Community health and allied services

Industry characteristics and trends

The Community Services and Health industries are growth industries and together employ over 924,000 workers.

Employment trends in the industry include:

• Employment growth of 10.6% since 1996 and continued growth is projected;
• Female dominated employment with women making up 86% of the workforce in community services and 76% in health; 
• High proportions of part time work with 52.4% of women and 33.4% of men employed part time;
• An ageing workforce with 39% of the workforce being over the age of 45;
• Rising expenditure on health (2.8% per annum) and welfare (5.9% per annum) which affects the quantity and skills of labour demand;
• Increasing demand for labour intensive caring services due to shifts in the cause of illnesses away from infectious disease to chronic disease;
• A shift towards home and community care due to de-institutionalisation;
• Increasing recognition of the specialised needs of people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, indigenous Australians, and rural and remote communities;
• An ageing population is shifting service provision towards meeting the needs of older people. 

Jobs available

There are many potential career paths and opportunities in Community Services and Health. Most jobs in the industry require qualifications, and it is necessary to have Certificate III level qualifications to be eligible for consideration for employment. There is also a recognised demand for aged care workers, nurses of various specialisations and for child care workers. Traineeship positions are an excellent method of entry into the industry.

Employment opportunities for people without higher education generally fall within the following categories of work:

Aged Care and Disability Work
Personal care worker, nursing assistant, community care worker, carer, respite care worker.

Ambulance
Ambulance transport officer, patient transport officer or attendant, ambulance officer, ambulance paramedic or attendant.

Child Protection
Care worker, family care worker, foster parent, residential care worker, and children’s support worker.
 
Children’s Services
Childcare assistant, family day carer, nanny, recreation assistant.
  
Community Development & Services
General and Specialist. Assistant community worker, contact officer, customer service officer, reception/front desk staff, alcohol and drug worker, case worker, recreation officer, juvenile justice officer, youth worker, housing officer, indigenous youth officer, detoxification worker, family support workers, health education officer, outreach worker, welfare worker, telephone counsellor, domestic violence help line counsellor.
 
Complementary and Alternative Health Care
Health care assistant – specialisations include: massage, Ayurvedic lifestyle, shiatsu, traditional Chinese medicine remedial massage, remedial massage, herbal medicine, homeopathy, naturopathy. 
 
Dental
Assisting, Technology & Prosthetics  Dental assistant - specialisations include dental radiography, oral health education and general anaesthesia and conscious sedation.  Diploma level qualifications are required to work as a dental technician or dental prosthetist.
 
Employment Services
Client services officer, disability employment support worker, employment consultant, receptionist, field officer, job matching consultant, trainee placement and recruitment officer. 
 
General Health Services
Delivery Food Support Services – kitchen hand, food services, assistant cook; Client/patient support/health service assistant – porter, ward assistant, hospital assistant, support service worker, personal care worker;Pathology specimen collection – assistant;

Health Technicians Management 
Most jobs in this field require at least a Certificate III qualification.  Fields include: prosthetic/orthotic technology, mortuary technician, audiometry, cardiac technician, cast technician, hyperbaric technician.
 
Social Housing
At an entry level, job names include; house assistant, administrative assistant, tenant administration worker, clerical worker.  
Youth Work  Case worker, client contact officer, indigenous youth worker, intake and referral worker, juvenile justice officer, recreational activities officer, residential care worker, support worker, youth case worker, youth officer. 

Employer requirements

Increasingly, the delivery of community and health services is governed by service standards that are set at a national level. In most areas such as aged, child or disability care services, service providers are required to continuously demonstrate their quality standards in order to maintain service provider registration, eligibility for public funding and/or the operation of private services.

With such service registration processes, employers must be able to demonstrate that they employ people with appropriate skills and competencies and so Certificate level qualifications are very important in many fields. Potential applicants must at least demonstrate willingness to undertake such training. How regulations are applied also varies across states and territories. Employers and agencies in this field will usually be forthcoming in describing their particular requirements. 

What an employer might ask

Generic employment skills and attributes are obviously important in this field such as reliability, relevant skills and experience, a positive attitude to work and responsible conduct in the work place including adherence to occupational health and safety requirements and the ability to follow systems and procedures. Attributes particularly important for work in community services and health include:

• A commitment to upholding the rights of people;
• Patience and good communication skills;
• Fitness is important in many settings including the ability to lift and carry weights at times;
• Willingness and demonstrated capacity to gain accreditation and skills. 
• Employers will be seeking to identify how applicants can demonstrate these skills. 

Where the jobs are located

Jobs are found across Australia wherever there are people. Employment is provided by a mix of government and non-government organisations (for profit, not for profit and charitable) with government as the main provider and funder of services.

Employment wages and conditions

Due to the diversity of job types in this industry, wages and conditions vary widely across sectors. Employees based in hospitals for example are generally paid according to award rates set down in conjunction with the Hospital Services Union. Employees based in community and not for profit settings are likely to be paid according to awards struck with the Australian Services Union. In local government, other awards and enterprise agreements are likely to apply. Roughly, a full-time adult entry level employee can expect to earn between $450 - $600 per week with variations according to qualifications, experience, age, hours of work or whether the position is casual, permanent or contract.

Conditions of Employment

Similarly, conditions of employment vary widely depending on the employer size, resources and function. Generally, there are some clear benefits and disadvantages. In the community sector, resources are often constrained and there can be limited opportunities for career progression and increases in pay. At the same time, there are often high levels of job satisfaction due to the contribution that can be made to community and social life and the opportunity to work in an area of interest. Child-care, for example, is a field that is not very well paid; yet many people believe that the advantages of working with children are worth the disincentive of low wages. In the health sectors, it is possible to find secure employment with opportunities for skill development and career advancement.  The sector is highly variable, however, in terms of funding, resources and is often heavily affected by changes in government policy.
 
A growing trend within the sector is the high level of part-time and casual work, with hours of work often being unpredictable.  This can either benefit or disadvantage employees.  For example, many people find it an excellent way to combine work and family responsibilities or other interests and commitments. Many casual positions can progress into part-time or full-time work.

Training

The Health Training Package and the Community Services Training Package define the nationally recognised skills and knowledge people need to work in the industries. People seeking training for a career and who do not want to undertake higher education studies can access qualifications from Certificate II through to Advanced Diploma from the Community Services and Health Training Packages. Training may also be combined with work via traineeships or New Apprenticeships, as they are now known.

The Salvation Army Employment Plus placements

The Salvation Army Employment Plus has consistently filled vacancies for nurses’ aids, personal assistants, child care workers, aged care workers or disability carers.

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