Health Care and Social Assistance

EMPLOYED

2,266,700

PART-TIME SHARE

44%

WORKFORCE SHARE

15.6%

FEMALE SHARE

77%

MEDIAN WEEKLY EARNINGS

$1,620

MEDIAN AGE

40

Health Care and Social Assistance is the largest employing industry. Around 15.6% of workers have their main job in this industry.

This industry covers services like:

  • hospitals
  • general and specialist medical services
  • pathology and diagnostic imaging services
  • dental and allied health care
  • ambulance services
  • child care
  • aged and residential care.

Median earnings are $1,620 per week, lower than all industries median earnings of $1,700.

On this page

    Employment

    Employment in the Health Care and Social Assistance industry grew over the 20 years to November 2024.
    The number of workers grew by 70,200 (or 3.2%) over the last year.

    Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, November 2024, Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) trend data.
    Note: Over the COVID-19 pandemic period (highlighted section in the chart above), some industries have censored values, resulting in a broken series for impacted industries. This is due to large quarterly fluctuations in employment resulting in trend data being unreliable for these quarters. Where data are available over the COVID-19 pandemic period, JSA recommends caution when using these trend estimates.
    Quarterly employment, Health Care and Social Assistance Employment
    964100
    974100
    984900
    997400
    1011400
    1025600
    1037600
    1046000
    1053000
    1059400
    1065600
    1071800
    1079700
    1088500
    1098100
    1110400
    1128000
    1148600
    1167900
    1183000
    1194700
    1207300
    1222400
    1239600
    1256600
    1271800
    1286100
    1301400
    1316300
    1328600
    1338900
    1348300
    1357100
    1364400
    1369300
    1373400
    1378700
    1383300
    1388600
    1398700
    1416600
    1441700
    1468400
    1492800
    1512100
    1525400
    1535600
    1544300
    1557700
    1577500
    1603800
    1628700
    1648300
    1661500
    1669200
    1674800
    1681500
    1690100
    1701800
    1717000
    1731400
    1740500
    1745600
    1753800
    1768500
    1792300
    1825200
    1865600
    1912600
    1961800
    2005700
    2043700
    2078900
    2111900
    2142000
    2169200
    2196500
    2219100
    2237000
    2251100
    2266700

    Sectors

    Hospitals is the largest sector in the Health Care and Social Assistance industry, employing 590,400 workers.

    Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, Detailed, November 2024, Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) trend data.
    Note: the sum of sectoral employment may not equal the industry total as data are trended separately, and not further defined (nfd) classifications have been excluded.
    Employment by industry sectors Employment
    Hospitals 590400
    Other Social Assistance Services 535700
    Allied Health Services 331500
    Residential Care Services 249400
    Medical Services 235000
    Child Care Services 165000
    Pathology and Diagnostic Imaging Services 64500
    Other Health Care Services 55300

    Occupations

    Registered Nurses is the largest employing occupation in the Health Care and Social Assistance industry.

    The 10 largest employing occupations are shown below.

    Some occupations are common across a number of industries.

    Largest employing occupations

    Source: Ranked using ABS, Labour Force Survey, 2023, four-quarter average data, customised report.
    ANZSCO CodeOccupation title
    2544Registered Nurses
    4231Aged and Disabled Carers
    4211Child Carers
    5421Receptionists
    4233Nursing Support and Personal Care Workers
    2531General Practitioners and Resident Medical Officers
    4117Welfare Support Workers
    5311General Clerks
    2525Physiotherapists
    1342Health and Welfare Services Managers

    Industry data

    This file contains data for all 19 industries to make comparing industry data easy. Information available includes:

    • industry overview
    • industry employment (20-year time series)
    • industry sector employment
    • top employing occupations by industry.

     

    Industry data - November 2024.xlsx

    industry_data_-_november_2024.xlsx119240

    Download