Employment changes and job openings for new entrants in nursing and caring occupations in Australia

The composition of the nursing and caring workforce in Australia has changed substantially over the last 15 years. The workforce has an older age profile, works shorter hours and employs substantially more carers. In spite of the ageing of the population and a substantial increase in the number of patient separations, the number of nursing workers employed per 100,000 population has not changed much from around 1100 during this period. This suggests nursing labour productivity has increased substantially, or nursing workers are being substituted with carers or quality of care has declined. Based on growth and net replacement projections and expected supply of nurse graduates from universities, a shortfall of 900 professional nurses per year is estimated in the absence of any policy changes or intake through immigration.