Workforce Plan 2025
Our Workforce Plan 2025 draws on the significant data we have gathered through our forums, roadshows and consultations. It highlights significant challenges, identifies key actions and celebrates the progress underway.
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Overview 2025
Our Workforce Plan 2025 draws on the significant data we have gathered through our forums, roadshows and consultations. It highlights significant challenges, identifies key actions and celebrates the progress underway.
Key Findings
Feminised workforce
The highly feminised care and support sector is undervalued. Pay and conditions do not reflect the level of skill needed, the demand on workers nor the value of the work.
First Nations Peoples
Services, programs and policy initiatives leading to better outcomes for First Nations peoples and communities require approaches informed, co-designed and co-delivered by First Nations people.
Housing and Transport
Rising housing costs and limited affordable housing near employment, particularly in rural, regional and remote communities forces essential workers to live long distances from work or leave local jobs, contributing to workforce shortages and reduced service capacity.
Explore the sectors
While each of our sectors face many common challenges, they also have unique issues affecting their workforce. We take a close look at the sectors to identify the work that needs doing and the work that has been achieved so far.
Aged Care and Disability Services
Aged care and disability services face rapid growth, complex reform, and persistent workforce shortages, particularly in community settings. Improving attraction, retention, skills portability and career pathways is critical to delivering high-quality person-centred care, for these two distinct but interconnected workforces.
360,600
Aged and Disabled Carers
30,900
new workers
31.9%
growth
107,207
enrolments
Children's Education and Care
The children’s education and care sector is undergoing significant reform amid workforce shortages. Workload and limited progression pathways challenge attraction and retention, despite growing recognition of the sector’s foundational role in lifelong learning. Our work focuses on building a sustainable, skilled and supported workforce.
173,600
educators
73,700
early childhood teachers
5.6%
of childhood education and care course enrolments
33.9%
of childhood education and care trainees
Health
Australia’s healthcare system provides a wide range of services and support, helping Australians maintain their health and wellbeing. Health workforces are under pressure from rising demand, workforce shortages and changing models of care. Our workforce plan highlights the need to support workers to practise to scope, strengthen training pathways and improve recognition of assistant roles.
3.1%
of First Nations people aged 15 and over
22%
projected growth
Human (Community) Services
Human (community) services support people facing complex social challenges. The workforce experiences high stress, insecure funding and limited career pathways. Strengthening skills, wellbeing and professional recognition is essential to service sustainability and to supporting to individuals, families and communities facing challenges or in crisis.
18.7%
increase of welfare support workers
24.8%
of those studying key human services qualifications (CHC)
10.3%
of learners
31%
of people working in the sector
Sport and Recreation
Participation in sport and recreation is key to improving the physical and mental health and wellbeing of all Australians. The sector has a high reliance on casual work, with fragmented career pathways, limited mobility, increasing safety challenges, and diversity gaps, while growing participation, major events and preventative health priorities demand a skilled and adaptable workforce.