Key Facts:
- 4.9 per cent of Australian entry-level roles advertised in Q3 2026 involve AI (89 of 1,812). - 31.1 per cent of Australian lead-level roles involve AI (616 of 1,981). - 21.3 per cent of all Australian roles involve AI (1,734 of 8,124). - Of the 28 Australian employers with ten or more entry-level ads, 14 have no entry-level role that involves AI. - Source: Verellax Index, Edition One freeze, as at 2 October 2026. The index analysed 57,134 roles advertised by 284 employers across seven markets.
Sydney, Wednesday 14 October 2026
Of the entry-level roles that Australian employers advertised in Q3 2026, 4.9 per cent involve AI (89 of 1,812). For lead-level roles, the figure is 31.1 per cent (616 of 1,981).
Australian employers advertised 1,812 entry-level roles from July to September 2026, and only 89 involved AI. The data is from the Q3 2026 freeze of the Verellax Index, Edition One. The edition read 57,134 roles that 284 employers advertised in seven markets.
Verellax reads each job specification on three measures: whether the role involves AI, whether AI is central to the work, and whether the role is accountable for what the model produces. Verellax does not survey anyone. Every figure is read from what an organisation has already published and carries its date, and every projection names the measures it is built on.
Australian lead-level roles involve AI more than six times as often as entry-level roles. Across all seven markets, 15.6 per cent of entry-level roles involve AI (1,186 of 7,591).
AI is central to the work in 29 of the 89 Australian entry-level roles that involve AI. Only two of those 29 roles say who is accountable for what the model produces.
The result does not come from a small number of large employers. Of the 28 Australian employers with ten or more entry-level ads, 14 have no entry-level role that involves AI.
"Graduates hear that AI will change their first job," said Joseph Tague, founder of Verellax. "In Australia, employers have not yet written AI into that first job."
"I built a workforce intelligence platform that analyses how companies are redesigning their operations around AI, and the skills people need to stay ahead," Tague said. "A graduate reads the job ad first. In Australia, more than 95 in every 100 entry-level roles do not involve AI."
The Senate inquiry into Australian university graduates is due to report on 20 November 2026. Its terms of reference include AI's effect on graduate jobs.
The full edition and its method are at https://verellax.com/index/edition-one. Verellax offers interviews and, on request, a sector figure that the edition does not print.
Source: Verellax workforce intelligence · 57,134 roles advertised in Q3 2026, posting-date basis · October 2026 · as at 2 October 2026, Edition One freeze
