see their positive impacts on a company and its people.
With many business analyst job opportunities on the horizon, now is the time to start investing in your future with a postgraduate qualification. Many leading universities in Australia offer postgraduate courses in business analytics for you to explore.