Health and community services labour force 2006

March 2009

Please note that there is the potential for minor revisions of data in this report.
Please check the online version at <www.aihw.gov.au> for any amendments.

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health and welfare statistics and information agency. The Institute’s mission is
 better information and statistics for better health and wellbeing.

© Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2009

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This publication is part of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s National Health Labour Force Series. A complete list of the Institute’s publications is available from the Institute’s website <www.aihw.gov.au>.

ISSN 1327-4309
ISBN 978 1 74024 891 4

Suggested citation 
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2009. Health and community services labour force. National health labour force series number 42. Cat. no. HWL 43. Canberra: AIHW.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 
Board Chair
Hon. Peter Collins, AM, QC

Director 
Penny Allbon

Any enquiries about or comments on this publication should be directed to:
David Braddock
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
GPO Box 570
Canberra ACT 2601
Phone: (02) 6244 1136
Email: labourforce@aihw.gov.au

Published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Printed by 

	Contents
Acknowledgments	v
Symbols and other usages	vi
Summary	vii
1	Introduction	1
1.1	Report structure	1
1.2	Classification of census occupation data	2
1.3	Census counts	2
1.4	Scope of this report	3
2	Overview of health and community services occupations and related industries	4
2.1	Size and mix of occupations	4
2.1.1	Health workers	4
2.1.2	Community services workers	6
2.2	Size and mix of industries	7
2.3	Geographic comparison of workers	9
2.3.1	States and territories	9
2.3.2	Remoteness Areas	10
3	Characteristics of health and community services workers	11
3.1	Characteristics in detail	11
3.1.1	Industry of health and community services workers	11
3.1.2	Demographics of workers	14
3.1.3	Indigenous health and community services workers	16
3.1.4	Hours worked	20
3.1.5	Highest qualification	21
3.2	Health occupations	25
3.2.1	Medical practitioners	25
3.2.2.	Medical imaging workers	27
3.2.3	Dental workers	28
3.2.4	Nursing workers	29
3.2.5	Pharmacists	30
3.2.6	Allied health workers	30
3.2.7	Complementary therapies workers	32
3.2.8	Other health workers	33
3.3	Community services occupations	34
3.3.1	Child and youth services workers	34
3.3.2	Family services workers	35
3.3.3	Disability services workers and aged or disabled care workers	36
3.3.4	Other community services workers	37
4.	Geographic distribution	38
4.1	States and territories	38
4.1.1	Health workers	38
4.1.2	Community services workers	39
4.2	Remoteness Areas	40
4.2.1	Health workers	40
4.2.2	Community services workers	41
Appendix 1: Explanatory notes	42
A1.1	 Scope	42
A1.2	 Occupation	42
A1.3	 Industry	42
A1.4	 Qualifications	43
A1.5	 Region	43
A1.6	 Counts	44
Appendix 2: 	Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) codes used in this report	45
Appendix 3: 	Australian and New Zealand Standard Industry Classification (ANZSIC): Division Q: health care and social assistance	53
Appendix 4: Additional tables	58
Appendix 5: Tables available from the AIHW website	64
References	66
List of tables	67
List of figures	69

	Acknowledgments 
This publication was prepared by Pam Lee and Felicity Summers of the Labour Force Unit of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, under guidance from David Braddock and the Steering Committee formed to develop this report.
We thank the members of the Steering Committee: Suzy Saw and Vanessa Goss of the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) and Fran Barry of the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA). They provided information on workforce planning issues, advice on data requirements relating to health and community services workforce policy and programs and feedback during the preparation of the report. Also, we thank the Committee’s technical advisor, Myles Burleigh of the Australian Bureau of Statistics for providing guidance and comment during the actual preparation of the census data.
We also acknowledge the financial support for the project from DoHA and FaHCSIA, without which the report could not have been produced. 

	Symbols and other usages
Throughout this publication, data may not add to the totals shown due to random changes applied to cells by the ABS in order to prevent identifiable information being released via census data. Variations in totals may also occur between tables. This is because some tables exclude ‘not stated’ responses to certain census questions. The numbers of ‘not stated’ responses vary from question to question. See Appendix 1 for more information. Percentages may not add to 100.0 due to rounding.

Italics within a table denote a subtotal.
. . denotes not applicable.
— denotes nil or less than 0.05%.
n.a. denotes not available.
n.e.c. denotes not elsewhere classified.
n.f.d. denotes not further defined.
n.p. denotes not published.
	Summary
In 2006, 842,615 people were employed in health and community services occupations. Of these, 548,384 (65.1%) were health workers and 294,231 (34.9%) were community services workers. Between 1996 and 2001, the health workforce increased by 11.6% and between 2001 and 2006 by 22.8%. Over the same periods, the community services workforce increased by 22.8% and 35.6% respectively.
As the size of the health and community services workforce increased between censuses, it also increased as a proportion of the total Australian workforce. In 2006, employment in the health and community services occupations accounted for 9.3% of all persons employed (6.0% were in health occupations and 3.3% were in community services occupations). In 2001, the figure was 7.2% of all employed (4.9% in health and 2.4% in community services) and in 1996, 7.8% of all employed (5.1% and 2.7% respectively).
People in the health and community services workforce worked 33 hours per week on average in 2006, compared with 37 hours for people employed in all occupations. The average week for health workers was 35 hours, whereas the average for community services was 31 hours. 
	Geographical distribution
In 2006, the number of health and community services workers was 4,071 per 100,000 population — comprising 2,649 health workers, and 1,422 community services workers. Across the states and territories, the highest number of health and community services workers per 100,000 population was in South Australia (4,677), followed by Tasmania (4,350). The lowest number of workers was in New South Wales, followed by Queensland (3,863 and 3,964 per 100,000 population respectively). 
The number of health and community services workers per 100,000 population increased 19.1% between 2001 and 2006 (from 3,419 to 4,071). All states and territories had increases in the size of both their health and community services workforces between 2001 and 2006. The largest increase occurred in South Australia where the number per 100,000 rose by 895 workers (from 3,782 to 4,677) and the lowest increase was in the Northern Territory where the number per 100,000 rose by 470 workers (from 3,662 to 4,132). 
Across the Remoteness Areas (RAs) the highest number of health and community services workers per 100,000 population was in Major cities (4,155), followed by Inner regional Australia (4,076) and Outer regional Australia (3,609). The lowest numbers of workers were in Very remote Australia, followed by Remote Australia (3,076 and 3,234 per 100,000 population respectively). 
Between 2001 and 2006, growth in the health workforce differed from that of the community services workforce. The health workforce grew in all areas except Very remote Australia where the rate decreased by 346 workers per 100,000 (from 1,725 to 1,379). Conversely, in the community services occupations, Very remote Australia experienced a rise in the rate of workers (from 1,252 to 1,696 per 100,000 population) which was the highest across the RAs.
	
Demographic characteristics
The health and community services workforce became older between 2001 and 2006. This was evident in the growth in proportion of workers aged 55 to 64 years (up by 4.0 percentage points), coupled with a small decrease in the proportion aged 35 to 44 years (down by 1.8 percentage points). 
Historically, the health and community services workforces have been predominantly female. In 2006, 75.7% of people employed in health occupations were female and 87.1% of people employed in community services occupations were female. 
There were 455,028 people who identified as Indigenous in the 2006 census and 15,005 of these people were employed in health and community services occupations. Of these 15,005 workers, 5,538 were employed in the Indigenous health workforce in 2006, comprising 1.0% of health occupation workers ─ well below the 2.5% Indigenous representation in the population. There were 9,467 Indigenous people employed in the Indigenous community services workforce in 2006, comprising 3.2% of community services occupation workers ─ above the 2.5% Indigenous representation in the population. Between 2001 and 2006, the number of Indigenous workers in health and community services occupations rose by 62.6% — health workers by 44.9% and community services workers by 72.7%. 
	Country of birth
In 2006, approximately one-third of health workers (31.9%) and one-quarter of community services workers (24.8%) reported being born outside Australia compared with 26.7% of other workers. Among health occupations, medical practitioners had the largest proportion born outside Australia (48.1%), followed by pharmacists (36.8%) and complementary therapists (33.5%). People employed in community services occupations were less likely to be born overseas than people in health occupations. Overall, the proportion of community services workers who were born overseas ranged from 20.0% for child care centre managers to 30.1% for aged and/or disabled care workers. 
	Qualifications
There were over 1 million people (1,069,066) in 2006 who reported holding a non-school qualification in a field related to health and community services and, of these people, just 2.0% were looking for work. Compared with this overall proportion, people with qualifications in optical science and radiography were less likely to be unemployed, with just 1.0% and 0.7% of them looking for work.
	1	Introduction
This report is the third in the Health and community services labour force series published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). It includes detailed information on the number of health and community services workers, along with their demographic and work characteristics. This information is based primarily on data from the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census of Population and Housing, but also includes census data from the two earlier reports in the series, Health and community services labour force 1996 and Health and community services labour force 2001 (AIHW 2001, 2003). The census data included in this report were provided by the ABS, based on specifications from the AIHW. Readers interested in obtaining further health and community services occupation data should request these from the ABS.
The five-yearly census is one of the most comprehensive data sources on occupations and provides the most detail at relatively small geographic area levels. During the census, demographic and geographic information is collected about all Australians. In addition, information is collected from all persons aged 15 years and over about their employment. The census data on occupations were collected for the main job held during the week before census night and the results are classified using the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) (see Section 1.2). 
For this report the health and community services labour force is defined by a selection of health and community services-related ANZSCO occupation codes, independent of the industry of employment (see Section 1.4). The labour force has two main components: those that are employed (the workforce) and those that are not employed (people not employed and who are looking for work). The main focus of the report is people in the health and community services workforce, although some data on unemployed people with qualifications relevant to health and community services occupations are also included. 
The occupation data in this report are presented alongside other census data, building a profile of those employed in health and community services occupations. These data include data on the industry of employment, qualifications and region. More information on the classifications used for these data is available in appendixes 1 and 2. 
	1.1	Report structure
This chapter provides introductory information covering the purpose of the report, a broad explanation of the occupation data and groupings used, and the approach used to define the scope of the report. To conclude the chapter, a diagrammatic overview of the health and community services occupations and related industries is presented, illustrating the relationship between them. 
Chapter 2 presents an overview of those employed in health and community services occupations and related industries at a broad level, illustrating changes between censuses in the size and mix of these industries and occupations, and in the geographic distribution of people employed in health and community services occupations. 
Chapter 3 presents more detail on the demographic characteristics, qualifications, work patterns and associated industries of the specific groupings of the health and community service occupations. This is followed by sections presenting a set of summary characteristics for each individual occupation.
Chapter 4 focuses on geographic distribution, presenting data for the occupation groupings by state and territory and Remoteness Areas (RAs) in terms of the number of workers per 100,000 population. This takes into account the population sizes in the different geographic areas and enables the relative sizes of various occupations to be compared.
Appendixes 1, 2 and 3 include detailed technical notes on the census data and the underlying classification systems used in the report. Appendixes 4 and 5 contain additional data tables and links for accessing comprehensive online data.
	1.2	Classification of census occupation data
The ABS Census of Population and Housing, conducted every five years, collects information from all persons aged 15 years and over about their occupation, employment and qualifications. This information is collected for the main job held during the week before census night and the results are classified using the ANZSCO. 
ANZSCO classifies occupations by skill levels first, then within that, by type of work performed. In this report, related occupations which are separated by skill level in the classification are grouped under subheadings in order to facilitate informed analysis. As an example, the occupations of director of nursing, registered nurse, and enrolled nurse are grouped under the heading ‘nursing workers’, and the occupations of welfare worker, family counsellor and family support worker are grouped under ‘family services workers’. 
For the health occupations, these groupings include medical practitioners, medical imaging workers, dental workers, nursing workers, pharmacist workers, allied health workers, complementary therapies workers and other health workers. 
The categories comprising the other health workers group are diverse and in 2006 represented almost one-quarter (23.9%) of people employed in health occupations. However, because of changes to the occupation classification introduced in 2006 (see Appendix 1), it has been necessary to collapse several large occupation categories within this group in order to present comparisons over time. In addition, the occupation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health worker which is classified in this group has been listed separately in the table presentation because of the high level of interest in, and government focus on, these data.
For the community services occupations, the groupings are child and youth services, family services workers, disability workers, aged and disabled care workers and other community services workers. See Appendix 2 for the ANZSCO occupations and codes in these groupings.
	1.3	Census counts
It needs to be noted that the census data are actual counts of people and, in order to protect the confidentiality of individuals, the ABS routinely applies small random changes to cells in census tables which are at fine levels of detail. As a result, counts, or figures, in a given occupation vary from one table to the next. Small adjustments have been made by the AIHW to totals at the occupational group level (e.g. medical practitioners, nursing workers and pharmacists) in order to be consistent in this report and, as a result, the total of cell counts within an occupational group may not always match the total in the table.
	1.4	Scope of this report
Most people in the health occupations are employed in the health care industries, and many in the community services occupations are employed in the social assistance industries. However, there is not a direct match between the occupations and the industries: some of those employed in health or community services occupations work in other industries, while some people employed in non-health and community service occupations work within the health care and social assistance industries. Figure 1.1 illustrates this relationship between occupation and industry diagrammatically. 
For the purposes of this report the scope of the health and community service workforce was defined by a person’s occupation rather than their industry of employment. This means that people who worked in a health care or social assistance industry but were not employed in a health or community service occupation were beyond the scope of this report. The scope of this report aligns with those parts contained within the heavy lined box in Figure 1.1. Information on the types of industry included in the ANZSIC Division Q, health care and social assistance, are provided in Appendix 3. 
The individual occupations that were classified as health and community service occupations and therefore constitute the scope of this report were selected following review of the ANZSCO and consultation with the Australian Government’s Department of Health and Ageing and Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. At a broad level, the ANZSCO groupings for health and community services matched those used in this report. There are a few cases however where the composition of a group differed from those available in ANZSCO. The occupations and their categorisation as either health or community services are set out in detail in Appendix 2.

Figure 1.1: Health and community services occupations and associated industries
Note:    The industry in which each occupation is listed is the one in which most of the workers in that occupation were employed.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
	
	2	Overview of health and community services occupations and related industries
This chapter presents an overview of the health and community services occupations and the most closely related industries at a broad level, illustrating changes between censuses in the size and mix of industries and occupations and in their geographic distribution. 
2.1	Size and mix of occupations
In 2006, the size of the health and community services workforce was 842,615 workers. Of these, 548,384 (65.1%) were health workers and 294,231 (34.9%) were community services workers (tables 2.1 and 2.2). Between 1996 and 2001, the health workforce increased by 11.6% and between 2001 and 2006, by 22.8%. Over the same period, the community services workforce increased by 22.8% and 35.6%. Both workforces increased at a faster pace than the increases in the Australian population over the same period (6.0% and 6.6% respectively). 
	2.1.1	Health workers
In 2006, the 548,384 people employed in the health workforce equated to 2,649 workers per 100,000 Australians (Figure 2.1 and Table A4.1). Nurses comprised the largest proportion (40.5%), followed by other health workers and other health services managers (23.9%). Of the other health workers, nursing support workers (17.1%) and personal care assistants (16.7%) together comprised one-third and medical laboratory scientists (10.2%) and technicians (8.9%) comprised a further one-fifth (Table 3.16). 

Figure 2.1: Persons employed in health occupations: number of workers per 100,000 population, Australia, 1996, 2001 and 2006
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 1996, 2001 and 2006 (data available from ABS on request); Table A.4.1.

Medical practitioners comprised 10.4% of the workforce, with almost two-thirds (62.2%) being generalist medical practitioners (comprising general practitioners (GPs) and resident medical officers), and just under one‑third (31.0%) being specialist medical practitioners (Table 2.1). 
Between the three censuses, there was growth across the health workforce. The largest percentage growth was in the number of people employed in complementary therapy (up by 61.3% between 1996 and 2001 and by 49.2% between 2001 and 2006) (Figure 2.1 and Table A4.1). The second largest growth was in the number of other health workers and managers (up by 20.3% between 1996 and 2001 and by 45.3% between 2001 and 2006), followed by allied health (up by 26.6% between 1996 and 2001 and by 27.9% between 2001 and 2006). 
Table 2.1: Persons employed in health occupations: Australia, 1996, 2001 and 2006
Occupation	1996	2001	2006		Change between 1996 and 2001 (%)	Change between 2001 and 2006 (%)	
Medical practitioners	46,043	51,791	57,019		12.5	10.1	
Generalist medical practitioners	29,022	31,874	35,453		9.8	11.2	
Surgeons	2,967	3,274	3,904		10.3	19.2	
Internal medicine specialists and other specialists(a)	11,991	12,589	13,758		5.0	9.3	
Other medical practitioners(b)	2,063	4,054	1,950		n.a.	n.a.	
Medical administrators	(b)	(b)	1,954		n.a.	n.a.	
Medical imaging workers	6,513	8,170	10,477		25.4	28.2	
Dental workers	23,318	25,876	29,624		11.0	14.5	
Nursing workers	189,289	193,767	222,133		2.4	14.6	
Registered nurses	164,722	174,268	202,735		5.8	16.3	
Registered nurses, clinical	142,453	149,933	173,499		5.3	15.7	
Midwives	10,902	11,643	12,236		6.8	5.1	
Nurse educators and researchers	2,052	2,621	3,760		27.7	43.5	
Nurse managers and clinical directors	9,315	10,071	13,240		8.1	31.5	
Enrolled nurses	24,567	19,499	19,398		-20.6	-0.5	
Pharmacists	12,311	13,925	15,339		13.1	10.2	
Allied health workers	40,319	51,046	65,284		26.6	27.9	
Complementary therapists	6,797	10,964	16,354		61.3	49.2	
Other health workers	75,733	91,183	132,154		20.4	44.9	
	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers	708	916	1,012		29.4	10.5	
	Other health workers and other health services managers(c)	75,025	90,267	131,142		20.3	45.3	
Total health workers	400,323	446,722	548,384		11.6	22.8	
Australian population	18,307,606	19,413,240	20,697,880		6.0	6.6	
(a)	The two categories of internal medicine specialists and other specialists have been combined in this table to enable comparison over time. Individually, they are not comparable because of changes in the occupation classification. 
(b)	This group is not comparable over time because of occupation classification changes. The 1996 and 2001 figures include medical administrators.
(c)	The two categories of other health workers and other health services managers have been combined in this table to enable comparison over time. Individually, they are not comparable because of changes in the occupation classification.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 1996, 2001 and 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
In this report the occupations in the allied health group include audiologist, chiropractor, dietician, occupational therapist, optometrist, orthoptist, orthotist, osteopath, physiotherapist, podiatrist, psychologist, psychotherapist, social worker, speech pathologist and therapy aide. Complementary therapists include acupuncturist, massage therapist, homeopath, natural remedy consultant, naturopath and traditional Chinese medicine practitioner occupations (see Appendix 2).
In terms of the number of workers per 100,000 population, other health occupations had a greater increase than complementary therapies or allied health. Between 2001 and 2006, the number of other health workers increased by 169 per 100,000 population. The increase for complementary therapists and allied health workers was 23 and 52 workers per 100,000 population respectively. 
The number of medical practitioners grew between 1996 and 2001 and between 2001 and 2006 (up by 12.5% and 10.1% respectively). Both these increases were higher than the growth in the Australian population, resulting in an increase in the size of the medical workforce compared with the Australian population. There were 267 medical professionals per 100,000 population in 2001 (up by 16 per 100,000 population from 1996) and 275 in 2006 (up by 8 per 100,000 population from 2001) (Table A4.1).
The number of registered nurses rose by 5.8% between 1996 and 2001, and by 16.3% between 2001 and 2006. However, when the ratio of nurses to the Australian population is considered, there was no increase in the relative size of the nurse workforce between 1996 and 2001, but there was an increase between 2001 and 2006. The number of registered nurses per 100,000 population was 900 in 1996 and 898 in 2001, and, by 2006, there were 979 per 100,000 population (up by 82 nurses per 100,000 population from 2001) (Table A4.1). While the number of registered nurses increased between censuses, the number of enrolled nurses decreased. In 1996, enrolled nurses numbered 24,567, in 2001 they numbered 19,499 and in 2006, 19,398 (Table 2.1). These figures show a considerable decrease (down by 20.6%) initially, followed by a levelling out between 2001 and 2006. The 20.6% decrease between 1996 and 2001, had the effect of reducing the overall number of nurses per 100,000 population (Figure 2.1).
	2.1.2	Community services workers
Within the community services sector in 2006, child and youth services workers comprised the largest proportion of the community services workforce (40.1%), followed by aged and/or disabled care workers (27.6%), and disability workers (12.9%). Managers comprised just 3.2% of the community services workforce. 
Table 2.2: Persons employed in community services occupations: Australia, 1996, 2001 and 2006
Occupation	1996	2001	2006 		Change between 1996 and 2001 (%)	Change between 2001 and 2006 (%)	
Child and youth services workers	86,137	95,257	118,036		10.6	23.9	
Family services workers	8,627	11,699	14,515		35.6	24.1	
Disability workers	19,714	29,597	38,058		50.1	28.6	
Aged and/or disabled care workers 	36,958	54,612	81,130		47.8	48.6	
Other community services workers(a)	17,112	18,595	33,012		8.7	77.5	
Child care centre managers	7,136	6,432	8,126		–9.9	26.3	
Welfare centre managers	983	826	1,354		–16.0	63.9	
Total community services	176,667	217,018	294,231		22.8	35.6	
Australian population	18,307,606	19,413,240	20,697,880		6.0	6.6	
(a)	This category included teachers of English to speakers of other languages for the first time in 2006. There were 5,923 of them in 2006.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 1996, 2001 and 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
Between 2001 and 2006, the number of workers increased in all community services occupations. Aged and/or disabled care workers more than doubled their numbers from 36,958 workers in 1996 to 81,130 workers in 2006 (Table 2.2). This growth continued throughout the period, up by 47.8% between 1996 and 2001 and 48.6% between 2001 and 2006. The number per 100,000 population also grew throughout the period (202 in 1996, 281 in 2001 and 392 in 2006) (Figure 2.2). The overall number of community services workers per 100,000 population grew by 153 workers between 1996 and 2001, and by 304 workers between 2001 and 2006. The occupation group with the smallest growth over the three censuses was family services workers, up by 13 workers per 100,000 between 1996 and 2001 and by 10 workers per 100,000 between 2001 and 2006 (Figure 2.2).

