Aged care workforce getting younger with over 50% born outside Australia: ACWIC

Younger people are entering the aged care workforce at an increasing rate with more than 52% of aged care workers surveyed reported being born outside of Australia, and for 42%, English is not their first language, according to the Aged Care Workforce Industry Council (ACWIC). ‘Frontline Insights from Aged Care Workers’, which explores data collected from 2009 to 2022, highlights 12 key insights into the aged care workforce based on 172,000 workplace survey responses. The three most common reasons given by recently-surveyed aged care employees for leaving their current employer were retirement, poor management, and being underpaid (the majority of aged care workers will receive a 15% pay rise on 1 July). Other key insights include:

• Male workers were more likely to see their pay as fair, with 55.5% of males surveyed reporting this compared to 47.6% of women.
• The aged care workforce is getting younger, with workers aged 26-35 now making up just over a quarter (25.8%) of workers, compared to 15.7% five years ago.
• More than 52% of aged care workers surveyed reported being born outside of Australia, and for 42% English is not their first language.

“I encourage all aged care providers to use the Frontline Insights from Aged Care Workers to inform their workforce planning, and support their current employees to ensure they can continue to deliver quality care to older Australians,” ACWIC Interim CEO Sarah McLelland said.

Click HERE for access to the Frontline Insights and the Aged Care Census Database