workforce
workforce
Growth spurt
Healthcare workforce grew the most last quarter
By Erin Morley
The labour market update for 2023 ’ s September quarter found employment grew the most in the aged and disabled carer , registered nurse and child carer workforces in the year to June 2023 .
The Jobs and Skills Australia report recognised these top three jobs as caring services , which it says “ underscores the continued need for the range of skills required to provide affordable , efficient and equitable access to care .”
Employment across the board grew over the year , with women showing particularly strong growth in full-time work , recording a 6 per cent rise , more than double men ’ s 2.7 per cent rise .
According to the report , 80 per cent of aged and disabled carers and 89 per cent of registered nurses are women , but only 32 per cent ( aged care and disabled ) and 49 per cent ( registered nurses ) of those
26 | nursingreview . com . au workforces work full-time hours ( at least 35 hours of all occupations combined ).
The entire health care and social assistance industry saw the largest growth in employment , rising 5.9 % over the year to June 2023 , recruiting 119,000 people to meet its 2.1 million strong workforce . This industry has experienced 11 consecutive quarters of employment growth , with the ‘ social assistance services ’ sub-industry as a driving force , which includes disabilities assistance services and aged and residential care services . This is followed by strong increases in the ‘ medical and other health care services ’ and ‘ hospitals ’ sub-industries .
These rises could be a response to the demand created by the backlog of patients waiting for elective surgery after the Covid-19 pandemic , which the Australian Medical Association ( AMA ) says added to a backlog that already existed before the lockdowns .
Healthcare spending could be another driver of industry growth , as a 2022-23 federal budget paper states 16.8 per cent of the Australian government ’ s total
“ This industry has experienced 11 consecutive quarters of employment growth , with the ‘ social assistance services ’ sub-industry as a driving force .
spending went to the healthcare workforces following the pandemic and as an ongoing strategy to support Australia ’ s ageing population .
The workforce is expected to continue to grow as outlined in the 2021 National Skills Commission Care Workforce Labour Market Study , which states that by 2050 , total demand for the aged care and disability support workforce will be double today ’ s , estimated to be 425,000 up from 225,000 in 2020 .
The report also expects the number of aged care workers and registered nurses to rise significantly by 2026 , jumping to 341,800 and 331,200 respectively . ■