(a)

Figure 2.2: Persons employed in community services occupations: number per 100,000 population, Australia, 1996, 2001 and 2006
(a) 	Excludes the category ‘Teachers of English to speakers of other languages’ which was not included in community services prior to 2006.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 1996, 2001 and 2006 (data available on request); Table A4.1.
	
2.2	Size and mix of industries
Census industry data for 2006 have been coded to the ANZSIC. The industries most closely associated with health and community services occupations are those which comprise the ANZSIC Division Q; health care and social assistance. It should be noted that industry data in the 1996 and 2001 censuses were classified to the ABS Australian New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification, 1993 edition (ANZSIC 93) and therefore, industry data for 1996 and 2001 are not exactly comparable with 2006 (see Appendix 1).
The majority of workers in the health care industries in 2006 (57.2%) were working in hospitals (excluding psychiatric hospitals), followed by general practice medical services (12.7%) and dental services (6.1%). In the social assistance industries in 2006, the proportion of workers in other health care and social assistance (37.2%) and the proportion in residential care services (36.2%) together comprised three-quarters of workers.

	
Figure 2.3 : Persons employed in selected health industries: number per 100,000 population, Australia, 1996, 2001 and 2006
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2001 and 2006 (data available on request); Table A4.2.

Over the three censuses, there was steady growth in the number of workers in the health care and social assistance industries, and little change in the distribution of workers across the categories of services comprising the industries. Between 1996 and 2001, overall worker numbers in these industries grew by 10.6%, and between 2001 and 2006, by 15.5% (Table 2.3) — an increase of 170 and 341 workers per 100,000 population respectively (Table A4.2).
Growth in health care services accelerated, with 8.8% more workers in 2001 than in 1996, and 22.7% more workers in 2006 than in 2001. However, the growth in the number of social assistance services workers slowed from 12.9% between 1996 and 2001, to 7.0% between 2001 and 2006.

Table 2.3: Persons employed in health care and social assistance industries: Australia, 1996, 2001 and 2006
Health care and social assistance industry	1996	2001	2006		Change between 
1996 and 2001 (%)	Change between 
2001 and 2006 (%)	
Health care	395,224	429,891	527,478		8.8	22.7	
Hospitals (except psychiatric hospitals)	222,456	213,166	301,856		–4.2	41.6	
Psychiatric hospitals	8,431	2,370	2,073		–71.9	–12.5	
General practice medical services	57,254	62,345	66,732		8.9	7.0	
Specialist medical services	20,914	24,612	20,559		17.7	–16.5	
Pathology and diagnostic imaging services	10,869	15,707	28,742		44.5	83.0	
Dental services	24,896	29,426	32,145		18.2	9.2	
Optometry and optical dispensing	8,236	9,281	10,751		12.7	15.8	
Physiotherapy services	6,722	8,428	10,215		25.4	21.2	
Chiropractic and osteopathic services	4,384	5,086	6,445		16.0	26.7	
Ambulance services	7,068	8,515	11,119		20.5	30.6	
Other health care, n.f.d.	23,994	50,955	36,841		112.4	–27.7	
Social assistance	326,415	368,404	394,259		12.9	7.0	
Residential care services(a)	121,447	102,898	142,717		–15.3	38.7	
Child care services	66,424	64,385	74,131		–3.1	15.1	
Other health care and social assistance services(b)	124,309	142,675	146,692		14.8	2.8	
Social assistance n.f.d.	14,235	58,446	30,719		310.6	–47.4	
Total health care and social assistance	721,639	798,295	921,737		10.6	15.5	
(a)	Comprising the ANZSIC 2006 edition categories of: Residential aged care, Other residential care and Other residential care n.f.d. These categories, collectively, are an approximation to the combined ANZSIC 1993 edition categories of: Accommodation for the aged, Nursing homes and Residential care services, n.e.c. See Appendix 1 for more information.
(b)	Comprising the ANZSIC 2006 edition categories of: Other social assistance, Other health care services, Other allied health and Allied health n.f.d. These categories collectively are an approximation to the combined ANZSIC 1993 edition categories of: Community health centres, Non-residential care services n.e.c and Health services, n.e.c. See Appendix 1 for more information.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 1996, 2001 and 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
The number of workers fluctuated in particular sections of the health care and social assistance industries, some with relatively large rises and a few in decline. The largest percentage growth was in pathology and diagnostic imaging, with the number of workers increasing by 44.5% between 1996 and 2001 (from 10,869 to 15,707 workers), and by 83.0% between 2001 and 2006 (28,742 workers) (Table 2.3). Conversely, in psychiatric hospitals, worker numbers decreased over both these periods. The number of psychiatric hospital workers dropped by 71.9% (from 8,431 to 2,370 workers) between 1996 and 2001, and by 12.5% between 2001 and 2006 (down to 2,073 workers).

Figure 2.4: Persons employed in social assistance industries: number per 100,000 population, Australia, 1996, 2001 and 2006
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2001 and 2006 (data available on request); Table A4.2.	

2.3	Geographic comparison of workers
This section presents the broad geographic spread of people employed in health and community services occupations, first comparing the states and territories, and then comparing regions of Australia using the Australian Standard Geographic Classification (ASGC) Remoteness Areas (RAs) (see Appendix 1). To enable the geographic analysis to take into account varying sizes and differences in population growth, these comparisons are presented as the number of workers per 100,000 population (or the rate). 
	2.3.1	States and territories
In 2006, nationally there were 4,071 health and community services workers per 100,000 population. For the health workforce, it was 2,649 per 100,000 population and for the community services workforce, 1,422 workers per 100,000 population (Table A4.3). Across the states and territories, the highest rate of health and community services workers was in South Australia (4,677 per 100,000 population), and this was followed by 4,350 workers per 100,000 population in Tasmania. The lowest rate of workers was in New South Wales, followed by Queensland (3,863 and 3,964 per 100,000 population respectively).
The number of health and community services workers per 100,000 population increased 19.1% between 2001 and 2006 (from 3,419 to 4,071). Between 2001 and 2006, in each jurisdiction the size of the health and community services workforce increased relative to their respective populations. South Australia experienced the largest growth in workforce size compared to the population (up by 895 workers per 100,000) and the Northern Territory experienced the smallest growth (up by 470 workers per 100,000) (Figure 2.5 and Table A4.3). The next smallest increase in workforce size occurred in Queensland (up by 487 workers per 100,000 population).
For health occupations, the number of workers per 100,000 population was above the national figure in both 2001 and 2006 for Victoria and South Australia. In 2001, the numbers were 2,380 and 2,569 respectively, compared with 2,301 workers nationally. In 2006, the figures were 2,777 and 3,032 per 100,000 population respectively, compared with 2,649 per 100,000 population nationally (Figure 2.5 and Table A4.3).

Figure 2.5: Persons employed in health and community services occupations: number of workers per 100,000 population, states and territories, 2001 and 2006
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2001 and 2006 (data available on request); Table A6.	

For the community services occupations, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory had the highest numbers of workers relative to their respective populations in both 2001 and 2006. In 2006, the rates in the territories were 1,817 and 1,749 workers per 100,000 population respectively, followed by Tasmania (1,701 workers) and South Australia (1,645 workers). Between 2001 and 2006, the workforces in Tasmania and South Australia grew more than the territories (up by 442 and 432 workers per 100,000 population in Tasmania and South Australia, compared with a rate increase of 269 and 367 workers per 100,000 population in the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory) (Figure 2.5).
In both 2001 and 2006, the lowest rate was in New South Wales (982 and 1,290 workers per 100,000 population respectively), followed by Western Australia (1,076 and 1,381 workers per 100,000 population).
	2.3.2	Remoteness Areas
Across the RAs in 2006, the number of health and community services workers per 100,000 population decreased with increasing remoteness. The highest number of health and community services workers per 100,000 population was in Major cities (4,155), followed by Inner regional Australia (4,076) and Outer regional Australia (3,609). The lowest number of workers per 100,000 population was in Very remote Australia, followed by Remote Australia (3,076 and 3,234 per 100,000 population respectively).

Figure 2.6: Persons employed in health and community services occupations: number per 100,000 population by Remoteness Areas, 2001 and 2006
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2001 and 2006 (data available on request); Table A4.4.

For the health occupations across the RAs, the size of the workforce relative to the population increased in all areas except Very remote Australia (Figure 2.6 and Table A4.4). Between 2001 and 2006 in these areas, the number decreased from 1,725 to 1,379 workers per 100,000 respectively, and these were also the lowest in both years. Conversely, in the community services occupations, Very remote Australia experienced a rise in the rate of workers (up by 444 workers per 100,000 population) which was the highest among the RAs, followed by Inner regional Australia (up by 323 workers per 100,000 population) (Figure 2.6).
	3	Characteristics of health and	community services workers
This chapter includes three sections, each presenting the characteristics of people employed in health and community services occupations from a different perspective. The first section presents detailed data on the demographic and work characteristics of the overall health and community services workforces. This is followed by a section which focuses on the health occupations and then a section focusing on the community services occupations. These last two sections present summary data on the demographic and work characteristics of individual occupations at the most detailed classification level available. 
3.1	Characteristics in detail
This section provides demographic and work characteristics data on both the health and community services workforces. Firstly it provides an industry view of the workforce followed by data on the key characteristics of workers including age, sex, country of birth, Indigenous status, hours worked and qualifications obtained.
	3.1.1	Industry of health and community services workers
Of the 548,384 people employed in health occupations in 2006, less than one in five (15.6% or 85,184 workers) was employed in an industry outside the health care and social assistance industries, whereas for the 294,231 community services workers, the proportion was noticeably higher (42.8% or 126,005) (tables 3.1 and 3.2). 
Across the health occupation groups, the proportions working in industries outside health care and social assistance ranged from 3.7% (384 workers) for people employed in medical imaging to 84.0% (12,885) for pharmacists (Table 3.1). This proportion for pharmacists was comparatively high given the next highest proportion was 22.9% for other health workers. This reflects the fact that industrial and retail pharmacists tend to be employed in industries which are classified as manufacturing and retail industries. 
By comparison, the proportions of workers in community services occupations who were employed in industries outside the health care and social assistance industry were generally larger than in health occupations, with the exception of pharmacists. Across community services occupations, the proportions of workers who were employed outside the health care and social assistance industry ranged from 18.5% (15,034 workers) for aged and/or disabled care workers to 86.7% (33,003) for disability workers (Table 3.2).

Table 3.1: Persons employed in health occupations: industry of employment by occupation group, 2006
Industry	Occupation group	
	Medical profess-ionals	Medical imaging workers	Dental workers	Nursing workers	Pharm-acists	Allied health workers	Comple-mentary therapy workers	Other health workers(a)	Total	
Health care	53,423	10,009	26,333	166,750	2,352	42,183	13,047	58,949	373,591	
Hospitals (except psychiatric hospitals)	19,464	3,953	1,373	137,897	2,099	16,017	104	28,008	209,201	
Psychiatric hospitals	133	—	4	1,062	15	174	—	86	1,474	
General practice medical services	26,169	543	379	16,842	204	1,536	918	4,860	51,576	
Specialist medical services	5,388	772	77	2,888	8	1,192	50	777	11,174	
Pathology and diagnostic imaging services	1,535	4,376	—	1,040	4	134	12	10,927	18,043	
Dental services	66	30	24,263	219	—	25	—	92	24,698	
Optometry and optical dispensing	36	—	5	34	—	3,125	—	3,161	6,361	
Physiotherapy services	21	—	—	11	—	6,237	196	59	6,524	
Chiropractic and osteopathic services	5	—	—	8	—	3,415	269	14	3,711	
Other allied health services	380	322	167	5,074	16	9,885	11,464	1,639	29,007	
Ambulance services	18	—	—	53	—	—	—	8,229	8,312	
Other health care services, n.e.c.	208	13	65	1,622	6	443	34	1,097	3,510	
										
Social assistance	330	63	71	34,817	57	10,094	363	41,951	87,746	
Aged care residential services	141	15	20	29,999	16	2,209	132	33,622	66,154	
Other residential care services	18	—	—	733	3	763	6	825	2,348	
Child care services	9	—	—	220	—	129	3	55	416	
Other social assistance services	162	48	51	3,865	38	6,993	222	7,449	18,828	
										
Total health care and social assistance	53,753	10,072	26,404	201,567	2,409	52,277	13,410	100,900	461,337	
Other Industries	3,158	384	3,096	19,765	12,885	12,844	2,844	30,208	85,184	
All industries(b)	57,019	10,477	29,624	222,133	15,339	65,284	16,354	132,153	548,384	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
(a)	 Includes other health service managers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander health workers.
(b)	 Total excludes people in health occupations who did not report industry of work.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).

Table 3.2: Persons employed in community services occupations: industry of employment by occupation group, 2006
	Occupation group	
Industry	Child and youth services workers(a) 	Family services workers	Disability workers	Aged or disabled care workers	Other community services workers(b)	Total 	
Health care	780	1,418	606	4,966	2,083	9,853	
Hospitals (except psychiatric hospitals)	350	773	231	1,828	999	4,181	
Psychiatric hospitals	3	34	—	—	24	61	
General practice medical services	233	129	107	1,951	329	2,749	
Specialist medical services	30	234	24	59	79	426	
Pathology and diagnostic imaging services	7	—	—	—	14	21	
Dental services	16	3	—	3	9	31	
Optometry and optical dispensing	—	—	—	3	—	3	
Physiotherapy services	10	—	6	11	11	38	
Chiropractic and osteopathic services	12	—	—	9	4	25	
Other allied health services	92	172	221	978	440	1,903	
Ambulance services	3	3	3	6	24	39	
Other health care services, n.e.c.	24	70	14	118	150	376	
							
Social assistance	71,427	6,506	4,372	60,474	13,079	155,861	
Aged care residential services	272	246	83	22,832	1,488	24,921	
Other residential care services	965	798	766	4,267	1,244	8,040	
Child care services	64,836	203	164	245	662	66,073	
Other social assistance services	5,354	5,259	3,359	33,130	9,725	56,827	
							
Total health care and social assistance(c)	72,207	7,924	4,978	65,440	15,162	165,714	
Other industries	52,378	6,550	33,003	15,034	19,034	126,005	
All industries(c)	126,162	14,515	38,058	81,130	34,366	294,231	
							
(a)	Includes child care centre managers.
(b)	Includes welfare centre managers.
(c)	Total excludes people in health occupations who did not report industry of work.
 Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).

3.1.2	Demographics of workers
	Country of birth
In 2006, approximately one-third of health workers (31.9%) and one-quarter of community services workers (24.8%) reported being born outside Australia, compared with 26.7% for all other occupations (Table 3.3). 
Table 3.3: Persons employed in health and community services occupations: country of birth, 2006
Occupation	Australia	New Zealand	Asia	UK and Ireland	Other Europe	Other	Total	% born outside Australia	
Health 	373,407	14,777	50,259	46,519	21,195	42,222	548,384	31.9	
Medical practitioners	29,584	1,264	11,661	5,325	3,024	6,159	57,019	48.1	
Generalist medical practitioners	17,106	592	8,674	3,039	1,951	4,092	35,453	51.8	
Internal medicine specialists	2,052	112	522	401	162	343	3,594	42.9	
Surgeons	2,381	97	523	344	199	358	3,904	39.0	
Other specialists	5,654	360	1,382	1,144	555	1,066	10,164	44.4	
Other medical practitioners	1,013	46	457	187	90	161	1,950	48.1	
Medical administrators	1,378	57	103	210	67	139	1,954	29.5	
Medical imaging workers	7,215	329	940	947	247	803	10,477	31.1	
Dental workers	19,952	602	3,635	1,623	1,593	2,218	29,624	32.6	
Nursing workers	156,796	6,747	15,703	21,729	6,478	14,680	222,133	29.4	
	Registered nurses	141,557	6,251	14,903	20,363	5,947	13,700	202,735	30.2	
Registered nurses, clinical	119,852	5,493	13,782	16,806	5,308	12,258	173,499	30.9	
Midwives	9,320	255	428	1,347	246	639	12,236	23.8	
Nurse educators and researchers	2,693	123	133	532	91	188	3,760	28.4	
Nurse managers and clinical directors	9,703	380	560	1,681	302	615	13,240	26.7	
Enrolled nurses	15,228	496	800	1,363	531	980	19,398	21.5	
Pharmacists	9,689	288	2,705	701	497	1,457	15,339	36.8	
Allied health workers	48,736	1,369	3,271	4,781	2,294	4,832	65,284	25.3	
Complementary therapists	10,868	561	1,701	1,176	953	1,092	16,354	33.5	
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers	975	6	—	6	—	23	1,012	3.5	
Other health workers	84,780	3,438	10,401	9,529	5,876	10,612	124,635	32.0	
Other health services managers	4,812	173	242	702	233	346	6,506	26.0	
									
Community services 	221,349	7,280	13,879	21,218	10,880	19,631	294,231	24.8	
Child and youth services workers	92,053	2,521	6,887	6,084	3,286	7,204	118,036	22.0	
Family services workers	10,785	377	504	1,272	542	1,038	14,515	25.7	
Disability workers	30,231	790	790	3,205	993	2,052	38,058	20.6	
Aged and/or disabled care workers	56,673	2,580	4,196	6,873	4,447	6,361	81,130	30.1	
Other community services workers	24,089	820	1,273	3,053	1,331	2,452	33,012	27.0	
Child care centre managers	6,500	166	195	577	244	442	8,126	20.0	
Welfare centre managers	1,018	26	34	154	37	82	1,354	24.6	
									
Total health and community services	594,756	22,057	64,138	67,737	32,075	61,853	842,615	29.4	
All other occupations	6,003,315	225,687	578,502	513,815	365,298	500,041	8,186,658	26.7	
Total	6,646,120	249,443	650,879	584,694	401,973	571,078	9,104,187	27.0
	
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
Among health occupations, medical practitioners had the largest proportion born outside Australia (48.1%), followed by pharmacists (36.8%) and complementary therapists (33.5%). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers, allied health workers, other health services managers and nursing workers were less likely to be born overseas than others employed in health occupations (3.7%, 25.3%, 26.0% and 29.4% overseas-born respectively). 
The proportion of overseas-born health workers who were from Asia was 28.7% (50,259 health workers). Asia was the main source of overseas-born medical practitioners, dental practitioners and pharmacists whereas the United Kingdom and Ireland were the main source of overseas-born nursing workers. Asia provided the highest proportion of 
overseas-born generalist medical practitioners (47.1%). The United Kingdom and Ireland provided the highest proportion of overseas-born nursing workers (33.3%).
The proportion of community services workers who were born overseas ranged from 20.0% for child care centre managers to 30.1% for aged and/or disabled care workers. Along with this latter group of workers, the overseas-born proportions of other community services workers (27.0%) and family services workers (25.7%) were also higher than that of community services workers overall.
In 2006, the proportion of overseas-born community services workers from the United Kingdom and Ireland was 29.1% (21,218 workers) and the proportion from Asia was 19.0% (13,879 workers) (Table 3.3). This was the case for all occupations except child and youth services workers whose overseas component was the reverse, with the proportion of workers from Asia being higher than the proportion from the United Kingdom and Ireland (26.5% and 23.4% respectively).
Age and sex
The average age of people employed in health and community services occupations in 2006 was 42 years — 42 years for health workers and 41 for community services workers. This was slightly higher than the average age of people employed outside the health and community services workforce, which was 39 years. Both the health workforce and the community services workforce were predominantly female, particularly the latter (75.7% and 87.1% female respectively).
The health and community services workforce aged between 2001 and 2006. This is evident in the growth in proportion of workers aged 55 years and older, coupled with the decrease in the proportion aged 35 to 44 years (figures 3.1 and 3.2 and Table A4.5).
In the health workforce in 2001, 17.1% of male workers were aged 55 years or older and in 2006 this cohort comprised 20.6% (Figure 3.1 and Table A4.5). The increase in the proportion of females aged 55 years or older (from 10.1% to 14.6%) was larger than that of males. 
Similarly, the 2001 to 2006 shift in the proportion of workers aged 35 to 44 years was larger for females than males.

 		
Figure 3.1: Persons employed in health occupations: age group by sex, 2001 and 2006
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2001 and 2006 (data available on request); Table A4.5.	

