Who we heard from and what we found
We heard from over 21,000 aged care workers. The summary below is what we heard from those people who participated in the survey. It does not reflect all aged care workers.
Who participated
- 87% were female
- average age was 47 years
- 57% were born in Australia
- 2.5% identified as being Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- most were personal / home care workers and assistants (72%), followed by nurses (23%) and allied health professionals (6%)
- 45% worked in a major city
- 41% speak a language other than English.
Type and hours of work
- most respondents worked on a permanent part-time basis (59%) and worked an average of 26.4 paid hours in the week prior to completing the survey.
- The average number of unpaid hours worked was 6.5 hours in the week prior to completing the survey
- 62% of respondents said they would not like to change the hours they work
Job satisfaction
Most respondents:
- were satisfied working in aged care (65%)
- were satisfied with their job security (68%)
- 90% felt they have the skills and abilities to do their job well.
Just over one third of respondents (36%) were satisfied with their total pay.
Training and qualifications
- most common work-related training completed by respondents was infection prevention and control training, followed by dementia care training.
- most common completed qualification was a Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing), followed by a Certificate III in Aged Care and a Bachelor of Nursing.
- only 5% of respondents had not completed an educational qualification.
Working in aged care
- 65% want to keep working in the aged care sector
- 43% have worked in the aged care sector for more than 10 years.
The top 5 reasons respondents chose to work in aged care were:
- to make a positive change in the lives of older people
- an interest in working with older people
- location of jobs and opportunity to work close to home
- alignment to personal values
- availability and security of employment.
Access the full report
Aged Care Worker Survey 2024 report
Next steps
We will be talking directly with a number of aged care workers to better understand some of the issues they face working in the sector.
We will also use the insights from the survey to help inform future aged care workforce policies and programs.
We also encourage providers to use the insights from the report to inform workforce programs and initiatives.
Building and strengthening the workforce
We have recently released the Professional FrameWork – to build and strengthen the aged care workforce to meet the needs and rights of older people.
This FrameWork illustrates how we will together, with everyone in aged care, build and strengthen the aged care workforce through 8 goals and a range of actions, including:
- uplifting pay
- education and training opportunities
- improving culture
- encouraging innovation
- increasing career pathways
- improving workforce planning
- building evidence base and building leadership capability.
How to stay connected
There are many ways to get involved and stay up to date with aged care reforms:
- subscribe to the Working in Aged care newsletter or Your Aged Care Update
- visit our website
- visit the Engagement Hub to have your say and take part in consultations
- ask your employer.