Here’s how aged care’s workforce has changed since 2020

The latest snapshot of the aged care sector has been released in the 2023 Aged Care Provider Workforce Survey (ACPWS). The survey reveals that an estimated 115,000 new staff were recruited to the sector between March 2022 and March 2023, while the bulk of the work is being completed by staff on permanent part-time contracts. 

Key points

• The 2023 Aged Care Provider Workforce Survey (ACPWS) presents key findings regarding the size, composition, and characteristics of Australia’s aged care workforce across different service care types, including residential aged care (RAC), the Home Care Packages Program (HCPP) and the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP)
• In 2023, the total estimated number of staff across all care types was 549,000, with 88% directly employed, with direct care workers totalling 75% of the workforce
• There were 43,000 vacancies in direct care roles, with personal care workers making up 75% of these vacancies
• Around 79,000 volunteers provided 314,000 hours of support across various services

Residential care experiences loss

Workforce shortages have been at the heart of aged care’s struggles with another study – the Nursing Supply and Demand Study – indicating that Australia will be 80,000 nurses short by 2035. For aged care itself, the sector needs at least 13,000 more nurses over the decade, while the total number of care workers required has been projected to be over 100,000. 

With an additional 115,000 staff entering the sector between March 2022 – 2023, aged care has seen the most growth in its home care cohort with residential care’s workforce shrinking. The total estimated number of staff was 549,000 in 2023 with the following breakdown:

• In RAC, the total estimated number of staff decreased from 277,671 in 2020 to 273,000 in 2023
• In HCPP, the total estimated number of staff increased from 80,340 in 2020 to 170,000 in 2023
• In CHSP, the total estimated number of staff increased from 76,096 in 2020 to 97,900 in 2023
• Just under 8,000 staff were employed in the MPS Program and NATSIFAC Program, although neither saw staff data collected in 2020 for comparison

For RAC, the amount of staff directly employed has dropped by 6% since 2020, while full-time equivalent (FTE) positions involving nursing and personal care staff decreased from 123,400 to 111,000. The estimated number of allied health staff also decreased by a whopping 42%. 

Interestingly, COVID-19’s impact on the use of agency staff has resulted in a notable shift in nursing and personal care staff numbers. While roughly 14,000 permanent part-time positions disappeared from the workforce, an additional 23,230 agency/subcontractor staff are now working within the sector. This includes 5,400 Registered Nurses, compared to just 275 agency/subcontracted RNs in 2020.

Meanwhile, although the previous ACPWS indicated that the workforce is not necessarily ageing as predicted in 2016, 2023 data says otherwise. Across all service care types, 43% of directly employed nursing and personal care staff were aged 45 years and older. 

Registered nurses are among the youngest in the sector with one-third aged 45 and older, while a surprising two-thirds of personal care workers (with formal training) are 45 and older.

Residential losses are home care’s gain

Even though the survey does not draw any conclusions itself, it’s clear that aged care’s workforce is moving to where the demand is. The home care workforce has more than doubled since 2020 with similar gains among allied health workers. 

With close to 100,000 new home care workers across the HCPP and CHSP, this figure doesn’t offset the loss of an estimated 84,900 workers who departed aged care in March 2022-23.

However, that net gain of approximately 30,000 workers shows a consistent intake of home care workers. The sector will need that, and more, over the coming years to fill essential vacancies. 

As of March 2023, there were an estimated 43,000 vacancies in directly employed nursing, personal care and clinical care manager positions across all service care types. The highest proportion of vacancies was for personal care workers (75%) followed by RNs (12%), reflecting the relative sizes of the two staff categories.

Unfortunately, filling the RN role is one of the most time-consuming jobs with nurse practitioners the only position harder to fill in aged care. The main challenges in recruiting employees were the lack of suitable applicants, competition for staff with other providers or industries, and applicants not having suitable qualifications or skills.

These issues are likely to keep impacting recruitment as a relatively shallow nursing talent pool means it is harder to attract ready-made candidates to aged care. 

The full 2023 Aged Care Provider Workforce Survey: Summary report can be viewed here.