In the community services workforce in 2006, the age distribution of males and females was similar in pattern to the health workforce, in that the highest proportion of community services workers was aged 45 to 54 years in 2006, after a shift from 2001 when the highest proportion was the 35 to 44 age group.
Between 2001 and 2006, the proportion of community services workers aged 45 to 54 years changed little, whereas the 55 to 64 age group increased and the proportion aged 35 to 44 years decreased. For males, the proportion of workers in the 55 to 64 age group increased from 10.9% to 16.7% between the two censuses and for females, from 8.9% to 13.6%. Over the same period, the proportion of male workers aged 35 to 44 years decreased from 27.3% to 22.5%, and for females decreased from 27.0% to 23.9%. 
In the 35 to 44 years age group, Figures 3.1 and 3.2 show that, in the community services workforce, the proportion of males decreased more than the proportion of females over the two censuses, whereas for the health workforce it was the opposite, with the proportion of females decreasing more than the proportion of males (Table A4.5). 

Figure 3.2: Persons employed in community services occupations: age group by sex, 2001 and 2006
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2001 and 2006 (data available on request); Table A4.5.	

3.1.3	Indigenous health and community services workers 
There were 455,028 people who identified as Indigenous in the 2006 census, an increase of 13.2% from the 401,916 in 2001. The Indigenous population represented 2.5% of the total Australian population in 2006, up slightly from 2.4% in 2001 (ABS 2008a).
Table 3.4: Persons employed in health and community services occupations: Indigenous status, 2001 and 2006
 	 	2001	 	 		 	2006	 	 	
Occupation	Indigen-
ous	Non-Indigen-ous	Total(a)	% Indigen-ous		Indigen-ous	Non-Indigen-ous	Total(a)	% Indigen-ous	
Health 	3,823	437,261	446,722	0.9		5,538	539,449	548,384	1.0	
Medical practitioners	151	51,476	51,791	0.3		126	56,650	57,019	0.2	
Generalist medical practitioners 	54	31,727	31,874	0.2		90	35,221	35,453	0.3	
Specialists(b)	32	15,767	15,863	0.2		14	17,563	17,662	0.1	
Other medical practitioners(c)	65	3,982	4,054	1.6		9	1,936	1,950	0.5	
Medical administrators	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.			13	1,930	1,954	0.7	
Medical imaging workers	14	8,113	8,170	0.2		16	10,421	10,477	0.2	
Dental workers	155	25,604	25,876	0.6		201	29,206	29,624	0.7	
Nursing workers	1,123	191,714	193,767	0.6		1,448	219,276	222,133	0.7	
Registered nurses, clinical	832	148,349	149,933	0.6		1,118	171,240	173,499	0.6	
Midwives	40	11,574	11,643	0.3		47	12,137	12,236	0.4	
Nurse educators and researchers	11	2,596	2,621	0.4		15	3,729	3,760	0.4	
Nurse managers and clinical directors	38	9,997	10,071	0.4		56	13,121	13,240	0.4	
Enrolled nurses	202	19,198	19,499	1.0		212	19,049	19,398	1.1	
Pharmacists	10	13,857	13,925	0.1		13	15,260	15,339	0.1	
Allied health workers	303	50,584	51,046	0.6		456	64,557	65,284	0.7	
Complementary therapists	48	10,852	10,964	0.4		89	16,149	16,354	0.5	
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers	853	59	916	93.4		967	38	1,012	96.2	
Other health workers and other health services managers(d)	1,166	85,002	90,267	1.3		2,222	127,892	131,142	1.7	
										
Community services 	5,484	210,279	217,018	2.5		9,467	282,565	294,234	3.2	
Child and youth services workers	2,174	92,583	95,257	2.3		3,072	114,072	118,035	2.6	
Family services workers	681	10,938	11,699	5.9		979	13,459	14,516	6.8	
Disability workers	321	29,136	29,597	1.1		425	37,433	38,059	1.1	
Aged and/or disabled care workers	1,085	53,103	54,612	2.0		1,792	78,543	81,129	2.2	
Other community services workers	1,136	17,369	18,595	6.2		3,030	29,798	33,016	9.2	
Child care centre managers	70	6,342	6,432	1.1		121	7,966	8,126	1.5	
Welfare centre manager	17	808	826	2.1		48	1,294	1,353	3.6	
Total health and community services	9,307	647,540	663,740	1.4		15,005	822,014	842,615	1.8	
Note:	Numbers of Indigenous practitioners, particularly in occupations with small numbers, should be treated with caution. Variations in exact headcount occur due to introduced randomised changes made to cells by ABS in order to prevent release of identifiable information. Random changes have more impact on small populations.
(a)	Total includes 'not stated' to Indigenous status. Per cent Indigenous calculation excludes 'not stated' to Indigenous status.
(b)	The specialist categories have been combined in this table because individual cells are small.
(c)	This group is not comparable over time because of changes in the occupation classification. The 2001 figures include medical administrators.
(d)	The two categories of other health workers and other health services managers have been combined in this table to enable comparison over time. Individually, they are not comparable because of changes in the occupation classification.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2001 and 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
In 2006, there were 15,005 people employed in health and community services occupations who identified as Indigenous. In the discussion below, these people are referred to as the Indigenous health and community services workforce, or Indigenous workers. This is to distinguish this group from those people who worked in the occupation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health worker, that is, a person whose job is to liaise with patients, clients and visitors to hospitals and health clinics and to work as a team member to arrange, coordinate and provide health care delivery in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community health clinics (see Appendix 2).
There were 5,538 Indigenous people employed in the Indigenous health workforce in 2006, comprising 1.0% of health occupation workers ─ well below the 2.5% Indigenous representation in the population (Table 3.4). Between 2001 and 2006, the size of the Indigenous health workforce increased by 44.9%.
The occupation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health worker had the highest proportion of people who identified as Indigenous during the census (96.2%). Besides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers, the health occupations with the highest proportions of Indigenous workers were other health workers and other health services managers (1.7%) and enrolled nurses (1.1%). In all other health occupations there were less than 1% Indigenous workers. 
The census data show the number of Indigenous specialist medical practitioners decreasing over the period but these numbers are very small (approximately 14 in 2006) and should be treated with caution. When the data are released by ABS, randomised changes are made to small cells in order to prevent release of identifiable information. These variations in exact headcount have more impact on small populations. 
Among the health occupations, other health workers, nursing workers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers were the occupations with the highest numbers of Indigenous workers (38.1%, 26.1% and 17.5% of Indigenous health workers respectively). 
Three-quarters (74.4%) of Indigenous health workers were female. At the occupation group level, Indigenous health workers in most occupations worked approximately full time hours, all working weekly average hours of 35 and above, except midwives and dental workers (33 and 34 hours respectively). The average hours worked by nurse managers and clinical directors (43 hours) were high compared to the average hours for all Indigenous health workers (36 hours) (Table 3.5). 
There were greater proportions of Indigenous workers employed in the community services occupations than health occupations. The 9,467 Indigenous people with community service occupations represented 3.2% of community service occupation workers ─ above the 2.5% Indigenous representation in the population (Table 3.4).
In 2001, the occupations with higher Indigenous representation in the community services workforce were other community services workers (9.2%), family services workers (6.8%) and welfare centre managers (3.6%) (Table 3.5). The occupation which showed the greatest proportional increase in Indigenous workers between 2001 and 2006 was other community workers (3.1%). All of the community services occupations showed equal or higher Indigenous representation in 2006 compared to 2001. 
The size of the Indigenous community services workforce increased by 72.7% between 2001 and 2006 (Table 3.5). In 2006, community services workers who were Indigenous were more likely to be employed in child and youth services, other community services and aged and/or disabled care, with these occupations together comprising 83.4% of the Indigenous community services workforce (32.4%, 32.0% and 18.9% of Indigenous community services workers respectively). Community services workers were more likely to work part time, on average, than health workers. Over three-quarters (77.3%) of Indigenous community services workers were female.
Table 3.5: Indigenous persons employed in health and community services occupations: selected characteristics, 2006
Occupation	Number	Change between 2001 and 2006 (%)(a)	% 
female	Average age	Average weekly hours worked	Number per 100,000 population	
Health 	5,538	46.9	74.4	40	36	27	
Medical practitioners	126	–16.6	51.6	40	43	1	
Generalist medical practitioners	90	66.7	55.6	39	45	—	
Internal medicine specialists	7	n.a.	42.9	35	45	—	
Surgeons	4	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	—	
Other specialists	3	n.a.	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	—	
Other medical practitioners	9	125.0	—	40	60	—	
Medical administrators	13	–78.7	69.2	45	39	—	
Medical imaging workers	16	14.3	37.5	33	36	—	
Dental workers	201	29.7	85.1	31	34	1	
Nursing workers	1,448	28.9	88.4	41	36	7	
Registered nurses, clinical	1,118	34.4	87.5	41	35	5	
Midwives	47	17.5	93.6	44	33	—	
Nurse educators and researchers	15	36.4	100.0	44	42	—	
Nurse managers and clinical directors	56	47.4	94.6	92	43	—	
Enrolled nurses	212	5.0	90.6	40	36	1	
Pharmacists	13	30.0	53.8	30	46	—	
Allied health workers	456	50.5	71.9	39	37	2	
Complementary therapists	89	85.4	80.9	38	25	—	
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers	967	13.4	70.4	40	35	5	
Other health workers	2,108	89.2	67.8	40	36	10	
Other health services managers	114	n.a 	66.7	45	43	1	
							
Community services 	9,467	72.7	77.3	39	33	46	
Child and youth services workers	3,072	41.4	82.2	34	31	15	
Family services workers	979	43.8	72.4	41	35	5	
Disability workers	425	32.4	79.5	39	29	2	
Aged and/or disabled care workers	1,792	65.2	82.1	40	29	9	
Other community services workers	3,030	166.7	70.3	39	31	15	
Child care centre managers	121	72.9	100.0	39	31	1	
Welfare centre manager	48	182.4	58.3	44	46	—	
							
Total health and community services	15,005	62.2	76.2	39	33	72	
							
(a)	The change in the occupation classification between 2001 and 2006 (see Appendix 1) has allowed more detailed occupation coding of 2006 data than was possible for 2001 data. For occupations with data separately available for 2006 but not for 2001, comparisons are not possible and these have been marked ‘n.a.’ in this table 
Note:	Numbers of Indigenous practitioners, particularly in occupations with small numbers, should be treated with caution. Variations in exact headcount occur due to introduced randomised changes made to cells by ABS in order to prevent release of identifiable information. Random changes have more impact on small populations.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).

3.1.4	Hours worked
Table 3.6: Persons employed in health and community services occupations: weekly hours worked, per cent distribution and average, 2006 
	Hours worked per week 
					
Occupation	1–19 hours	20–34 hours	35–40 hours	41–44 hours	45–48 hours	49+ hours	Hours not stated	Total	Total number of persons(a)	Average weekly hours	
Health 	12.6	26.8	33.8	3.3	5.0	11.4	7.2	100.0	548,384	35	
Medical practitioners	6.2	13.3	23.3	4.1	9.1	38.3	5.7	100.0	57,019	45	
Generalist medical practitioners	6.7	14.5	24.4	4.3	9.1	35.5	5.5	100.0	35,453	43	
Internal medicine specialists	5.3	10.7	16.3	3.2	7.9	50.5	5.3	100.0	3,594	41	
Surgeons	5.4	6.3	10.6	1.1	5.6	65.9	5.1	100.0	3,904	54	
Other specialists	5.1	12.8	24.3	4.9	10.6	35.8	6.5	100.0	10,164	44	
Other medical practitioners	6.1	11.0	23.7	4.1	9.5	40.2	5.4	100.0	1,950	46	
Medical administrators	5.5	14.1	34.1	4.7	9.0	26.5	6.0	100.0	1,954	42	
Medical imaging workers	9.9	19.6	46.7	5.4	5.2	6.8	6.6	100.0	10,477	35	
Dental workers	13.3	23.2	39.5	4.8	5.4	8.7	5.1	100.0	29,624	34	
Nursing workers	12.1	33.3	34.2	2.3	3.5	6.2	8.4	100.0	222,133	33	
Registered nurses	12.7	34.3	33.8	2.1	3.1	5.5	8.5	100.0	202,735	33	
Registered nurses, clinical	11.7	33.8	33.0	2.0	3.0	5.3	11.3	100.0	173,499	33	
Midwives	15.5	42.3	24.2	1.9	2.4	3.4	10.3	100.0	12,236	30	
Nurse educators and researchers	9.1	27.7	38.5	4.1	5.7	8.1	6.8	100.0	3,760	35	
Nurse managers and clinical directors	3.8	16.6	40.8	5.2	9.4	17.5	6.7	100.0	13,240	40	
Enrolled nurses	12.8	35.8	33.3	1.8	2.5	5.2	8.6	100.0	19,398	32	
Pharmacists	12.7	17.1	29.8	7.4	10.0	18.8	4.2	100.0	15,339	37	
Allied health workers	14.3	22.9	37.2	4.1	6.0	9.5	6.0	100.0	65,284	34	
Complementary therapists	36.2	28.4	16.9	1.5	3.3	7.5	6.1	100.0	16,354	25	
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers	11.7	15.0	56.6	1.2	1.8	7.4	6.3	100.0	1,012	36	
Other health workers	13.1	26.9	35.3	3.4	4.7	9.1	7.5	100.0	124,636	34	
Other health services managers	2.5	9.4	42.1	4.9	11.3	24.6	5.2	100.0	6,506	43	
											
Community services 	20.6	30.0	30.4	2.3	3.5	6.7	6.5	100.0	294,231	31	
Child and youth services workers	23.2	25.3	32.9	2.2	3.4	6.8	6.2	100.0	118,036	30	
Family services workers	11.7	24.6	42.5	3.6	4.9	6.2	6.5	100.0	14,515	34	
Disability workers	18.3	36.3	27.7	2.2	4.1	6.1	5.4	100.0	38,058	30	
Aged and/or disabled care workers	23.4	37.7	20.9	1.7	2.1	6.1	8.0	100.0	81,130	29	
Other community services workers	13.5	26.1	39.9	3.2	4.9	6.8	5.6	100.0	33,012	33	
Child care centre managers	7.6	20.8	43.5	3.7	7.2	12.7	4.4	100.0	8,126	37	
Welfare centre managers	2.4	9.8	44.0	7.4	11.2	20.9	4.4	100.0	1,354	42	
								100.0			
Total health and community services	15.4	27.9	32.5	2.9	4.5	9.7	7.0	100.0	842,615	33	
All other occupations	13.3	14.9	35.7	3.8	7.8	18.6	5.9	100.0	8,186,658	37	
Total(b)	13.4	16.0	35.2	3.7	7.4	17.7	6.5	100.0	9,104,187	37	
											
(a)	Total includes people who reported zero hours in the week before census night due to being away from work.
(b)	Includes ‘not stated’ to occupation.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
Historically, the health and community services workforce has been predominantly female, and particularly for community services workers. In 2006, 75.7% of people employed in health occupations were female and 87.1% of people employed in community services occupations were female (Table 3.6). These high proportions of female workers would be expected to reduce health and community services workers’ average weekly hours because females generally work fewer hours. 
In 2006, health and community services workers worked 33 hours per week on average, compared with 37 hours for all people employed in all occupations. The hours worked per week, on average, by health workers and community services workers were 35 and 31 hours respectively. Health workers overall were almost twice as likely to work 49 hours or more compared with community services workers (11.4% and 6.8% respectively) (Table 3.6). 
Across occupation groups, the highest proportion working 49 hours or more per week was for medical practitioners (38.3%), and of these, surgeons were much more likely to work 49 or more hours per week than their medical colleagues. Two-thirds of surgeons (65.9%) worked these hours in 2006, with surgeons, overall, working an average week of 54 hours. Internal medicine specialists also tended to have long working weeks with half (51.0%) working 49 or more hours. Complementary therapists were most likely of all health occupations to have short working weeks in 2006, with two-thirds (64.8%) working less than 35 hours per week. For nurses, there was a similar pattern, with around half of registered clinical nurses, midwives and enrolled nurses working less than 35 hours per week (45.4%, 57.8% and 48.6% respectively).
The female work pattern of working fewer hours per week than males was evident in the 2006 census data which showed at least half of employed females (50.0% in health and 56.2% in community services) worked less than 35 hours per week, compared with one-fifth of males working in health and just over one-third of males working in community services (19.4% and 39.9% respectively). In addition, a much higher proportion of males in health occupations worked weeks of 49 hours or more than males in community services occupations (26.5% and 10.9% respectively) (Figure 3.3).

Figure 3.3: Persons employed in health and community services occupations: total hours worked per week by sex, 2006
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).

This pattern is also evident in the hours worked by the community services workforce at the detailed occupation level. Across the occupations, 12.6% of people employed in community services had working weeks of more than 49 hours. The occupation with the largest proportion of workers reporting 49 or more hours per week was welfare services managers (20.9%). 
3.1.5	Highest qualification
Highest qualification data collected in the census can give an indication of workers’ skill levels and also provide a gauge of the size of the pool of potential re-entrants to a profession. Limitations are that the data do not show the initial qualification of those with a postgraduate qualification in a different field, for example, a nursing degree followed by a postgraduate education degree. In addition, a qualification reported in the census may be from an overseas institution and not recognised for entrance to a registered health profession in Australia.
Table 3.7: Persons employed in health and community services occupations who reported having a completed post-school qualification, highest level of qualification, 2006
Occupation	Post-graduate degree 	Graduate diploma and graduate certificate	Bachelor degree	Advanced diploma and diploma	Certificate	Total(a)		
Health 	47,209	28,626	231,037	76,708	69,254	548,384		
Medical practitioners	15,268	1,344	35,284	573	323	57,019		
Generalist medical practitioners	6,615	633	25,945	137	67	35,453		
Internal medicine specialists	1,630	46	1,568	11	6	3,594		
Surgeons	1,674	126	1,866	15	18	3,904		
Other specialists	4,228	343	4,365	122	64	10,164		
Other medical practitioners	656	55	930	59	27	1,950		
Medical administrators	465	141	610	229	141	1,954		
Medical imaging workers	588	1,244	5,006	3,013	235	10,477		
Dental workers	1,334	159	8,327	3,377	6,935	29,624		
Nursing workers	6,681	16,165	104,137	42,175	24,347	222,133		
Registered nurses	6,649	16,051	102,971	37,015	14,921	202,735
		
Registered nurses, clinical	4,015	11,391	87,129	33,104	14,535	173,499		
Midwives	607	2,108	7,566	1,182	86	12,236		
Nurse educators and researchers	680	720	1,633	499	63	3,760		
Nurse managers and clinical directors	1,347	1,832	6,643	2,230	237	13,240		
Enrolled nurses	32	114	1,166	5,160	9,426	19,398		
Pharmacists	975	991	12,218	235	98	15,339		
Allied health workers	14,056	4,561	36,724	4,225	1,631	65,284		
Complementary therapists	564	373	3,610	6,789	2,195	16,354		
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers	3	10	76	152	299	1,012		
Other health workers	6,623	3,119	23,462	15,247	32,574	124,636
		
Other health services managers	1,117	660	2,193	922	617	6,506		
								
Community services 	9,070	11,313	50,265	49,906	68,133	294,231		
Child and youth services workers	1,904	2,782	16,286	26,024	24,491	118,036		
Family services workers	909	828	5,606	2,953	1,549	14,515		
Disability workers	2,389	3,423	9,818	4,630	7,448	38,058		
Aged and/or disabled care workers	565	641	6,037	6,888	29,605	81,130		
Other community services workers	2,964	3,240	10,165	5,224	4,211	33,012		
Child care centre managers	176	295	1,885	3,956	675	8,126		
Welfare centre managers	163	104	468	231	154	1,354		
Total health and community services	56,279	39,939	281,302	126,614	137,387	842,615		
(a) 	Includes people whose level of education was inadequately described for coding, people who did not report level of education and people who did not report a qualification. Also includes people who have a qualification which is out of scope of the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED).
Note: Some figures should be treated with caution. During processing of census data, occupation and qualification information are coded from written responses independent of each other as provided by respondents, although this information may be inconsistent. This, along with other coding issues (see Appendix 1), can lead to apparently inconsistent data when the two variables are cross-classified.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
	Level of qualification
Of those in the health workforce who reported the level of their qualification, approximately half (51.0%) reported their highest qualification to be a bachelor degree, followed by an advanced diploma/diploma (16.9%). Overall, two-thirds (67.8%) reported holding a bachelor degree or higher (Table 3.7). The community services workforce had a lower overall level of education than the health workforce. Of those who reported the level of their qualification, just over one-quarter (26.6%) reported their highest qualification to be a bachelor degree. In total, approximately 37.4% reported holding a bachelor degree or higher.
In the health workforce, the academic requirements for becoming a medical practitioner lifted the overall level of qualifications. Over three-quarters of generalist medical practitioners who gave qualification details reported a bachelor degree as their highest qualification (77.2%), and one‑fifth reported a post-graduate degree (20.3%). Similar numbers of specialists reported either a bachelor degree or postgraduate degree. Registered nurses were also highly educated with 70.8% holding a bachelor degree or higher. Over half of all registered nurses (58.0%) reported a bachelor degree followed by one‑fifth with an advanced diploma or diploma (22.0%). Most enrolled nurses held a certificate (59.3%). Complementary therapies workers were most likely to hold an advanced diploma/diploma (50.2%) as their highest qualification. 
Of the 294,231 community services workers, almost two-thirds (64.1%) reported having completed a non-school qualification. The most common highest qualification among community services workers was a certificate (36.1% of those who reported having a qualification). The distribution of qualification level differed across the occupations. Family services, disability and other community services managers were more likely to hold a bachelor degree (47.3%, 35.4% and 39.4% respectively) than another qualification. Aged and/or disabled care workers (67.7%) typically held a certificate. 
	Qualification study field and employment status
In 2006, there were over 1 million people who reported holding a non-school qualification in a study field related to health and community services (Table 3.8). Of those, just 2.0% (or 21,670 people) were looking for work, indicating the size of this pool of potential entrants was relatively small. In comparison, around one in five people (22.5%) were not in the labour force, suggesting a larger potential pool. 
Of all people with a health- or community services-related qualification, 40.5% were employed full time (35 hours or more per week), 29.5% were employed part time (less than 35 hours) and the remainder were away from work at the time of the census because of illness, holiday, or for other reasons (Table 3.8). Of people employed and holding a non-school qualification, 39.3% worked part time. People who held qualifications in the fields of complementary therapy, nursing studies, human welfare studies and services and rehabilitation therapies were more likely to work part time than the remaining health and community service workers overall, (49.6%, 46.4%, 44.3% and 43.3% part time respectively). People who held qualifications in the fields of public health, medical studies and biological sciences were less likely to work part time (22.1%, 24.5% and 24.4% part time respectively). The highest proportion of qualified individuals looking for work held qualifications in the study fields of human welfare studies and services (8,063 or 3.7%), complementary therapies (378 or 3.5%) and natural and physical sciences (919 or 2.9%).
Nursing studies was the most common field of study, followed by human welfare studies and services (35.7% and 20.3% of qualifications respectively). Qualifications in the study fields of optical science, complementary therapies and radiography were least common at 0.7%, 1.0% and 1.1% of qualifications respectively.

