He was born in Sydney, the son of John Young Jobling and Elizabeth Marjorie Hughes.
His marriage to Carole Linde Chadwick on 15 August 1960 produced two daughters and a son.
He joined the Liberal Party in 1968, in which year he was elected to Muswellbrook Municipality Shire Council.
[1] In 1984, Jobling was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council for the Liberal Party.
In 2004 Jobling was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia,[1][3] and in 2021 this was upgraded to an appointment as Member.