Table 3.8: All persons aged 15 years and over with a non-school qualification in a field related to health or community services: field of study by labour force status(a), 2006
	Employed		Unemployed				Per cent looking for work	
Broad field of study	Full-time(b)	Part-
time(b)	Away from work(c)		Looking for 
full-time work	Looking for 
part-time
 work	Not in the labour force	Not stated	Total		
Biological sciences	8,353	2,879	572		219	145	3,425	33	15,626	2.3	
Natural and physical sciences	15,395	6,917	1,330		507	412	6,798	74	31,433	2.9	
Medical studies	58,132	20,491	4,970		875	657	15,898	339	101,362	1.5	
Nursing studies (incl. nurse training studies)	122,555	125,159	21,835		2,064	2,576	104,950	2,289	381,428	1.2	
Pharmacy	11,314	5,737	819		147	155	6,255	91	24,518	1.2	
Dental studies	16,699	11,366	1,515		239	311	8,196	194	38,520	1.4	
Optical science	4,497	1,619	307		41	35	1,236	34	7,769	1.0	
Public health	24,740	7,580	2,043		657	332	8,487	134	43,973	2.3	
Radiography	6,175	3,065	633		40	38	1,814	24	11,789	0.7	
Rehabilitation therapies	25,609	21,810	2,991		604	557	11,555	193	63,319	1.8	
Complementary therapies	3,628	3,989	426		195	183	2,477	46	10,944	3.5	
Other health	11,750	5,295	1,428		359	215	3,756	71	22,874	2.5	
Teacher education in fields of early childhood and special education	13,495	10,796	1,547		209	287	10,096	170	36,600	1.4	
Human welfare studies and services	80,099	72,096	10,644		4,487	3,576	44,710	902	216,514	3.7	
Behavioural science	29,743	16,538	2,797		889	641	10,859	124	61,591	2.5	
Total	432,687	315,460	53,905		11,545	10,125	240,622	4,722	1,069,066	2.0	
(a)	Labour force status at the time of the census.
(b)	The ABS defines full-time work as 35 hours or more per week and part-time work as less than 35 hours.
(c)	Away from work at the time of the census because of illness, holiday, etc.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
Of people currently employed and with qualifications in the nursing field, there was an even distribution between those working full time and those working part time. A noticeable proportion of those employed in nursing were currently away from work (8.1%) and 1.2% of those with nursing qualifications were unemployed and looking for work. Workers with qualifications in rehabilitation therapies, complementary therapies and human welfare studies and services were also evenly divided between full-time and part-time employment.
The fields with the highest proportions of individuals who were not in the labour force were teacher education in the fields of early childhood and special education (27.6%), nursing studies (27.5%) and pharmacy (25.5%). People with qualifications in optical science and radiography were least likely to be looking for work (1.0% and 0.7% respectively). Those with qualifications in human welfare studies and complementary therapies were most likely to be looking for work (3.7% and 3.5% respectively).
3.2	Health occupations 
In 2006, there were 548,384 people employed in health occupations. This section presents key characteristics of people employed in health occupations, including growth in numbers between 2001 and 2006, the number per 100,000 population (or the rate), average hours worked, average age and the proportion of females in each occupation. 
For this section it needs to be noted that there was a change in the occupation classification between 2001 and 2006. The 2006 classification has allowed more detailed occupation coding of 2006 data than was possible for 2001 data. For occupations with data separately available for 2006 but not for 2001, comparisons are not possible and the ‘change in number’ column has been marked ‘n.a.’ in tables in this section. 
3.2.1	Medical practitioners
Table 3.9: Medical practitioners: selected characteristics, 2006
Medical occupations	Number	Change between 2001
 and 2006 (%)	%
 female	Average age	Average weekly hours worked	Rate(a)	
Generalist medical practitioners	35,453	11.1	38.9	44	43 	171	
General medical practitioners	29,919	2.7	37.2	46	43	145	
Resident medical officers	5,497	98.4	48.2	34	48	27	
Generalist medical practitioners, n.f.d.	37	n.a.	43.0	38	47	—	
Specialists	17,662	22.7	28.5	45	45	83	
Internal medicine specialists	3,594	n.a.	32.4
	45	48	17
	
Cardiologists	453	n.a.	14.6	46	53	2	
Clinical haematologists	59	n.a.	30.5	42	49	—	
Clinical oncologists	195	n.a.	40.0	42	50	1	
Endocrinologists	82	n.a.	48.8	45	46	—	
Gastroenterologists	171	n.a.	14.6	45	49	1	
Intensive care specialists	284	n.a.	24.6	39	56	1	
Neurologists	214	n.a.	20.1	48	49	1	
Paediatricians	988	23.5	44.5	43	48	5	
Renal medicine specialists	76	n.a.	30.3	42	52	—	
Rheumatologists	73	n.a.	42.5	47	41	—	
Specialist physicians (general medicine)	523	n.a.	24.7	53	46	3	
Thoracic medicine specialists	109	n.a.	22.0	44	51	1	
Internal medicine specialists, n.e.c.	339	n.a.	49.9	44	41	2	
Internal medicine specialists, n.f.d.	28	n.a.	25.0	48	54	—	
Surgeons	3,904	19.4	11.3	47	54	19	
Cardiothoracic surgeons	110	n.a.	4.5	45	56	1	
Neurosurgeons	145	n.a.	13.1	47	57	1	
Orthopaedic surgeons	728	n.a.	5.4	45	55	4	
Otorhinolaryngologists	158	n.a.	13.3	47	48	1	
Paediatric surgeons	44	n.a.	13.6	48	61	—	
Plastic and reconstructive surgeons	241	n.a.	14.9	45	53	1	
Surgeons (general)	290	n.a.	14.8	47	54	1	
Urologists	186	n.a.	10.2	45	55	1	
Vascular surgeons	76	n.a.	3.9	48	54	—	
Surgeons, n.f.d.	1,926	n.a.	13.0	47	53	9	
						(continued)	

Table 3.9 (continued): Medical practitioners: selected characteristics, 2006
Medical occupations	Number	Change 
between 2001
 and 2006 (%)	%
 female	Average age	Average weekly hours worked	Rate(a)	
Other specialists	10,164	19.7	33.6	46	44	49	
Anaesthetists	2,728	27.2	25.9	44	46	13	
Dermatologists	277	13.1	46.9	46	42	1	
Emergency medicine specialists	765	133.9	36.3	38	43	4	
Obstetrician and gynaecologists	898	12.1	38.6	47	54	4	
Ophthalmologists	632	45.0	18.5	48	45	3	
Pathologists	1,154	0.3	49.5	46	40	6	
Psychiatrists	2,180	8.1	26.7	46	43	7	
Radiologists	1,530	11.8	39.4	48	41	11	
							
Other	3,904	n.a.	50.6	(b)	(b)	19	
Medical administrators	1,954	n.a.	67.5	46	42	9	
Medical practitioners, n.e.c.	595	n.a.	36.0	46	43	3	
Medical practitioners, n.f.d.	1,355	n.a.	32.4	45	46	7	
							
Total	57,019	10.0	36.5	45	45	275	
Note:	See Appendix 1 for an explanation of ‘n.e.c.’ and ‘n.f.d.’ categories.
(a)	Number per 100,000 population.
(b)	Available from ABS on request.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
The majority of medical practitioners were generalist medical practitioners (62.2%), followed by specialists (31.0%) and other practitioners (6.8%). Of specialists, just 2.8% were surgeons, while 20.3% were internal medicine specialists and 26.8% were other specialists.
The number of medical practitioners (including medical administrators) increased by 10.0% (from 51,859 to 57,019) between the 2001 and 2006 censuses (Table 3.9). This was higher than the 6.6% population increase. There was considerable variation within this overall increase among medical occupation types. At the broad medical occupation level, increases ranged from relatively small for generalist medical practitioners, up by 3,579 (11.1%), through to larger increases for surgeons (633 or 19.4%). At the specific occupation level, variations were also evident. Of the occupations which have 2001 data available for comparison with 2006, those showing the most growth were emergency medicine specialists (438 or 133.9%), resident medical officers (2,726 or 98.4%) and ophthalmologists (196 or 45.0%). 
For individual occupations, the highest number per 100,000 population was for generalist medical practitioners (145), followed by resident medical officers (27). Among specialists, the highest rates were for the sub-group internal medicine specialists (17 per 100,000 population) and anaesthetists (13 per 100,000 population). In several specialist occupations, rates were one, or less than one, medical practitioner per 100,000 population. Paediatric surgeons were the smallest in number (44 practitioners compared with the next smallest medical occupation, clinical haematologist, numbering 59). 
The average age for medical practitioners was in the mid-40s (the overall average was 45 years). Specialist physicians (general medicine) were the oldest, on average (53 years), and resident medical officers (still undergoing training), were the youngest (34 years). 
Medical administrators had the highest percentage of females (67.5%), followed by endocrinologists (48.8%) and resident medical officers (48.2%). The proportion of female surgeons was low (11.3% female, compared with 36.5% overall), in particular, cardiothoracic surgeons, vascular surgeons and orthopaedic surgeons (all less than 6%). 
As a group, surgeons worked the highest average weekly hours (54 hours), with paediatric surgeons working most (61 hours per week). After paediatric surgeons, practitioners with long working weeks, on average, were neurosurgeons (57 hours), cardiothoracic surgeons (56 hours) and urologists and orthopaedic surgeons (each 55 hours). Among the occupations working fewer hours, on average, were rheumatologists and radiologists (each 41 hours) and pathologists (40 hours per week). 
3.2.2	Medical imaging workers
There were 10,477 medical imaging workers in 2006, and the majority were medical diagnostic radiographers (57.1%), followed by sonographers (20.3%) and medical radiation therapists (12.5%). There was a 28.2% increase in the workforce since 2001 (8,170 workers), around four times as high as the 6.6% population increase over the period. The number of medical radiation therapists increased by 61.6% and sonographers by 50.0% between 2001 and 2006. The largest occupation, medical diagnostic radiographers, numbered 5,979 which equated to a rate of 29 workers per 100,000 population. Sonographers were next largest with 2,127 workers and a rate of 10 workers per 100,000 population.
The majority of medical imaging workers were female (68.4%) and this was evident across all occupations in the profession. The average age ranged from the mid-30s to late-40s, with an average of 38 years overall for the group of occupations. On average this group worked 36 hours per week. There was only moderate variation from this average across the occupations, apart from health diagnostic and promotion professionals n.e.c. (27 hours).
Table 3.10: Medical imaging workers: selected characteristics, 2006
Medical imaging occupation	Number	Change between 2001 and 2006 (%)	%
 female	Average age	Average weekly hours worked	Rate(a)	
Medical diagnostic radiographers	5,979	9.3	65.8	39	36	29	
Medical radiation therapists	1,306	61.6	73.7	34	35	6	
Nuclear medicine technologists	504	13.3	70.4	34	37	2	
Sonographers	2,127	50.0	77.2	39	33	10	
Health diagnostic & promotion professionals, n.e.c.	182	n.a.	85.7	41	27	1	
Other, n.f.d.							
Medical imaging professionals, n.f.d.	230	n.a.	69.1	39	36	1	
Health diagnostic and promotion professionals, n.f.d.	118	n.a.	72.9	43	36	1	
Other health diagnostic and promotion professionals, n.f.d.	31	n.a.	87.1	43	35	—	
Total	10,477	28.2	68.4	38	36	51	
							
Note:	See Appendix 1 for an explanation of ‘n.e.c.’ and ‘n.f.d.’ categories.
(a)	Number per 100,000 population.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
3.2.3	
Dental workers
In 2006, the size of the dental workforce was 29,624 workers, with dental assistants comprising half (51.9%) and dentists, just over one-quarter (27.6%). Dental prosthetists, dental hygienists and dental specialists together represented just 7.5% of dental workers (2.1%, 2.5% and 2.9% respectively).
The number of dental workers in 2006 was an increase of 14.5% from the 25,876 workers in 2001, and more than double the 6.6% population increase. The number of dental hygienists showed a marked increase (up by 66.6%) while dental assistants and dentists increased by 17.4% and 10.8% respectively. The number per 100,000 population was highest for dental assistants (74) followed by dentists (40), while the numbers for dental hygienists, dental prosthetists and dental specialists were all less than 5 workers per 100,000 population.
Dental assistants, dental therapists and dental hygienists were almost exclusively female occupations (all over 95% female), whereas specialists and prosthetists were the reverse (19.5% and 9.7% female respectively). Approximately one-third of dentists were female (32.1%). Dental prosthetists and dental specialists were the oldest on average (48 years) and dental assistants were the youngest (32 years). 
Dental prosthetists and dental specialists reported longer working weeks than the average for dental workers overall (on average, 44 and 42 hours, compared with 34 hours overall). Dental therapists worked the fewest hours on average (30 hours), and dentists worked an average week of 37 hours, which was slightly higher than the overall average for the profession (34 hours).
Table 3.11: Dental workers: selected characteristics, 2006
Dental occupation	Number	Change between 2001 and 2006 (%)	Per cent
 female	Average age	Average weekly hours worked	Rate(a)	
Dentists	8,182	10.8	32.1	44	37	40	
Dental assistants	15,381	17.4	98.6	32	31	74	
Dental hygienists	733	66.6	95.5	36	29	4	
Dental prosthetists	609	n.a.	9.7	48	44	3	
Dental specialists	845	4.6	19.5	48	42	4	
Dental technicians	2,558	n.a.	27.1	40	41	12	
Dental therapists	1,213	2.1	97.4	41	30	6	
Other							
Dental practitioners, n.f.d.	43	n.a.	28.0	46	51	—	
Dental hygienists, technicians and therapists, n.f.d.	60	n.a.	83.0	38	38	—	
Total	29,624	14.5	69.7	37	34	143	
							
Note:	See Appendix 1 for an explanation of ‘n.e.c.’ and ‘n.f.d.’ categories.
(a)	Number per 100,000 population.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).

3.2.4	Nursing workers
The total nursing workforce numbered 222,133 in 2006 and 91.3% of workers were female. The workforce grew by 14.6% (28,366 workers) between 2001 and 2006, more than double the proportional population increase for the period. There were large increases in the number of nurse educators (47.4% or 907 workers), nurse managers (47.4% or 3,506 workers) and nurse researchers (32.3% or 226 workers) from 2001 to 2006. The number of nursing clinical directors decreased (down by 12.5% or 335 workers), continuing the trend from 1996 to 2001 which showed a decrease in the number of directors of nursing (3,137 and 2,677 respectively) (AIHW 2003). Registered mental health nurses increased in number over the period from 2001 to 2006 by 18.9% (1,225 nurses).
Table 3.12: Nursing workers: selected characteristics, 2006
Nursing occupation	Number	Change between 2001 and 2006 (%)	% 
female	Average age	Average weekly hours worked	Rate(a)	
Enrolled nurses	19,398	–0.5	90.6	42	32	94	
Enrolled nurses	18,953	n.a.	90.3	42	32	92	
Mothercraft nurses	442	n.a.	100.0	45	29	2	
Enrolled and mothercraft nurses, n.f.d.	3	n.a.	100.0	41	31	—	
Registered nurses	202,735	15.0	91.3	43	33	979	
Registered nurses, clinical							
Midwives	12,236	5.1	99.0	44	30	59	
Nurse practitioners	333	n.a.	88.6	45	35	2	
Registered aged care nurses	25,068	n.a.	93.4	47	32	121	
Registered child and family health nurses	3,620	n.a.	98.6	46	31	17	
Registered community health nurses	8,770	n.a.	92.7	45	33	42	
Registered critical care and emergency nurses	9,915	n.a.	88.6	39	34	48	
Registered developmental disability nurses	288	n.a.	68.4	47	36	1	
Registered disability and rehabilitation nurses	1,927	n.a.	85.7	47	33	9	
Registered nurses in a medical practice	3,711	n.a.	97.7	46	29	18	
Registered medical nurses	5,043	n.a.	92.8	42	32	24	
Registered mental health nurses	7,714	18.9	66.6	45	37	37	
Registered perioperative nurses	10,009	n.a.	92.8	43	32	48	
Registered surgical nurses	3,225	n.a.	94.3	40	32	16	
Registered nurses, n.e.c.	47,831	n.a.	91.3	41	33	231	
Registered nurses, undefined	45,115	n.a.	91.1	43	33	218	
Registered nurses, non-clinical							
Nursing clinical directors	2,342	–12.5	88.0	49	40	11	
Nurse educators	2,822	47.4	90.8	44	34	14	
Nurse managers	10,898	47.4	87.8	46	45	53	
Nurse researchers	926	32.3	94.1	44	30	4	
Nurse educators and researchers, n.f.d.	12	n.a.	10.0	43	35	—	
Total	222,133	14.6	91.3	43	33	1,073	
Note:	See Appendix 1 for an explanation of ‘n.e.c.’ and ‘n.f.d.’ categories.
(a)	Number per 100,000 population.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
Registered nurses comprised 91.3% of the nursing workforce, at a rate of 979 per 100,000 population. Of nurses who reported a registered specialty, registered aged care nurses were greatest in number (12.4% of registered nurses), followed by midwives (6.0%), nurse managers (5.4%) and registered perioperative nurses (4.9%).  
The average age of nursing workers was 43 years, with the average age of nurses in most occupations being between 40 to 50 years. Average weekly hours for all nursing workers was 33 hours, with only moderate variation from the average across the occupations, apart from nurse managers (45 hours) and nursing clinical directors (40 hours).
3.2.5	Pharmacists
Between 2001 and 2006, the number of pharmacists increased by 10.2% (1,414 workers) (Table 3.13 and AIHW 2003). Relatively large increases in hospital and industrial pharmacist numbers (23.7% and 20.7% respectively) were moderated by a smaller increase in retail pharmacists (970 or 8.1%). Retail pharmacists comprised 84.8% (63 workers per 100,000 population) of the pharmacist workforce, a slight decrease from the proportion in 2001 (86.5%). Hospital pharmacists were the next largest group at 11.2% of pharmacists (Table 3.13). 
The proportion of pharmacists who were female increased from 51.9% in 2001 to 56.0% in 2006 (AIHW 2003 and Table 3.13). Three-quarters (75.7%) of hospital pharmacists were women in 2006. Retail pharmacists tended to be slightly older on average (41 years) than industrial (36 years) and hospital (39 years) pharmacists. Industrial pharmacists worked more hours, on average (40 hours) and hospital pharmacists slightly fewer (36 hours) than the overall average of 37 hours. 
Table 3.13: Pharmacist workers: selected characteristics, 2006
Pharmacist occupation	Number	Change between 2001 and 2006 (%)	% 
female	Average age	Average weekly hours worked	Rate(a)	
Hospital pharmacists	1,718	23.7	75.7	39	36	8	
Industrial pharmacists	583	20.7	54.4	36	40	3	
Retail pharmacists	13,009	8.1	53.4	41	38	63	
Pharmacists, n.f.d.	29	n.a.	51.7	47	37	—	
Total	15,339	10.2	56.0	41	37	74	
Note:	See Appendix 1 for an explanation of ‘n.e.c.’ and ‘n.f.d.’ categories.
(a)	Number per 100,000 population.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
3.2.6	Allied health workers
For this report the allied health workforce has been defined to include audiologists, chiropractors, dieticians, occupational therapists, optometrists, orthoptists, orthotists, osteopaths, physiotherapists, podiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, speech pathologists and therapy aides. 
In 2006, there were 65,284 people employed in the allied health workforce. Social workers (60 per 100,000 population) and physiotherapists (59 per 100,000 population) were the largest occupational groups within the allied health workforce (19.1% and 18.8% respectively). Clinical psychologists comprised 13.7% of the allied health workforce and numbered 43 per 100,000 population. Social workers, physiotherapists and clinical psychologists together comprised half (51.5%) of the allied health group. 
Similar to the growth recorded between 1996 and 2001 (up by 26.6%), the allied health workforce grew by 27.9% (14,222 workers) between 2001 and 2006 (tables 2.1 and 3.14). The most growth in the occupations comprising the allied health workforce was in the number of osteopaths (up by 82.2%), followed by social workers (up by 36.6%) and audiologists (up by 33.5%). The only occupation which decreased in size was orthotists/prosthetists (down by 4.4%). 
Table 3.14: Allied health workers: selected characteristics, 2006
Allied health occupation	Number	Change between 2001 and 2006 (%)	%
 female	Average age	Average weekly hours worked	Rate(a)	
Audiologists	1,075	33.5	76.1	39	35	5	
Chiropractors	2,486	20.0	32.7	40	35	12	
Chiropractors and osteopaths, n.f.d.	26	n.a.	11.5	56	35	—	
Dieticians	2,589	29.6	91.9	36	33	13	
Occupational therapists	6,835	27.7	93.2	36	33	33	
Optometrists	3,065	13.8	44.2	40	38	15	
Orthoptists	516	18.9	89.7	36	31	2	
Optometrists and orthoptists, n.f.d.	3	n.a.	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	—	
Orthotists/prosthetists	348	–4.4	32.8	40	41	2	
Osteopaths	776	82.2	48.3	37	36	4	
Physiotherapists	12,285	19.9	71.0	39	34	59	
Podiatrists	2,097	18.8	61.6	37	36	10	
Psychologists							
Clinical psychologists	8,921	n.a.	75.4	43	35	43	
Educational psychologists	915	n.a.	72.5	47	37	4	
Organisational psychologists	507	n.a.	70.8	39	39	2	
Psychologists, n.e.c.	1,326	n.a.	79.8	42	34	6	
Psychologists, n.f.d.	391	n.a.	72.4	42	36	2	
Psychotherapists	1,377	n.a.	76.0	47	28	7	
Social workers	12,440	36.6	82.8	42	35	60	
Speech pathologists	3,867	28.7	97.2	36	32	19	
Speech professionals and audiologists, n.f.d.	11	n.a.	54.5	35	32	—	
Therapy aides	3,428	26.4	87.7	41	27	17	
Total	65,284	27.9	76.4	40	34	315	
Note:	See Appendix 1 for an explanation of ‘n.e.c.’ and ‘n.f.d.’ categories.
(a)	Number per 100,000 population.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
Across allied health workers, 76.4% were female, although the proportion of females within each occupation varied noticeably. Speech pathologists (97.2%), occupational therapists (93.2%), dieticians (91.9%) and orthoptists (89.7%) all had relatively high proportions of females compared with the overall average for allied health workers (76.4%). Occupations with the lowest proportions of females were chiropractors (32.7%) and orthotists/prosthetists (32.8%). 
The average age of allied health workers was 40 years, ranging from 36 years for dieticians, occupational therapists, orthoptists and speech pathologists to 47 years for educational psychologists and psychotherapists. Average weekly hours for allied health workers was 34, with orthotists/prosthetists working the most hours on average (41 hours), and therapy aides (27 hours) and psychotherapists (28 hours) working the fewest hours, on average. 
3.2.7	Complementary therapies workers
In 2006, the complementary therapies workforce numbered 16,354 workers, representing a 47.2% growth from 2001. In 2006, there were 79 complementary therapies workers per 100,000 population. Massage therapists were the largest occupation in the group, comprising 50.8% of the workforce (40 per 100,000 population). Naturopaths and natural remedy consultants were the next largest groups (18.5% and 16.3% respectively). In total, massage therapists, natural remedy consultants and naturopaths comprised 85.6% of complementary therapists. Massage therapists increased most in number between 2001 and 2006 (up by 66.6%), followed by acupuncturists (up by 42.4%).
Table 3.15: Complementary health workers: selected characteristics, 2006
Complementary therapist occupation	Number	Change between 2001 and 2006 (%)	Per cent 
female	Average age	Average weekly hours worked	Rate(a)	
Acupuncturists	950	42.4	49.2	44	32	5	
Massage therapists	8,199	66.6	75.1	40	23	40	
Homoeopaths	235	n.a.	76.2	50	23	1	
Natural remedy consultants	2,631	12.2	75.1	45	24	13	
Naturopaths	2,982	19.2	79.0	43	23	14	
Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners	481	n.a.	41.8	46	29	2	
Complementary health therapists, n.e.c.	480	n.a.	77.3	44	35	2	
Complementary health therapist, n.f.d.	181	n.a.	68.0	46	31	1	
Health therapy professionals, n.f.d.	215	n.a.	71.6	44	34	1	
Total	16,354	47.2	73.3	42	25	79	
							
Note:	See Appendix 1 for an explanation of ‘n.e.c.’ and ‘n.f.d.’ categories.
(a)	Number per 100,000 population.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
Similar to the allied health workforce, the majority of the complementary therapy workforce was female (73.3%). The individual occupation with the highest proportion of females was naturopaths (79.0%), and the occupation with the lowest proportion was traditional Chinese medicine practitioners (41.8%). The average age of workers across the occupational group was 42 years, ranging from 40 years for massage therapists to 50 years for homeopaths. Complementary therapists worked 25 hours per week, on average, with massage therapists, homeopaths and naturopaths more likely to work fewer hours (each 23 hours) than other complementary therapists.

3.2.8	Other health workers 
Table 3.16: Other health workers: selected characteristics, 2006
Other health occupation	Number	Change between 2001 and 2006 (%)	% 
female	Average age	Average weekly hours worked	Rate(a)		
	Primary health organisation managers	—	n.a.	—	—	—	—			
	Other health and welfare services managers 	6,506	n.a.	71.6	47	43	31			
	Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander health workers	1,012	9.3	70.7	40	36	5			
	Ambulance workers									
	Ambulance officers	8,550	163.6	26.5	40	45	41			
	Intensive care ambulance paramedics	520	–85.0	21.3	41	48	3			
	Ambulance officers/paramedics, n.f.d.	27	n.a.	29.6	39	42	—			
	Counsellors									
	Drug and alcohol counsellors	1,369	24.6	60.8	43	35	7			
	Diversional therapists	4,077	n.a.	93.2	48	29	20			
	Counsellors, n.e.c.	1,680	n.a.	71.0	46	31	8			
	Environment and safety workers									
	Environmental health officers	3,908	18.0	39.3	41	39	19			
	Health promotion officers	3,898	n.a.	80.0	42	35	19			
	Occupational health and safety advisers	6,842	97.3	46.3	42	41	33			
	Occupational and environmental health professionals, n.f.d.	90	n.a.	61.9	44	42	—			
	Care support workers									
	Hospital orderlies	9,939	n.a.	40.9	44	35	48			
	Nursing support workers	22,380	n.a.	88.4	41	31	108			
	Personal care assistants	21,958	n.a.	89.0	43	29	106			
	Personal carers/assistants, n.f.d.	2,095	n.a.	84.6	35	33	10			
	Special care workers, n.f.d.	38	n.a.	76.3	45	37	—			
	Technicians									
	Anaesthetic technicians	417	n.a.	47.7	43	38	2			
	Cardiac technicians	604	n.a.	76.7	37	34	3			
	Medical laboratory scientists	13,368	n.a.	67.5	39	38	65			
	Medical laboratory technicians	11,672	n.a.	81.9	40	33	56			
	Medical technicians, n.e.c.	1,358	n.a.	52.0	40	34	7			
	Medical technicians, n.f.d.	210	n.a.	92.7	39	42	1			
	Operating theatre technicians	629	n.a.	21.0	42	38	3			
	Optical dispensers	3,270	n.a.	69.8	37	34	16			
	Optical mechanics	995	n.a.	33.2	38	39	5			
	Pharmacy technicians	3,733	n.a.	88.6	40	35	18			
	Health professionals, n.f.d.	1,009	n.a.	71.6	44	30	5			
	Total	132,154	45.3	70.6	41	35	638		
Note:	See Appendix 1 for an explanation of ‘n.e.c.’ and ‘n.f.d.’ categories.
(a)	Number per 100,000 population.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
The other health worker category (including health service managers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers) is a diverse group of occupations. The largest occupations were nursing support workers (16.9%) and personal care assistants (16.6%). The rate per 100,000 population for these occupations was 108 and 106 respectively. Together they comprised one-third (33.6%) of the other health worker category. 
Between 2001 and 2006, the other health worker group increased by 45.3%. The number of ambulance officers rose by 5,306 (163.6%) and occupational health and safety advisers by 3,375 (97.3%). The number of ambulance officers and intensive care ambulance paramedics combined rose by 2,362 workers, (35.2%). However, there was a major shift in the size of each occupation, with the large increase in the number of ambulance officers (163.6%) being offset by a large decrease in the number of intensive care ambulance paramedics (down by 85.0% or 2,944 workers). 
Overall, 70.6% of the workers in the group were female, but the proportion of females varied across the occupations, reflecting the diversity of occupations in this category. The occupation with the lowest proportion of females was intensive care paramedics and ambulance officers (21.3% and 26.5% respectively) and the occupation with the highest proportion was diversional therapists (93.2%). 
The average age of other health workers was 41 years. Diversional therapists were the oldest (48 years), followed by health and welfare services managers (47 years). On average, other health workers worked 35 hours per week, with intensive care ambulance paramedics and ambulance officers working the most (48 and 45 hours respectively) and personal care assistants and diversional therapists the fewest hours (each 29 hours). 
3.3	Community services occupations
In 2006, there were 294,231 persons employed in community services occupations. This section presents key characteristics of people employed in community services occupations, including growth between 2001 and 2006, the number per 100,000 population (or the rate), average hours worked, average age and the proportion of females in each occupation. 
For this section it needs to be noted that there was a change in the occupation classification between 2001 and 2006. The 2006 classification allowed more detailed occupation coding of 2006 data than was possible for 2001 data. For occupations with data separately available for 2006 but not for 2001, comparisons are not possible and the ‘change in number’ column has been marked ‘n.a.’ in tables in this section.
3.3.1	Child and youth services workers
Overall, the child and youth services workforce (including child care centre managers) increased by 24.1% (24,471 workers) to a total of 126,162 in 2006. The number of child care workers, youth workers and child care centre managers increased the most (31.6%, 30.1% and 26.2% respectively). Continuing the trend evident between 1996 and 2001, family day care workers and nannies decreased (down by 9.4% and 9.5% respectively), indicating a shift towards day care centre care services for children (AIHW 2003). Child care workers comprised half (47.1%) of the group, with a rate of 287 per 100,000 population. Overall, there were 610 child and youth services workers per 100,000 population. 
Workers in child and youth services were predominantly female. Youth workers comprised a more balanced gender split with 55.7% female. Student counsellors tended to be older, on average (46 years), and nannies and out-of-school-hours care workers (31 years) tended to be younger than their colleagues. Child and youth services workers overall worked an average of 30 hours per week, with family day care workers the most (41 hours) and 
out-of-school-hours care workers the least, on average (16 hours). 
Table 3.17: Child and youth services workers: selected characteristics, 2006
Child and youth services occupation	Number	Change between 2001 and 2006 (%)	%
 female	Average age	Average weekly hours worked	Rate(a)	
Child care centre managers	8,126	26.2	92.4	39	27	39	
Early childhood (pre-primary school) teachers	15,276	7.8	98.3	40	33	74	
Youth workers	8,025	30.1	55.7	36	35	39	
Preschool aides	4,758	1.6	99.2	45	24	23	
Student counsellors	2,924	n.a.	76.6	46	35	14	
Child care workers	59,472	31.6	96.4	34	29	287	
Family day care workers	9,968	–9.4	98.6	43	41	48	
Nannies	4,799	–9.5	98.1	31	26	23	
Out-of-school-hours care workers	4,024	n.a.	83.7	31	16	19	
Child or youth residential care assistants	491	0.8	74.5	39	37	2	
Hostel parents	1,306	–9.9	70.2	41	37	6	
Child carers, n.f.d.	6,993	2.6	93.8	37	29	34	
Total	126,162	24.1	92.8	37	30	610	
							
Note:	See Appendix 1 for an explanation of ‘n.e.c.’ and ‘n.f.d.’ categories.
(a)	Number per 100,000 population.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
3.3.2	Family services workers
In 2006, there were 14,515 people employed in the family services workforce and three‑quarters of them (77.6% or 11,266 workers) were welfare workers. Family support workers and family and marriage counsellors made up the balance with proportions similar to each other (13.4% and 9.0% respectively). Family support workers showed the greatest increase over the period (up by 40.9%), followed by welfare workers (up by 25.4%), continuing the growth in these occupations which was evident between 1996 and 2001 (AIHW 2003). The number of family and marriage counsellors changed little (down by 0.8%). 
Table 3.18: Family services workers: selected characteristics, 2006
Family services occupation	Number	Change between 2001 and 2006 (%)	%
 female	Average age	Average weekly hours worked	Rate(a)	
Family and marriage counsellors	1,300	–0.8	80.5	48	30	6	
Family support workers	1,949	40.9	86.8	42	30	9	
Welfare workers	11,266	25.4	78.8	43	35	54	
Total	14,515	24.3	80.1	43	34	70	
							
Note:	See Appendix 1 for an explanation of ‘n.e.c.’ and ‘n.f.d.’ categories.
(a)	Number per 100,000 population.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
In 2006, numbers per 100,000 population were 54 welfare workers, 9 family support workers and 6 family and marriage counsellors. Overall in 2006, family services workers were predominantly female (80.1%), and worked 34 hours per week, on average. 
3.3.3	Disability services workers and aged or disabled care workers
In 2006, there were 81,130 people employed in the disabilities services workforce and integration aides formed the largest proportion (41.8%), followed by special needs teachers (31.0%). Teachers of the sight impaired were the smallest proportion (0.6%). 
Overall, the disability services worker numbers rose by 28.6% between 2001 and 2006. The most notable change in the disability services occupations was a 52.9% rise in the number of integration aides to 15,899. These aides assist children with developmental disabilities in mainstream schools. The number of rehabilitation counsellors rose by 37.6% (576 workers). Teachers of the sight impaired decreased in number (down by 8.1%), the only disability services occupation to decrease. 
Table 3.19: Disability services workers and aged and/or disabled care workers: selected characteristics, 2006
Disability services and aged and/or disabled care services occupation	Number	Change between 2001 and 2006 (%)	%
 female	Average age	Average 
weekly hours worked	Rate(a)	
Disability services 							
Disabilities services officer	6,315	1.3	69.3	43	36	31	
Integration aides	15,899	52.9	94.3	44	25	77	
Rehabilitation counsellors	2,108	37.6	79.1	39	37	10	
Special needs teachers	11,814	22.2	86.4	45	34	57	
Teachers of the hearing impaired	875	5.4	91.4	47	32	4	
Teachers of the sight impaired	217	–8.1	85.3	49	35	1	
Special education teachers, n.e.c.	745	4.8	79.3	46	33	4	
Special education teachers, n.f.d.	85	n.a.	78.8	48	34	—	
Total disability workers	38,058	28.6	86.4	44	30	184	
Aged and/or disabled care 							
Carers of the aged or disabled	77,412	49.5	84.6	45	28	374	
Residential care officers	3,718	31.6	71.9	43	37	18	
Total aged and/or disabled care 	81,130	48.6	84.0	45	29	392	
							
Note:	See Appendix 1 for an explanation of ‘n.e.c.’ and ‘n.f.d.’ categories.
(a)	Number per 100,000 population.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
Integration aides were the largest occupational group among disability services workers, comprising 41.8%, followed by special needs teachers (31.0%). Overall, there were 184 disability services workers per 100,000 population. A high proportion of workers were female (86.4%), with all occupations having a majority of female workers. Disability services workers tended to have short working weeks, with an average of 30 hours. 
Carers of aged and disabled people provide ‘general household assistance, emotional support, care and companionship for aged and disabled persons in their homes’ (Appendix 2). There were 81,130 workers in aged and/or disabled care in 2006, an increase of 48.6% from 2001. There were 392 of these workers per 100,000 population. Of these, 95.4% were carers of the aged and disabled and the remainder were residential care officers. People employed in aged and/or disabled care had short working weeks, on average (29 hours), with residential care officers likely to work more hours (37) than carers of the aged and disabled (28). 
3.3.4	Other community services workers
In 2006, there were 34,366 people employed in the other community services workforce and half of them (52.0% or 17,875 workers) were community workers. The next largest proportion was teachers of English to speakers of other languages (17.2% or 5,923 workers) and, when combined, the two comprised 69.2% of other community services workers in 2006.
Occupations in the other community services workers category are a mixed group which, overall, increased by 53.0% between 2001 and 2006 to 28,443. This is a rate of 137 workers per 100,000 population. 
These workers were 44 years of age, on average, and most of them were female (72.5%). The average working week of 30 hours for this group was lower than that generally considered to be full-time work (usually between 35 and 38 hours per week) and was characteristic of most community services workers. For example, on average, workers in family services worked the most hours (34 per week), followed by those in child and youth services (30 hours), disability services (30 hours) and aged and/or disabled care (29 hours). 
Table 3.20: Other community services workers: selected characteristics, 2006
Other community services occupation	Number	Change between 2001 and 2006 (%) 	% 
female	Average age	Average weekly hours worked	Rate(a)	
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education workers	1,511	n.a.	78.6	39	29	7	
Community workers	17,875	n.a.	79.3	44	35	86	
Counsellors, n.f.d.	4,087	n.a.	76.5	47	35	20	
Health and welfare support workers, n.f.d.	682	n.a.	72.0	41	35	3	
Parole or probation officers	1,463	31.8	67.0	42	38	7	
Refuge workers	522	41.8	85.1	43	33	3	
Welfare centre managers	1,354	63.9	64.8	47	32	7	
Welfare support workers, n.f.d.	949	80.1	73.0	41	—	5	
Total (b)	28,443	53.0	72.5	44	30	137	
Teachers of English to speakers of other languages(b)	5,923	n.a.	80.2	46	29	29	
Total	34,366	. .	72.5	44	30	166	
Note:	See Appendix 1 for an explanation of ‘n.e.c.’ and ‘n.f.d.’ categories.
(a)	Number per 100,000 population.
(b)	The category ‘Teachers of English to speakers of other languages’ was included in Community services occupations for the first time in 2006.To enable comparison with 2001, a separate subtotal is shown.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
	4.	Geographic distribution
This chapter presents data on health and community services workers across geographic areas based on their usual place of residence. The data show the broad geographic spread of people employed in health and community services occupations, first comparing the states and territories, and then comparing regions of Australia using the Australian Standard Geographic Classification (ASGC) Remoteness Areas (RAs) (see Appendix 1). To enable the geographic analysis to take into account varying sizes and differences in population growth, these comparisons are presented as the number of workers per 100,000 population (or the rate).
There are some differences to consider when comparing health and community services workforce across these areas, including the placement of health care and community services facilities, variations in the demographic characteristics of the populations and their patterns of service usage. For example, a limited number of health care establishments, such as hospitals, provide certain specialised health services. These establishments are usually located in large population centres, which will increase the number of health workers in those places—but these workers may service patients or clients from a much wider area. 
4.1	States and territories
	4.1.1	Health workers
In 2006, nationally, the number of workers in health occupations per 100,000 population was 2,649. Across the states and territories, South Australia had the highest number (3,032 per 100,000), followed by Victoria (2,777). The Northern Territory had the lowest with 2,315 health workers per 100,000 population. 
The overall number of medical practitioners per 100,000 population was highest in the Australian Capital Territory (315 workers) followed by South Australia (310 workers) and the number was lowest in Western Australia (254), followed closely by Queensland (255). 
The pattern differed slightly for generalist medical practitioners although they comprise the majority of practitioners. The highest number per 100,000 population for generalist medical practitioners was for the Australian Capital Territory (185 workers) and again, Western Australia was the lowest, followed by Queensland (150 and 162 generalist practitioners respectively) (Table 4.1). 
South Australia had the highest figure for specialists, particularly other specialists, with 58 per 100,000 population compared with the national figure of 49. South Australia also had relatively high figures for dentists (165) and nursing workers (1,307) compared with the national figures of 143 and 1,073 per 100,000 population respectively.

	4.1.2	Community services workers
In 2006, the number of workers per 100,000 population in community services occupations was 1,422 nationally. The highest number per 100,000 was in the Northern Territory (1,817), followed by the Australian Capital Territory (1,749). The lowest number was in New South Wales where there were 1,290 community services workers per 100,000 population. Across occupations, child and youth services workers had the highest national number followed by aged and/or disabled care workers (570 and 392 workers per 100,000 population respectively). The pattern was reversed in Tasmania and South Australia where the child and youth services worker rates (517 and 576 respectively) were lower than their respective aged and/or disabled care worker rates (699 and 593) (Table 4.1). 
Table 4.1: Persons employed in health and community services occupations: number per 100,000 population, states and territories, 2006
Occupation	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Australia	
Health 	2,573	2,777	2,520	2,600	3,032	2,650	2,566	2,315	2,649	
Medical practitioners	282	281	255	254	310	271	315	265	275	
Generalist medical practitioners	178	175	162	150	180	174	185	184	171	
Internal medicine specialists	18	17	15	17	22	14	12	19	17	
Surgeons	19	20	17	18	22	18	21	12	19	
Other specialists	49	51	45	50	58	46	53	31	49	
Other medical practitioners	10	8	7	10	14	11	17	8	9	
Medical administrators	8	10	9	8	13	8	19	11	9	
Medical imaging workers	54	48	48	48	57	49	60	33	51	
Dental workers	138	133	152	157	165	119	161	101	143	
Nursing workers	1,032	1,161	990	992	1,307	1,164	914	971	1,073	
Registered nurses	940	1,071	918	907	1,121	1,076	839	896	979	
Registered nurses, clinical 	804	914	798	767	957	916	702	736	838	
Midwives	52	62	53	68	77	70	68	84	59	
Nurse educator and researchers	19	20	14	19	19	18	15	15	18	
Nurse manager or clinical directors	65	75	53	53	69	72	54	61	64	
Enrolled nurses	93	90	72	85	186	88	75	75	94	
Pharmacists	71	81	72	74	74	84	78	40	74	
Allied health workers	289	357	278	347	356	301	374	236	315	
Complementary therapists
	77	86	88	64	69	67	87	41	79	
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers	3	1	6	7	7	3	1	107	5	
Other health workers	592	597	609	630	656	562	533	480	602	
Other health services managers	36	33	23	28	33	29	43	40	31	
									0	
Community services 	1,290	1,462	1,444	1,381	1,645	1,701	1,749	1,817	1,422	
Child and youth services workers	558	542	649	477	576	517	831	682	570	
Family services workers	75	79	47	65	65	105	113	115	70	
Disability workers	166	218	167	207	164	157	192	230	184	
Aged and/or disabled care workers	298	440	376	403	593	699	350	308	392	
Other community services workers	151	140	144	192	207	180	195	414	159	
Child care centre managers	35	35	56	32	34	32	55	56	39	
Welfare centre managers	7	7	6	5	5	9	12	12	7	
									0	
Total health and community services	3,863	4,239	3,964	3,981	4,677	4,350	4,316	4,132	4,071	
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).

4.2	Remoteness Areas
4.2.1	Health workers
In 2006, across the RAs, the supply of health workers declined as remoteness increased. The highest number of health workers per 100,000 population was in Major cities (2,777), followed by Inner regional Australia (2,536) and Outer regional Australia (2,166). In the two most remote RAs, there were rates of 1,827 and 1,379 for Remote and Very remote Australia respectively. 
Table 4.2: Persons employed in health and community services occupations: number per 100,000 population, Remoteness Areas, 2006
Occupation	Major cities	Inner regional	Outer regional	Remote	Very remote	Australia(a)	
Health 	2,777	2,536	2,166	1,827	1,379	2,649	
Medical practitioners	324	184	148	136	70	275	
Generalist medical practitioners	196	123	108	106	58	171	
Internal medicine specialists	22	8	6	5	4	17	
Surgeons	22	12	8	6	—	19	
Other specialists	61	27	17	8	2	49	
Other medical practitioners	12	5	3	3	—	9	
Medical administrators	10	8	6	9	7	9	
Medical imaging workers	58	40	28	15	5	51	
Dental workers	159	119	100	60	21	143	
Nursing workers	1,058	1,177	1,016	857	665	1,073	
Registered nurses	978	1,056	886	748	589	979	
Registered nurses, clinical 	834	912	763	625	492	838	
Midwives	58	64	59	53	42	59	
Nurse educator and researchers	21	13	9	9	4	18	
Nurse manager or clinical directors	64	67	55	61	51	64	
Enrolled nurses	80	121	129	109	76	94	
Pharmacists	84	57	49	33	15	74	
Allied health workers	354	256	201	161	64	315	
Complementary therapists	82	82	62	40	11	79	
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers	1	4	10	50	190	5	
Other health workers	624	584	524	447	320	602	
Other health services managers	32	33	28	28	18	31	
	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Community services 	1,379	1,541	1,443	1,407	1,696	1,422	
Child and youth services workers	576	559	549	553	541	570	
Family services workers	65	84	73	86	101	70	
Disability workers	175	217	182	170	105	184	
Aged and/or disabled care workers	361	489	432	307	296	392	
Other community services workers	154	150	164	248	605	159	
Child care centre managers	41	34	38	38	40	39	
Welfare centre managers	7	7	5	5	7	7	
Total health and community services	4,155	4,076	3,609	3,234	3,076	4,071	
(a)	Includes Migratory.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).

Nationally, there were 17,662 specialist medical practitioners, of whom 16,890 (95.6%) lived in Major cities and Inner regional Australia combined (Table A4.7). This concentration of specialists in Major cities and Inner regional Australia is also shown in the medical practitioner rates (Table 4.2). Surgeons, in particular, had a rate of 22 per 100,000 population in Major cities, whereas in the other areas, rates ranged from 6 to 12 (Table 4.2). 
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and enrolled nurses were exceptions to the pattern of declining health worker supply with increasing remoteness. The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers per 100,000 was highest in Very remote Australia and second highest in Remote Australia. The number of enrolled nurses per 100,000 was highest in Inner regional Australia and Outer regional Australia. The difference in supply of enrolled nurses between Major cities and Very remote Australia was 4 nurses per 100,000 population (80 and 76 nurses per 100,000 population respectively).
	4.2.2	Community services workers
Community services workers were more evenly spread across the Remoteness Areas than health workers. The highest number of workers per 100,000 was in Very remote Australia (1,696), followed by Inner regional Australia (1,541) (Table 4.2). The figures for the other RAs were Outer regional, 1,443, Remote, 1,407 and Major cities, the lowest, 1,379 workers per 100,000 population.
Differences in the number of workers per 100,000 were evident between areas at the occupation level. The figures for other community services workers and family services workers were highest in Very remote Australia (605 and 101 workers respectively). The number of workers in Major cities were the lowest, with 154 other community services workers and 65 family services workers per 100,000 population respectively.

	Appendix 1: Explanatory notes
A1.1	 Scope
The scope of this report is persons employed in health and community services occupations which have been used to define the health and community services labour force. This scope, along with the occupations comprising the health and community workforce, has been developed in consultation with workforce planners from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing and the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and is intended to reflect government requirements for policy development and program delivery. The groupings of occupations in this report do not entirely correspond with the groupings in the current occupation classification, Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO). That is, the occupation description matches the classification, but individual occupations within a group differ in some instances. For example, in the ANZSCO social workers are classified as social and welfare professionals and chiropractors and osteopaths are classified as health therapy professionals, whereas in this report they are all classified as allied health workers. The occupations and occupation groupings used in this report and the associated ANZSCO codes are presented in Appendix 2.
	A1.2	 Occupation
Occupation data in the 1996 and 2001 censuses were classified to the ABS Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO), 2nd edition, whereas the 2006 census data were coded according to a new classification, the ANZSCO. This new classification enables coding of much more detailed occupations. Therefore, 2006 census data are not directly comparable with previous censuses, particularly at the finest level of detail (6-digit).
In each set of census data, there are a relatively small proportion of respondents who do not supply adequate information to determine a precise occupation. Depending on how much of the response information can be used, the occupation for these respondents is coded to the lowest level possible and assigned a ’not further defined’ (n.f.d.) code denoting these responses cannot be further defined to the classification. These ‘n.f.d.’ codes exist on the census data file for practical reasons, but do not exist in the ANZSCO itself. The ANZSCO does have ‘residual’ codes for respondents whose occupation has not been allocated a specific code, but instead, grouped with others of a similar type. These are ‘not elsewhere classified’ (n.e.c.) codes. The fundamental difference is that the codes which exist in the classification, including the ‘n.e.c.’s are mutually exclusive, whereas, the ‘n.f.d’s are not. In reality they belong somewhere in the classification categories, but it is not known which one.
	A1.3	 Industry
In the 1996 and 2001 censuses, industry was classified to the ABS Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 1993 edition. In the 2006 census, industry was classified to the ANZSIC, 2006 edition. Therefore industry data for 1996 and 2001 are not directly comparable with previous censuses and 2006 data are not directly comparable with 1996 and 2001. This affects only tables 2.3, A4.2 and A4.3 and figures 2.3 and 2.4 in this publication. The industries included in the presentation of data for this report are presented in Appendix 3.
In each set of census data, there are a relatively small proportion of respondents who do not supply adequate information, or whose response is not clear enough to enable it to be placed in a category. Depending on how much of the response information can be used, the industry for these respondents is coded to the lowest level possible and assigned a ’not further defined’ (n.f.d.) code, denoting these responses cannot be further defined to the classification These ‘n.f.d.’ codes exist on the census data file for practical reasons, but do not exist in the ANZSIC itself. The ANZSIC does have ‘residual’ codes for businesses whose industry has not been allocated a specific code, but instead, grouped with others of a similar type. These are ‘not elsewhere classified’ (n.e.c.) codes. The fundamental difference is that the codes which exist in the classification, including the ‘n.e.c.’s are mutually exclusive, whereas, the ‘n.f.d.’s are not. In reality they belong somewhere in the classification categories, but it is not known which one.
	A1.4	 Qualifications
Qualifications are classified to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Standard Classification of Education (ABS 2008d). The classification is made up of two component classifications, level of education and field of education. It provides a basis for comparable administrative and statistical data on educational activities and attainment classified by field and level. They are defined as follows: 
•	level of education of the highest completed non-school qualification (e.g. bachelor degree, diploma). 
•	field of education which describes the field of study of the highest completed non-school qualification. 
The data relate to persons aged 15 years and over who reported a qualification in the census. 
A1.5	 Region
The regional data in this report relate to an employed person’s usual place of residence. Regional classifications in this report include the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) for Remoteness (ABS 2008e). The Remoteness Area (RA) Structure within the ASGC, produced by the ABS, has been used in this publication to present regional data. The RA Structure of the ASGC is based on the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA), where the remoteness index value of a point is based on the physical road distance to the nearest town or service in each of six population size classes based on the 2006 Census of Population and Housing. These classes are:
•	Major Cities of Australia
•	Inner Regional Australia
•	Outer Regional Australia
•	Remote Australia
•	Very Remote Australia
•	Migratory.
The figures for Australia in tables which present data by RA include the very small number in the migratory category. A full list of the ASGC detailed statistical region structure for each state and territory is available at the ABS website: <www.abs.gov.au>.
	A1.6	 Counts
All census data in this publication are the counts of people as recorded in the census (raw counts), without adjustment for non-response or under-enumeration. Full details of the census methodology may be obtained on the internet at <www.abs.gov.au>.
Counts of persons in a given occupation vary from one table to the next. For practical reasons in analysis, counts at the occupational group level (e.g. medical practitioners, nursing workers, pharmacists) have been adjusted to be consistent; however, the counts adding up to these totals may not always match. Reasons for the variations are: 
•	Varying response rates to individual questions in the census may result in some persons being excluded from the analysis of a given variable.
•	The ABS routinely applies small random changes to cells in order to protect the confidentiality of individuals. This leads to small differences in total values between tables. This process may have altered the accuracy of data regarding Indigenous participation in health and community services occupations, particularly where participation is low. 
For many census questions, there are a relatively small proportion of respondents who either do not supply an answer, or whose response is not clear enough to place in a category. These responses are called ‘not stated’ and ‘not further defined’ respectively. When not stated responses are removed from a table for analytical purposes, however, it does make a numerical difference to the totals shown. Readers should refer to the footnotes when totals are not consistent. 
Note: during processing of census data, variables such as occupation, industry and qualification which are coded from written responses by the respondent are coded independently of each other and, at the time of coding, responses are not compared with other responses. Comprehensive editing is done at a later stage, although given the volume of census forms processed, some inconsistencies can be missed. This, along with other coding issues, such as respondents providing inadequate information for coding, can lead to a small number of cells showing apparently inconsistent data when two or more of these ‘written response’ variables are cross-classified in a table, for example occupation by field of education/qualification.
	Appendix 2: Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) codes used in this report
Table A2.1: Health and community services occupations: ANZSCO description
ANZSCO code	Occupation title	Description	
Health occupations		
Medical practitioners 		
Generalists		
253111	General medical practitioner	Diagnoses, treats and prevents human physical and mental disorders and injuries.	
253112	Resident medical officer	Diagnoses, treats and prevents human physical and mental disorders and injuries under the supervision of medical specialists or senior general practitioners. 	
253311	Specialist physician (general medicine)	Investigates and diagnoses internal human disorders and diseases, and administers treatment.	
Internal medicine specialists		
253312	Cardiologist	Investigates, diagnoses and treats diseases of the human heart.	
253313	Clinical haematologist	Investigates and diagnoses blood and other genetic disorders by studying cellular composition of blood and blood-producing tissues.	
253314	Clinical oncologist	Manages and treats patients with cancer and tumours.	
253315	Endocrinologist	Investigates, diagnoses and treats disorders of the human glandular and hormonal systems.	
253316	Gastroenterologist	Investigates, diagnoses and treats diseases and disorders of the human liver, stomach and associated organs.	
253317	Intensive care specialist	Investigates, diagnoses and treats patients in need of intensive and critical care.	
253318	Neurologist	Investigates, diagnoses and treats diseases and injuries of the human brain, spinal cord, nervous system and muscle tissue.	
253321	Paediatrician	Provides specialist medical services to children from birth up to and including adolescence.	
253322	Renal medicine specialist	Investigates, diagnoses and treats disorders of the human kidney.	
253323	Rheumatologist	Investigates, diagnoses and treats diseases, injuries and deficiencies of human joints, muscles and soft tissue.	
253324	Thoracic medicine specialist	Investigates, diagnoses and treats diseases and disorders of the human respiratory system.	
253399	Internal medicine specialists n.e.c.	This occupation group covers Internal Medicine Specialists not elsewhere classified. Occupations in this group include: 	
		Clinical allergist 
Clinical geneticist 
Clinical immunologist 
Clinical pharmacologist 
Geriatrician 
Industrial medicine specialist	Infectious diseases specialist 
Palliative medicine specialist 
Rehabilitation medicine physician 
Sexual health physician 
Sleep medicine specialist	
Other specialists		
253211	Anaesthetist	Administers anaesthetics to prevent pain and maintain major body function throughout surgical and related procedures.	
		(continued)	
Table A2.1 (continued): Health and community services occupations: ANZSCO description
ANZSCO code	Occupation title	Description	
253911	Dermatologist	Provides diagnostic, treatment and preventative medical services related to human skin disorders.	
253912	Emergency medicine specialist	Diagnoses and manages patients with acute and urgent illness and injury.	
253913	Obstetrician and gynaecologist	Provides diagnostic, treatment and preventative medical services related to disorders of the female genital, urinary, rectal and reproductive organs, and the care of women during pregnancy and childbirth.	
253914	Ophthalmologist	Provides diagnostic, treatment and preventative medical services related to diseases, injuries and deficiencies of the human eye and associated structures.	
253915	Pathologist	Identifies and diagnoses the presence and stages of diseases and possible sources of infection in body tissues, fluids, secretions and other specimens.	
253916	Radiologist	Diagnoses and treats diseases of the human body using radiant energies such as X-rays, ultrasound, gamma rays and radio waves.	
253411	Psychiatrist	Diagnoses, treats and prevents human mental, emotional and behavioural disorders.	
Surgeons		
253512	Cardiothoracic surgeon	Performs heart and lung surgery.	
253513	Neurosurgeon	Performs surgery to correct disorders of the brain, spine and nervous system.	
253514	Orthopaedic surgeon	Performs surgery to treat muscular and skeletal diseases and injuries.	
253515	Otorhinolaryngologist	Performs surgery to correct diseases and disorders of the ear, nose and throat.	
253516	Paediatric surgeon	Provides surgical care and treatment to children from birth up to, and including, adolescence.	
253517	Plastic and reconstructive surgeon	Performs surgery to repair and reconstruct muscle and tissue injuries and congenital deformities.	
253511	Surgeon (general)	Performs surgery to correct diseases and disorders covering a broad range of medical conditions.	
253518	Urologist	Provides medical and surgical treatment to patients with disorders of the kidney, urinary bladder and urethra, and treats disorders of the male sex organs.	
253521	Vascular surgeon	Performs surgery to treat patients with conditions affecting their arteries and veins.	
Other medical practitioners		
253999	Medical administrator	Directs and manages the professional activities of medical staff in hospitals, health services and health service facilities.	
134211	Medical practitioner n.e.c.	Diagnose physical and mental illnesses, disorders and injuries and prescribe medications and treatment to promote or restore good health.	
Medical imaging workers		
251211	Medical diagnostic radiographer	Operates X-ray and other medical imaging equipment to produce images for medical diagnostic purposes in conjunction with radiologists or other medical specialists.	
251212	Radiation therapist	Operates high energy X-ray and other radiation and electron generating and monitoring equipment to administer radiation treatment for medical purposes in conjunction with radiologists or other medical specialists.	
251213	Nuclear medicine technologist	Performs or assists in the performance of diagnostic examinations using radionuclides and radiopharmaceuticals, and administers radionuclides for therapeutic purposes under the direction of nuclear medicine specialists or other specialist medical practitioners.	
251214	Sonographer	Operates ultrasound machines and related medical imaging equipment to produce images for medical diagnostic purposes in conjunction with other medical professionals.	
		(continued)	
Table A2.1 (continued): Health and community services occupations: ANZSCO description
ANZSCO code	Occupation title	Description	
Dental workers		
423211	Dental assistant	Prepares patients for dental examinations and assists dentists in providing care and treatment.	
411211	Dental hygienist	Carries out preventative therapy related to dental hygiene under the direction of dentists.	
411212	Dental prosthetist	Designs, constructs, repairs and fits dentures and mouthguards.	
252311	Dental specialist	Diagnoses and treats diseases, injuries, irregularities and malformations of teeth and associated structures in the mouth and jaw using surgery or other specialist techniques.	
411213	Dental technician	Constructs and repairs dentures and other dental devices.	
411214	Dental therapist	Examines and treats ailments of the teeth and gums, mainly among pre-school and primary school age children, under the supervision of dentists.	
252312	Dentist	Diagnoses and treats diseases, injuries and abnormalities of teeth, gums and related oral structures, prescribes and administers restorative and preventive procedures, and conducts surgery or uses other specialist techniques.	
Nursing workers		
Registered nurses		
254111	Midwife	Provides care and advice during pregnancy, labour and birth and provides postnatal care for women and babies.	
254411	Nurse practitioner	Provides advanced and extended nursing care to patients, such as ordering diagnostic tests, undertaking diagnosis and health assessments, prescribing patient care management, medicines and therapies, as authorised in relevant nursing legislation, and referring to specialist Medical Practitioners and other Health Professionals in a range of health, welfare and community settings.	
254412	Registered nurse (aged care)	Provides nursing care to the elderly in community settings, residential aged care facilities, retirement villages and health care facilities.	
254413	Registered nurse (child and family health)	Provides nursing care to children from birth to school age and their families with an emphasis on the prevention, early detection of, and early intervention in, physical, emotional and social problems affecting children and their families such as assistance with parentcraft, immunisation and developmental milestones.	
254414	Registered nurse (community health)	Provides nursing care, health counselling, screening and education to individuals, families and groups in the wider community with a focus on patient independence and health promotion.	
254415	Registered nurse (critical care & emergency)	Provides nursing care to critically ill patients and patients with unstable health following injury, surgery or during the acute phase of diseases, integrating new technological equipment into care in settings such as high dependency units, intensive care units or emergency departments.	
254416	Registered nurse (developmental disability)	Provides nursing care to people with intellectual and development disabilities in a range of health, welfare and community settings.	
254417	Registered nurse (disability and rehabilitation)	Provides nursing care to patients recovering from injury and illness, and assists and facilitates patients with disabilities to live more independently.	
254421	Registered nurse (medical practice)	Provides clinical care to patients, undertakes clinical organisation and practice administration, and facilitates communication within a general practice environment and between the practice and outside organisations and individuals.	
254418	Registered nurse (medical)	Provides nursing care to patients with conditions, such as infections, metabolic disorders and degenerative conditions, which require medical intervention in a range of health, aged care and community settings.	
254422	Registered nurse (mental health)	Treats and cares for people with mental illness, disorder or dysfunction, or those experiencing emotional difficulties, distress or crisis, in hospitals, nursing homes and the community.	
		(continued)	
Table A2.1 (continued): Health and community services occupations: ANZSCO description
ANZSCO code	Occupation title	Description	
254423	Registered nurse (perioperative)	Provides nursing care to patients before, during and immediately after surgery, assesses patients' condition, plans nursing care for surgical intervention, maintains a safe and comfortable environment, assists Surgeons and Anaesthetists during surgery, and monitors patients' recovery from anaesthetic, prior to return to, or discharge from, ward.	
254424	Registered nurse (surgical)	Provides nursing care to patients with injuries and illness that require surgical intervention.	
254499	Registered nurses n.e.c.	This occupation group covers Registered Nurses not elsewhere classified. (Occupations in this group include: 
Nursing Officer (Defence Forces) 
Registered Nurse (Infection Control) 
Registered Nurse (Paediatrics) 
Registered Nurse (Remote or Rural Area)	
Nurse educators and researchers		
254211	Nurse educator	Assesses, plans, implements and evaluates nursing education and professional development programs.	
254212	Nurse researcher	Conducts research into nursing issues.	
Nurse managers and clinical directors		
134212	Nursing clinical director	Directs and manages nursing programs and clinical services in hospitals, nursing homes and other health service facilities and maintains standards of nursing care.	
254311	Nurse manager	Manages a hospital nursing care unit or other sub unit of a hospital, nursing home or health care facility, or supervises nursing staff for a particular unit or shift.	
Enrolled nurses	
411411	Enrolled nurse	Assists registered nurses, doctors and other health professionals in the provision of patient care in hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities.	
411412	Mothercraft Nurse	Provides care to newborn infants, and provides advice and training on infant care to parents of newborn infants.	
Pharmacist workers		
251511	Hospital pharmacist	Prepares and dispenses pharmaceuticals, drugs and medicines in hospital pharmacies.	
251512	Industrial pharmacist	Undertakes research, testing and analysis related to the development, production, storage, quality control and distribution of drugs and related supplies.	
251513	Retail pharmacist	Compounds and dispenses prescribed pharmaceuticals in retail outlets and sells non-prescription medicines and related goods.	
			
Allied health workers		
252711	Audiologist	Provides diagnostic assessment and rehabilitative services related to human hearing defects.	
272311	Clinical psychologist	Consults with individuals and groups, assesses psychological disorders and administers programs of treatment.	
252111	Chiropractor	Diagnoses, treats and provides preventative advice on physiological and mechanical disorders of the human locomotor system, particularly neuro-muscular skeletal disorders.	
251111	Dietitian	Assists individuals, groups and communities to attain, maintain and promote health through good diet and nutrition.	
272312	Educational psychologist	Investigates learning and teaching, and develops psychological techniques to foster the development and skills of individuals and groups in educational settings.	
		(continued)	

Table A2.1 (continued): Health and community services occupations: ANZSCO description
ANZSCO code	Occupation title	Description	
272313	Organisational psychologist	Applies psychological principles and techniques to study occupational behaviour, working conditions and organisational structure, and solve problems of work performance and organisational design.	
252411	Occupational therapist	Assesses the function of people whose abilities and daily activities are impaired.	
251411	Optometrist	Performs eye examinations and vision tests to determine the presence of visual, ocular and other abnormalities, and prescribes lenses, other optical aids or therapy.	
251412	Orthoptist	Diagnoses and manages eye movement disorders and associated sensory deficiencies.	
251912	Orthotist	Designs, builds, fits and repairs splints, braces, callipers and appliances to restore functions or compensate for muscular or skeletal disabilities.	
252112	Osteopath	Diagnoses, treats and provides preventative advice on physiological and mechanical disorders of the human locomotor system.	
252511	Physiotherapist	Assesses, treats and prevents disorders in human movement caused by injury or disease.	
252611	Podiatrist	Prevents, diagnoses and treats medical and surgical conditions of the feet, including those resulting from bone and joint disorders, muscular pathologies as well as neurological and circulatory diseases.	
272399	Psychologists n.e.c.	This occupation group covers Psychologists not elsewhere classified. Occupations in this group include Community Psychologist, Counselling Psychologist and Sport Psychologist. 	
272314	Psychotherapist	Provides diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional disorders using psychotherapeutic methods such as behavioural therapy, biofeedback, relaxation therapy and other techniques.	
272511	Social worker	Assesses the social needs of individuals and groups, and assists people to develop and use the skills and resources needed to resolve social and other problems.		
252712	Speech pathologist	Assesses and treats people with communication disorders including speech, language, voice, fluency and literacy difficulties or people who have physical problems with eating or swallowing.	
423314	Therapy aide	Provides assistance to occupational, diversional or physiotherapists in therapy programs and care of their patients.	
Complementary therapists		
252211	Acupuncturist	Treats disorders and illnesses by stimulating the body's defence mechanisms through fine-needle insertions into the skin.	
252299	Complementary health therapists n.e.c.	This occupation group covers natural therapy professionals not elsewhere classified.	
411611	Massage therapist	Performs therapeutic massage and administers body treatments for relaxation, health, fitness and remedial purposes.	
252212	Homoeopath	Treats the body's immune and defence systems by assessing the whole person and using minute amounts of natural remedies made from substances such as plants, minerals and animal sources.	
451511	Natural remedy consultant	Uses traditional techniques or diagnostic methods for treatment, relaxation or health purposes.	
252213	Naturopath	Treats internal health problems, metabolic disorders and imbalances, through treatment of the whole person, using natural therapies.	
252214	Traditional Chinese medicine Practitioner
	Treats imbalances of energy flows through the body by assessing the whole person and using techniques and methods such as acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, massage, diet, exercise and breathing therapy.	
		(continued)	
Table A2.1 (continued): Health and community services occupations: ANZSCO description
ANZSCO code	Occupation title	Description	
Other health service managers		
134299	Health and welfare services managers n.e.c.	This occupation group covers Health and Welfare Services Managers not elsewhere classified. 
Occupations in this group include: 
Director of Pharmacy 
Director of Physiotherapy Services 
Director of Speech Pathology 
Manager of Allied Health Services 
Medical Corps Officer (Army)	
134213	Primary health organisation manager	Plans, organises, directs, controls and coordinates a primary health organisation that provides a broad range of out-of-hospital health services.	
Other health workers		
411511	Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander health worker	Liaises with patients, clients and visitors to hospitals and health clinics and works as a team member to arrange, coordinate and provide health care delivery in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community health clinics.	
411111	Ambulance officer	Provides specialised transport services and emergency health care for injured, sick, infirm and aged persons.	
311211	Anaesthetic technician	Prepares and maintains anaesthetic equipment for operating theatres or clinics, and assists Anaesthetists during anaesthetic procedures.	
311212	Cardiac technician	Conducts tests on patients to record heart activity using specialised equipment, recording devices and laboratory instruments in support of Cardiologists and other Medical Practitioners engaged in diagnosing, monitoring and treating heart disease.	
272199	Counsellors n.e.c.	This occupation group covers Counsellors not elsewhere classified. Occupations in this group may work in a call centre. 
Occupations in this group include: 
Gambling counsellor 	Grief counsellor
Life coach 	Rape crisis counsellor 
Trauma counsellor	
411311	Diversional therapist	Plans, designs, coordinates and implements recreation and leisure-based activity programs to support, challenge and enhance the psychological, spiritual, social, emotional and physical wellbeing of individuals.	
272112	Drug and alcohol counsellor	Provides assessment, support and treatment for people, develops strategies which assist them to set goals, effect and maintain change, and provides community advice and education.	
251311	Environmental health officer	Develops, implements and evaluates environmental health policies, programs and issues, and oversees the implementation and monitoring of environmental health legislation.	
251999	Health diagnostic & promotion professionals n.e.c.	This occupation group covers Health Diagnostic and Promotion Professionals not elsewhere classified. 
Occupations in this group include: Genetic Counsellor	
251911	Health promotion officer	Assists health and community groups to improve the health of individuals and the community by raising awareness of healthy lifestyles, disease and disability, and other health-related issues.	
423311	Hospital orderly	Assists with the provision of care to patients in a hospital by ensuring wards are neat and tidy, lifting and turning patients and transporting them in wheelchairs or on movable beds, and providing direct care and support.	
411112	Intensive care ambulance paramedic 	Provides specialised pre-hospital health care to injured, sick, infirm and aged persons and emergency transport to medical facilities.	
234611	Medical laboratory scientist	Conducts medical laboratory tests to assist in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease.	
311213	Medical laboratory technician	Performs routine medical laboratory tests and operates diagnostic laboratory equipment under the supervision of Medical Laboratory Scientists and Pathologists.	
		(continued)	
Table A2.1 (continued): Health and community services occupations: ANZSCO description
ANZSCO code	Occupation title	Description	
311299	Medical technicians n.ec	This occupation group covers Medical Technicians not elsewhere classified. Occupations in this group include: 
Audiometrist 	Mortuary Technician
Dialysis Technician 	Perfusionist
Electroencephalographic Technician	Renal Technician
Neurophysiological Technician 	Sleep Technician
Orthotic and Prosthetic Technician 	
423312	Nursing support worker	Assists registered nurses in hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities, in the provision of patient care.	
251312	Occupational health and safety 
officer	Develops, implements and evaluates policies and programs to ensure safe and healthy working conditions, and assists injured staff through the workers' compensation and rehabilitation process.	
311214	Operating theatre technician	Prepares and maintains an operating theatre and its equipment, assists the surgical team during operations and provides support to patients in the recovery room.	
399913	Optical dispenser	Interprets optical prescriptions, and fits and services optical appliances such as spectacle frames and lenses. Registration or licensing may be required.	
399914	Optical mechanic	Operates machines to grind, polish and surface optical lenses to meet prescription requirements, and fits lenses to spectacle frames.	
423313	Personal care assistant	Assists with the care of patients in a range of health care facilities, or in the client's home.	
311215	Pharmacy technician	Fills and labels patients' prescriptions under the supervision of a Pharmacist. May record details of, place orders for, take stock of, and store medications and medical supplies and deliver them to patients.	
Community services occupations		
Child and youth services workers		
134111	Child care centre manager	Directs the activities of a child care centre or service.	
421111	Child care worker	Provides care and supervision for children in programs such as long day care and occasional care in child care centres, hospitals and educational centres.	
423411	Child or youth residential care assistant	Provides care and supervision for children in correctional services institutions.	
241111	Early childhood (pre-primary school) Teacher	Teaches the basics of numeracy, literacy, music, art and literature to students at pre-primary schools and promotes students' social, emotional, intellectual and physical development.	
421112	Family day care worker	Provides care and supervision for babies and children, usually in worker's own home, under local government or community-based schemes.	
423412	Hostel parent	Operates residential child care establishments, which provide home environments for children.	
421113	Nanny	Assists parents in the provision of on going care and supervision for babies and children, usually in the child's home.	
421114	Out-of-school-hours care worker	Provides care for school age children in an out-of-school-hours care program.	
422115	Pre-school aide	Provides care and supervision for children at pre-school centres under the direction of pre-school teachers.	
272115	Student counsellor	Provides information and assistance to students, parents and teachers about a wide range of matters such as students' personal problems, learning difficulties and special requirements.	
411716	Youth worker	Assists young people as individuals or groups to solve social, emotional and financial problems in an agency framework.	
		(continued)	
Table A2.1 (continued): Health and community services occupations: ANZSCO description
ANZSCO code	Occupation title	Description	
Family services workers		
272113	Family and marriage counsellor	Assists individuals, couples or families with marriage or relationship difficulties.	
411713	Family support worker	Assists the work of social and welfare workers by providing services and support to families.	
272613	Welfare worker	Assists individuals, families and groups with social, emotional and financial difficulties to improve quality of life by educating and supporting them and working towards change in their social environment.	
Disability workers		
411712	Disabilities services officer	Works in a range of adult service units, which provide education and community access to people with intellectual, physical, social and emotional disabilities.	
422112	Integration aide	Assists children with developmental disabilities in mainstream schools.	
272114	Rehabilitation counsellor	Assists physically, mentally and socially disadvantaged people to re-integrate into work and the community.	
241511	Special needs teacher	Teaches primary and secondary school students with particular learning difficulties and promotes students' social, emotional, intellectual and physical development.	
241512	Teacher of the hearing-impaired	Teaches academic and living skills to hearing-impaired students and promotes students' social, emotional, intellectual and physical development.	
241513	Teacher of the sight-impaired	Teaches academic and living skills to sight-impaired students and promotes students' social, emotional, intellectual and physical development.	
241599	Special education teacher n.e.c.	This occupation group covers special education teachers not elsewhere classified.	
Aged and disabled care workers		
423111	Aged or disabled person carer	Provides general household assistance, emotional support, care and companionship for aged or disabled people in their homes.	
411715	Residential care officer	Provides care and supervision for children or disabled persons in group housing or government institutions.	
Other community services workers		
422111
	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education worker
	Assists Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in their education, provides feedback to parents or guardians and teachers about students' progress, and liaises with educational bodies, government agencies and committees.	
411711	Community worker	Facilitates community development initiatives and collective solutions within a community to address issues, needs and problems.	
411714	Parole or probation officer	Supervises parolees who have been placed on probation by court order or released conditionally from corrective service institutions.	
423413	Refuge worker	Provides services and support to people seeking assistance in refuges.	
249311	Teacher of English to speakers of other languages	Teaches classes in English to students whose first language is a language other than English.	
134214	Welfare centre manager	Plans, organises, directs, controls and coordinates a centre, program or project concerned with social welfare support.	
Source: ABS 2008c. 1220.0 – Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, 2006.

	Appendix 3: Australian and New Zealand Standard Industry Classification (ANZSIC): Division Q: health care and social assistance
Table A3.1: Health care and social assistance industries: ANZSIC description
ANZSIC
Code	Health and social assistance industry	Description	
	Health		
8401	Hospitals (except psychiatric hospitals)	This class consists of units of hospitals (except psychiatric hospitals) mainly engaged in providing facilities and services such as diagnostic, medical or surgical services as well as continuous in-patient medical care in specialised accommodation. Also included are units providing both hospital facilities and training of medical and nursing staff. 	

Primary activities	

Children’s hospital	

Day hospital	

Ear, nose and throat hospital	

Eye hospital	

General hospital	

Hospital (except psychiatric or veterinary hospitals)	

Infectious diseases hospital (including human quarantine stations)	

Maternity hospital	

Obstetric hospital	

Women’s hospital	

Exclusions/References	

Units mainly engaged in:	

•	operating psychiatric hospitals are included in Class 8402 Psychiatric Hospitals	

•	providing aged care residential facilities are included in Class 8601 Aged Care 	

•	providing outpatient dental hospital facilities are included in Class 8531 Dental Services, and 
•	operating veterinary hospitals are included in Class 6970 Veterinary Services.	

	
8402	Psychiatric hospitals	This class consists of units of psychiatric hospitals mainly engaged in providing services for patients with psychiatric, mental or behavioural disorders. Also included are units providing both psychiatric hospital facilities and training of medical and nursing staff. 	

Primary activities	

Psychiatric hospital	

Exclusions/References	

– Units mainly engaged in the independent practice of psychiatry are included in Class 8512 Specialist Medical Services.	

			
8511	General practice medical services	This class consists of units mainly engaged in the independent practice of general medicine. These units consist of registered medical practitioners who generally operate private or group practices in medical clinics or centres. 	

Primary activities	

•	Flying doctor service	

•	General medical practitioner service	

•	General practice medical clinic service	

•	Rural general medical practice service	

Exclusions/References	

Units mainly engaged in:	

•	operating hospitals are included in Class 8401 Hospitals (Except Psychiatric Hospitals), and	

•	providing services of specialist medical practitioners are included in Class 8512 Specialist Medical Services.	

		(continued)	
Table A3.1 (continued): Health care and social assistance industries: ANZSIC description
ANZSIC
Code	Health and social assistance industry	Description	
	Health		
8512	Specialist medical services	This class consists of units mainly engaged in the independent practice of specialised medicine, other than pathology and diagnostic imaging services. These units consist of specialist medical practitioners who generally operate private or group practices in medical clinics or centres. 	

Primary activities	

Allergy specialist service	

Anaesthetist service	

Dermatology service	

Ear, nose and throat specialist service	

Gynaecology service	

Hair transplant service (by registered medical practitioner)	

Neurology service	

Obstetrics service	

Ophthalmology service	

Orthopaedic specialist service	

Paediatric service	

Psychiatry service	

Rheumatology service	

Specialist medical clinic service	

Specialist medical practitioner service n.e.c.	

Specialist surgical service	

Thoracic specialist service	

Urology service	

Exclusions/References	

Units mainly engaged in:	

•	providing pathology or diagnostic imaging services are included in Class 8520 Pathology and Diagnostic Imaging Services	

•	operating hospitals are included in Class 8401 Hospitals (Except Psychiatric Hospitals)	

•	providing services of registered general practice medical practitioners are included in Class 8511 General Practice Medical Services, and	

•	providing non-medical hair restoration services are included in Class 9511 Hairdressing and Beauty Services.	

			
8520	Pathology and diagnostic imaging services	This class consists of units mainly engaged in the provision of pathology laboratory or diagnostic imaging services such as analytical services including body fluid analysis, ultrasound or x-ray services. 	

Primary activities	

Diagnostic imaging service	

Medical laboratory service	

Pathology laboratory service	

X-ray clinic service	

Exclusions/References	

•	Units mainly engaged in providing chemical testing and analysis services (other than pathology services) are included in Class 6925 Scientific Testing and Analysis Services.	

			
		(continued)	
			
Table A3.1 (continued): Health care and social assistance industries: ANZSIC description
ANZSIC
Code	Health and social assistance industry	Description	
	Health		
8531	Dental services	This class consists of units mainly engaged in the practice of general or specialised dentistry. These units consist of registered dentists who generally operate private or group practices. Also included are dental hospitals providing outpatient services only. 	

Primary activities	

Conservative dental service	

Dental hospital (outpatient)	

Dental practice service	

Dental practitioner service	

Dental surgery service	

Endodontic service	

Oral pathology service	

Oral surgery service	

Orthodontic service	

Paedodontic service	

Periodontic service	

Prosthodontic service	

Exclusions/References	

Units mainly engaged in:	

•	providing dental hygiene services are included in Class 8539 Other Allied Health Services, and	

•	the manufacture and repair of dentures are included in Class 2412 Medical and Surgical Equipment Manufacturing.	

			
8532	Optometry and optical dispensing	This class consists of units of registered optometrists mainly engaged in testing sight, diagnosing sight defects or in prescribing or dispensing spectacles or contact lenses on prescription. 	

Primary activities	

Contact lens dispensing	

Eye testing (optometrist)	

Optical dispensing	

Optician service	

Orthoptic service	

Spectacles dispensing	

Exclusions/References	

Units mainly engaged in:	

•	manufacturing ophthalmic articles or spectacle frames or in grinding spectacle lenses are included in Class 2411 Photographic, Optical and Ophthalmic Equipment Manufacturing, and	

•	providing ophthalmic specialist services are included in Class 8512 Specialist Medical Services.	

			
8533	Physiotherapy services	This class consists of units of physiotherapists mainly engaged in providing assessment, diagnosis, treatment (such as manipulation, massage and therapeutic exercise) and help in preventing disorders of human movement. 	

Primary activities	

Physiotherapy service	

			
8534	Chiropractic and osteopathic services	This class consists of units of chiropractors mainly engaged in manual adjustment of the spinal column as a method of healing to remove nerve interference. Also included are units of osteopaths mainly engaged in massage and manipulation as a system of healing or treatment. 	

Primary activities	

Chiropractic service	

Osteopathic service	

			
		(continued)
	
Table A3.1 (continued): Health care and social assistance industries: ANZSIC description
ANZSIC
Code	Health and social assistance industry	Description	
	Health		
8539	Other allied health services	This class consists of units mainly engaged in providing allied health care services not elsewhere classified. These units consist of independent allied health practitioners not elsewhere classified mainly engaged in providing health care and treatment services. 	

Primary activities	

Acupuncture service	

Aromatherapy service	

Audiology service	

Clinical psychology service	

Dental hygiene service	

Dietician service	

Hearing aid dispensing	

Herbalist service	

Homoeopathic service	

Hydropathic service	

Midwifery service	

Naturopathic service	

Nursing service	

Occupational therapy service	

Podiatry service	

Speech pathology service	

Therapeutic massage service	

Exclusions/References	

Units mainly engaged in:	

•	providing medical services are included in either Class 8511 General Practice Medical Services or Class 8512 Specialist Medical Services, and	

•	operating weight loss clinics are included in Class 9512 Diet and Weight Reduction Centre Operation.	

			
8591	Ambulance services	This class consists of units mainly engaged in transporting patients by ground or air in conjunction with medical care. 	

Primary activities	

Aerial ambulance service	

Ambulance service	

8599	Other health care services, n.e.c.	This class consists of units mainly engaged in providing health care services not elsewhere classified. 	

Primary activities	

Blood bank operation	

Health assessment service	

Health care service n.e.c. 	

Exclusions/References	

•	Units mainly engaged in operating health farms which provide mainly accommodation are included in Class 4400 Accommodation.	

			
	Social Assistance		
8601	Aged care residential services	This class consists of units mainly engaged in providing residential aged care combined with either nursing, supervisory or other types of care as required (including medical). 	

Primary activities	

Accommodation for the aged operation	

Aged care hostel operation	

Nursing home operation	

Residential care for the aged operation	

	
		(continued)

Table A3.1 (continued): Health care and social assistance industries: ANZSIC description
ANZSIC
Code	Health and social assistance industry	Description	
	Social Assistance		
8609	Other residential care services	This class consists of units mainly engaged in providing residential care (except aged care) combined with either nursing, supervisory or other types of care as required (including medical). 	

Primary activities	

Children’s home operation	

Community mental health hostel	

Crisis care accommodation operation	

Home for the disadvantaged operation n.e.c.	

Hospice operation	

Residential refuge operation	

Respite residential care operation	

Exclusions/References	

Units mainly engaged in:	

•	providing aged care residential services are included in Class 8601 Aged Care Residential Services, and	

•	providing juvenile corrective services are included in Class 7714 Correctional and Detention Services.	

	
8710	Child care services	This class consists of units mainly engaged in providing day care of infants or children. 	

Primary activities	

Before and/or after school care service	

Child care service	

Childminding service	

Children’s nursery operation (except preschool education)	

Family day care service	

Exclusions/References	

Units mainly engaged in:	

•	providing accredited preschool education are included in Class 8010 Preschool Education, and	

•	operating a children’s home are included in Class 8609 Other Residential Care Services

	
8790	Other social assistance services	This class consists of units mainly engaged in providing a wide variety of social support services directly to their clients. These services do not include accommodation services, except on a short stay basis. 	

Primary activities	

Adoption service	

Adult day care centre operation	

Aged care assistance service	

Alcoholics anonymous operation	

Disabilities assistance service	

Marriage guidance service	

Operation of soup kitchen (including mobile)	

Welfare counselling service	

Youth welfare service	

Exclusions/References	

•	Units mainly engaged in raising funds for welfare purposes are included in Class 9559 Other Interest Group Services n.e.c.	

	
Source:	ABS 2008b. 1292.0 – Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification, 2006. 

	Appendix 4: Additional tables
Table A4.1: Persons employed in health and community services occupations: number per 100,000 population, Australia, 1996, 2001 and 2006
	Number per 100,000 population		Change in number per 100,000 population		
Occupation	1996	2001	2006		Between 1996 and 2001	Between 2001 and 2006		
Health 	2,187	2,301	2,649		114	348		
Medical practitioners	251	267	275		15	9		
Generalist medical practitioners	159	164	171		6	7		
Surgeons	16	17	19		1	2		
Other specialists	65	65	66		–1	2		
Other medical practitioners	1	2	9		1	8		
Medical administrators	10	19	9		9	–10		
Medical imaging workers	36	42	51		7	9		
Dental workers	127	133	143		6	10		
Nursing workers	1,034	998	1,073		–36	75		
Registered nurses	900	898	979		–2	82		
Registered nurses, clinical	778	772	838		–6	66		
Midwives	60	60	59		—	–1		
Nurse educators and researchers	11	14	18		2	5		
Nurse managers and clinical directors	51	52	64		1	12		
Enrolled nurses	134	100	94		–34	–7		
Pharmacists	67	72	74		4	2		
Allied health workers	220	263	315		43	52		
Complementary therapists	37	56	79		19	23		
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers	4	5	5		1	—		
Other health workers	410	465	634		55	169		
								
Community services	965	1,118	1,422		153	304		
Child and youth services workers	470	491	570		20	80		
Family services workers	47	60	70		13	10		
Disability workers	108	152	184		45	31		
Aged and/or disabled care workers	202	281	392		79	111		
Other community services workers	93	96	159		2	64		
Child care centre managers	39	33	39		–6	6		
Welfare centre managers	5	4	7		–1	2		
Total health and community services	3,152	3,419	4,071		267	652		
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 1996, 2001 and 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
Table A4.2: Persons employed in health and social assistance industries: number per 100,000 population, Australia, 1996, 2001 and 2006
	Number per 100,000 population		Change in number per 100,000 population	
Industry	1996	2001	2006		Between 1996 and 2001	Between 2001 and 2006	
Health care and social assistance							
Health care	2,159	2,214	2,548		56	334	
Hospitals (except psychiatric hospitals)	1,215	1,098	1,458		–117	360	
Psychiatric hospitals	46	12	10		–34	–2	
General practice medical services	313	321	322		8	1	
Specialist medical services	114	127	99		13	–27	
Pathology and diagnostic imaging services	59	81	139		22	58	
Dental services	136	152	155		16	4	
Optometry and optical dispensing	45	48	52		3	4	
Physiotherapy services	37	43	49		7	6	
Chiropractic and osteopathic services	24	26	31		2	5	
Ambulance services	39	44	54		5	10	
Other health care n.f.d.	131	262	178		131	–84	
							
Social assistance	1,783	1,898	1,905		115	7	
Residential care services(a)	663	530	690		–133	159	
Child care services	363	332	358		–31	27	
Other health care and social assistance(b) services	679	735	709		56	–26	
Social assistance n.f.d.	78	301	148		223	–153	
Total health care and social assistance	3,942	4,112	4,453		170	341	
							
a)	Consists of the ANZSIC 2006 edition categories of: residential aged care, other residential care and other residential care n.f.d. These categories, collectively, are a close approximation to the combined ANZSIC 1993 edition categories of: accommodation for the aged, nursing homes and residential care services, n.e.c. See Appendix 1 for more information.
b)	Consists of the ANZSIC 2006 edition categories of: other social assistance, other health care services, other allied health and Allied 
health n.f.d. These categories, collectively, are a close approximation to the combined ANZSIC 1993 edition categories of: community health centres, non-residential care services n.e.c. and health services, n.e.c. See Appendix 1 for more information.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 1996, 2001 and 2006 (data available from ABS on request).

Table A4.3: Persons employed in health and community services industries: number and number per 100,000 population, states and territories, 2001 and 2006
	NSW	Vic	Qld 	WA 	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Australia	
	Number of workers	
Total health occupations	
2001	144,409	114,362	83,087	43,746	38,839	10,922	6,928	4,376	446,722	
2006	175,390	142,347	103,074
	53,550	47,546	12,982	8,574	4,877	548,379	
Total community services occupations	
2001	64,589	56,983	43,089	20,463	18,336	5,938	4,727	2,867	217,018	
2006	87,945	74,946	59,089
	28,439	25,787	8,332	5,845	3,827	294,237	
Total health and community services occupations	
2001	208,998	171,345	126,176	64,209	57,175	16,860	11,655	7,243	663,740	
2006	263,335	217,293	162,163	81,989	73,333	21,314	14,419	8,704	842,615	
	Number per 100,000 population	
Total health occupations	
2001	2,196	2,380	2,290	2,301	2,569	2,315	2,170	2,213	2,301	
2006	2,573	2,777	2,520
	2,600	3,032	2,650	2,566	2,315	2,649	
Total community services occupations	
2001	982	1,186	1,187	1,076	1,213	1,259	1,480	1,450	1,118	
2006	1,290	1,462	1,444
	1,381	1,645	1,701	1,749	1,817	1,422	
Total health and community services occupations	
2001	3,179	3,566	3,477	3,377	3,782	3,574	3,650	3,662	3,419	
2006	3,863	4,239	3,964	3,981	4,677	4,350	4,316	4,132	4,071	
Australian population	
2001	6,575,217	4,804,726	3,628,946	1,901,159	1,511,728	471,795	319,317	197,768	19,413,240	
2006	6,816,087	5,126,540	4,090,908	2,059,381	1,567,888	489,951	334,119	210,627	20,697,880	
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2001 and 2006 (data available from ABS on request).

Table A4.4: Persons employed in health and community services industries: number and number per 100,000 population, states and territories, 2001 and 2006
	Major cities	Inner regional 	Outer regional 	Remote 	Very remote 	Australia(a)	
	Number of workers	
Total health occupations					
2001	310,336	87,947	39,129	5,646	3,079	446,137	
2006	393,406	103,459	42,501	5,823	2,350	548,384	
Total community services occupations		
2001	139,472	49,036	22,982	3,680	2,236	217,406	
2006	197,242	62,870	28,304	4,483	2,890	294,231	
Total health and community services occupations			
2001	449,808	136,983	62,111	9,326	5,315	663,543	
2006	588,734	166,329	70,805	10,306	5,240	842,615	
							
	Number per 100,000 population	
Total health occupations					
2001	2,411	2,185	1,943	1,741	1,725	2,298	
2006	2,777	2,536	2,166	1,827	1,379	2,649	
Total community services occupations		
2001	1,084	1,218	1,141	1,135	1,252	1,120	
2006	1,392	1,541	1,443	1,407	1,696	1,422	
Total health and community services occupations			
2001	3,495	3,403	3,084	2,875	2,977	3,418	
2006	4,155	4,076	3,609	3,234	3,076	4,071	
Australian population					
2001	12,870,843	4,025,689	2,013,837	324,329	178,542	19,413,240	
2006	14,167,961	4,080,202	1,961,849	318,721	170,375	20,697,880	
							
(a)	Includes Migratory.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2001 and 2006 (data available from ABS on request)
Table A4.5: Persons employed in health and community services occupations: age group by sex, 2001 and 2006
		Age group		
		<25	25–34	 35–44	 45–54	 55–64	 65+	Total	
		Health occupations		
Male	2001	5,914	25,343	32,291	28,440	14,130	4,834	110,952	
	2006	6,915	27,707	34,916	36,358	20,989	6,481	133,366	
									
Female	2001	27,697	79,936	103,375	90,815	30,635	3,269	335,727	
	2006	35,005	89,649	108,424	121,528	54,324	6,078	415,008	
									
Total	2001	33,611	105,279	135,666	119,255	44,765	8,103	446,679	
	2006	41,920	117,356	143,340	157,886	75,313	12,559	548,374	
		Community services occupations		
Male	2001	3,129	5,960	7,179	7,082	3,007	487	26,844	
	2006	4,507	7,381	8,526	10,073	6,301	1,043	37,831	
									
Female	2001	29,181	40,437	51,139	50,482	17,259	1,714	190,212	
	2006	36,065	48,872	61,360	71,743	34,949	3,416	256,405	
									
Total	2001	32,310	46,397	58,318	57,564	20,266	2,201	217,056	
	2006	40,572	56,253	69,886	81,816	41,250	4,459	294,236	
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2001 and 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
Table A4.6: Persons employed in health and community services occupations: states and territories, 2006
Occupation	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Australia	
Health 	175,390	142,347	103,074	53,550	47,546	12,982	8,574	4,877	548,384	
Medical practitioners	19,190	14,386	10,420	5,223	4,853	1,329	1,054	559	57,019	
Generalist medical practitioners	12,103	8,975	6,614	3,081	2,819	853	617	389	35,453	
Internal medicine specialists	1,216	889	596	359	352	71	70	39	3,594	
Surgeons	1,277	1,007	715	378	343	86	70	26	3,904	
Other specialists	3,330	2,602	1,831	1,020	912	224	177	65	10,161	
Other medical practitioners	685	411	287	214	221	55	57	17	1,950	
Medical administrators	579	502	377	164	206	40	63	23	1,954	
Medical imaging workers	3,671	2,464	1,955	987	893	242	200	69	10,477	
Dental workers	9,427	6,818	6,224	3,230	2,583	584	538	213	29,624	
Nursing workers	70,366	59,520	40,503	20,431	20,495	5,705	3,053	2,045	222,133	
Registered nurses	64,040	54,913	37,544	18,680	17,581	5,273	2,804	1,888	202,735	
Registered nurses, clinical	54,784	46,880	32,655	15,801	14,997	4,488	2,345	1,551	173,499	
Midwives	3,535	3,195	2,161	1,398	1,200	342	228	176	12,236	
Nurse educators and researchers	1,308	1,010	574	386	296	89	51	32	3,760	
Nurse managers and clinical directors	4,413	3,828	2,154	1,095	1,088	354	180	129	13,240	
Enrolled nurses	6,326	4,607	2,959	1,751	2,914	432	249	157	19,398	
Pharmacists	4,836	4,132	2,945	1,514	1,155	411	259	85	15,339	
Allied health workers	19,669	18,299	11,377	7,138	5,576	1,476	1,250	498	65,284	
Complementary therapists	5,243	4,409	3,590	1,315	1,087	326	291	87	16,354	
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers	208	59	234	153	107	17	3	226	1,012	
Other health workers	40,328	30,588	24,897	12,982	10,287	2,752	1,782	1,011	124,635	
Other health services managers	2,452	1,672	929	577	510	140	144	84	6,506	
										
Community services 	87,945	74,946	59,089	28,439	25,787	8,332	5,845	3,827	294,231	
Child and youth services	38,057	27,805	26,554	9,830	9,031	2,533	2,777	1,436	118,036	
Family services 	5,094	4,039	1,904	1,329	1,015	516	378	243	14,515	
Disability workers	11,330	11,169	6,822	4,261	2,576	771	642	484	38,058	
Aged and/or disabled care	20,308	22,573	15,395	8,303	9,302	3,427	1,171	648	81,130	
Other community services	10,316	7,201	5,905	3,945	3,239	883	652	871	33,012	
Child care centre managers	2,369	1,811	2,282	662	539	158	184	119	8,126	
Welfare centre managers	471	348	227	109	85	44	41	26	1,354	
										
Total health and community services	263,335	217,293	162,163	81,989	73,333	21,314	14,419	8,704	842,615	
All other occupations	2,621,149	2,036,827	1,648,551	846,945	611,597	181,788	161,089	77,725	8,185,671	
Total	2,909,444	2,274,449	1,824,999	936,129	689,897	204,738	176,286	87,180	9,103,122	
										
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).

Table A4.7: Persons employed in health and community services occupations: Remoteness Areas, 2006
Occupation	Major cities	Inner regional	Outer regional	Remote	Very remote	Australia(a)	
Health 	393,406	103,459	42,501	5,823	2,350	548,383	
Medical practitioners	45,965	7,508	2,907	435	120	57,019	
Generalist medical practitioners	27,828	5,020	2,116	339	99	35,453	
Internal medicine specialists	3,099	343	127	15	6	3,594	
Surgeons	3,228	498	158	18	—	3,904	
Other specialists	8,674	1,120	327	26	3	10,161	
Other medical practitioners	1,668	205	61	8	—	1,950	
Medical administrators	1,468	322	118	29	12	1,954	
Medical imaging workers	8,239	1,619	542	49	9	10,477	
Dental workers	22,566	4,836	1,954	190	35	29,624	
Nursing workers	149,944	48,034	19,930	2,730	1,133	222,133	
Registered nurses,	138,543	43,096	17,390	2,383	1,003	202,735	
Registered clinical nurses	118,201	37,229	14,969	1,991	838	173,499	
Midwives	8,222	2,597	1,149	168	72	12,236	
Nurse educators and researchers	2,991	535	185	29	6	3,760	
Nurse managers and clinical directors	9,129	2,735	1,087	195	87	13,240	
Enrolled nurses	11,401	4,938	2,540	347	130	19,398	
Pharmacists	11,898	2,317	970	106	26	15,339	
Allied health workers	50,151	10,455	3,951	514	109	65,284	
Complementary therapists	11,572	3,364	1,226	126	18	16,354	
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers	172	150	201	160	324	1,012	
Other health workers	88,417	23,819	10,274	1,424	546	124,635	
Other health services managers	4,482	1,357	546	89	30	6,506	
							
Community services 	195,328	62,870	28,304	4,483	2,890	294,231	
Child and youth services	81,659	22,796	10,765	1,763	922	118,036	
Family services 	9,199	3,417	1,432	273	172	14,515	
Disability workers	24,849	8,873	3,572	541	179	38,058	
Aged and/or disabled care workers	51,090	19,967	8,471	980	505	81,130	
Other community services workers	21,807	6,120	3,222	789	1,031	33,012	
Child care centre managers	5,788	1,407	738	122	69	8,126	
Welfare centre managers	936	290	104	15	12	1,354	
							
Total health and community services	588,734	166,329	70,805	10,306	5,240	842,615	
							
(a)	Includes Migratory.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006 (data available from ABS on request).
	Appendix 5: Tables available from the AIHW website
In addition to the tables in this publication, more detailed tabulations from the 2006 Census are published on the AIHW website: <www.aihw.gov.au>
1. General characteristics
Table 1.1	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: occupation (6-digit ANZSCO), age group by sex, 2006	
Table 1.2	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: occupation (6-digit ANZSCO), weekly hours worked (in ranges) by sex, 2006	
Table 1.3	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: occupation (6-digit ANZSCO) by Indigenous status, 2006	
Table 1.4	Indigenous persons employed in health and community services occupations: occupation (6-digit ANZSCO) by average age, 2006	
Table 1.5	Indigenous persons employed in health and community services occupations: occupation (6-digit ANZSCO) average weekly hours worked, 2006	
Table 1.6	Persons employed in health and community services occupations who reported a post-school qualification: occupation (6-digit ANZSCO), qualification level, 2006	
Table 1.7	Persons employed in health and community services occupations who reported a post-school qualification in a health and community services related field:, field of study of qualification, 2006	
Table 1.8	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: occupation (6-digit ANZSCO), weekly income (in ranges), 2006	

2. State and territory 
Table 2.1	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: occupation (6-digit ANZSCO), birthplace, states and territories, 2006	
Table 2.2	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: occupation (6-digit ANZSCO), age group by sex, states and territories, 2006	
Table 2.3	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: occupation (6-digit ANZSCO), average age, states and territories, 2006	
Table 2.4	Indigenous persons employed in health and community services occupations: occupation (3-digit ANZSCO), weekly hours worked (in ranges) by sex, states and territories, 2006	
Table 2.5	Indigenous persons employed in health and community services occupations: occupation (3-digit ANZSCO), age group, states and territories, 2006	
Table 2.6	Persons employed in health and social assistance industries: sex, states and territories, 2006	
Table 2.7	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: occupation (6-digit ANZSCO): industry, states and territories, 2006	

3. Remoteness Area 
Table 3.1	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: occupation (6-digit ANZSCO), birthplace, Remoteness Areas, 2006	
Table 3.2	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: occupation (6-digit ANZSCO), age group, Remoteness Areas, 2006	
Table 3.3	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: occupation (6-digit ANZSCO), sex, Remoteness Areas, 2006	
Table 3.4	Persons employed in health and social assistance industries: age group, Remoteness Areas, 2006	

4. State and territory by Remoteness Area 
Table 4.1	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: occupation (6-digit ANZSCO), states and territories by Remoteness Areas, 2006	

References
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2008a. 4713.0 - Population Characteristics, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2006. 
ABS 2008b. 1292.0 – Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification, 2006. 
ABS 2008c. 1220.0 – Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, 2006. 
ABS 2008d. 1216.0 – Statistical Geography Volume 1 (ASGC), 2006. 
ABS 2008e. 1272.0 – Australian Standard Classification of Education, 2001.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2001. Health and community services labour force 1996. Cat. no. HWL 19. Canberra: AIHW (National Health Labour Force Series no. 19).
AIHW 2003. Health and community services labour force 2001. AIHW cat. no. HWL 27 and ABS cat. no. 8936.0. Canberra: AIHW (National Health Labour Force Series no. 27). 

	List of tables 
Table 2.1:	Persons employed in health occupations: Australia, 1996, 2001 and 2006	4
Table 2.2: 	Persons employed in community services occupations: Australia, 1996, 2001 and 2006	6
Table 2.3: 	Persons employed in health and social assistance industries: Australia, 1996, 2001
and 2006	8
Table 3.1: 	Persons employed in health occupations: industry of employment, 2006	12
Table 3.2:	Persons employed in community services occupations: industry of employment, 2006	13
Table 3.3: 	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: country of birth, 2006	14
Table 3.4: 	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: Indigenous status, 2001 and 2006.	16
Table 3.5: 	Indigenous persons employed in health and community services occupations: selected characteristics, 2006	19
Table 3.6: 	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: weekly hours worked, per cent distribution and average, 2006	20
Table 3.7: 	Persons employed in health and community services occupations who reported having a completed post-school qualification, highest level of qualification, 2006	22
Table 3.8: 	All persons aged 15 years and over with a non-school qualification in a field related to health or community services: field of study by labour force status, 2006	24
Table 3.9: 	Medical practitioners: selected characteristics, 2006	25
Table 3.10: 	Medical imaging workers: selected characteristics, 2006	27
Table 3.11: 	Dental workers: selected characteristics, 2006	28
Table 3.12: 	Nursing workers: selected characteristics, 2006	29
Table 3.13: 	Pharmacist workers: selected characteristics, 2006	30
Table 3.14: 	Allied health workers: selected characteristics, 2006	31
Table 3.15: 	Complementary health workers: selected characteristics, 2006	32
Table 3.16: 	Other health workers: selected characteristics, 2006	33
Table 3.17: 	Child and youth services workers: selected characteristics, 2006	35
Table 3.18: 	Family services workers: selected characteristics, 2006	35
Table 3.19: 	Disability services workers and aged and/or disabled care workers: 
selected characteristics, 2006	36
Table 3.20: 	Other community services workers: selected characteristics, 2006	37
Table 4.1: 	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: number per 
100,000 population, states and territories, 2006	39
Table 4.2: 	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: number per 
100,000 population, Remoteness Areas, 2006	40

Table A2.1: 	Health and community services occupations: ANZSCO description
Table A3.1: 	Health care and social assistance industries: ANZSIC description
Table A4.1: 	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: number per 100,000 population, Australia, 1996, 2001 and 2006
Table A4.2: 	Persons employed in health and social assistance industries: number per 100,000 population, Australia, 1996, 2001 and 2006
Table A4.3: 	Persons employed in health and community services industries: number and number per 100,000 population, states and territories, 2001 and 2006
Table A4.4: 	Persons employed in health and community services industries: number and number per 100,000 population, states and territories, 2001 and 2006
Table A4.5: 	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: age group by sex, 2001 and 2006
Table A4.6: 	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: states and territories, 2006
Table A4.7: 	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: Remoteness 
Areas, 2006
	
	List of figures  
Figure 1.1:	Health and community services occupations and associated industries
Figure 2.1:	Persons employed in health occupations: number of workers per 100,000 
population, Australia, 1996, 2001 and 2006
Figure 2.2: 	Persons employed in community services occupations: number per 100,000 
population, Australia, 1996, 2001 and 2006
Figure 2.3:	Persons employed in selected health industries: number per 100,000 
population, Australia, 1996, 2001 and 2006
Figure 2.4: 	Persons employed in social assistance industries: number per 100,000 population, 
Australia, 1996, 2001 and 2006
Figure 2.5: 	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: number of 
workers per 100,000 population, states and territories, 2001 and 2006
Figure 2.6: 	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: number per 
100,000 population by Remoteness Areas, 2001 and 2006
Figure 3.1: 	Persons employed in health occupations: age group by sex, 2001 and 2006
Figure 3.2: 	Persons employed in community services occupations: age group by sex, 
2001 and 2006
Figure 3.3: 	Persons employed in health and community services occupations: total hours 
worked per week by sex, 2006