Labour force - community services

Overview of community services

Services are provided to the community by employees and volunteers, either as individuals or connected with a variety of businesses and charitable organisations, which operate across a wide range of industries. 

Community services include activities such as: personal and social support; child care; training and employment; financial and placement; corrective services; other direct community service activities; and policy, community and service development and support. 

Some of these services are provided directly - that is, to individuals or families on a face-to-face basis or on their behalf. Other services are provided indirectly.  These include administrative support, book-keeping, policy, research, and fund-raising. 

The community services workforce

The 2001 Population Census shows 237,000 people employed in community service occupations in Australia, an increase of 27% over the number in 1996. Of the total, 87% were females. Of the broad occupational groups, the largest was child and youth services workers, with 101,696 employees, followed by aged or disabled care (51,784). The fastest growing broad category between 1996 and 2001 was disability workers, up 58%. 

In 2001, the Australian Capital Territory had the highest rate of persons working in community services occupations, with 1,694 per 100,000 population, followed by the Northern Territory (1,589). New South Wales had the lowest rate, with 1,077 per 100,000 population.

Persons employed in community services occupations: broad occupation group by state/territory, 2001

Broad occupation	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Australia
Child & youth services	32,475	24,201	22,645	8,691	7,498	2,251	2,660	1,275	101,696
Family services	4,103	3,744	1,549	910	700	265	194	216	11,681
Disability workers	8,701	9,886	5,613	3,177	1,996	668	526	379	30,946
Aged or disabled care	12,522	14,243	9,710	5,390	6,403	2,227	873	416	51,784
Other community services	12,684	10,440	6,654	4,352	3,930	1,319	831	756	40,966
Total	70,485	62,514	46,171	22,520	20,527	6,730	5,084	3,042	237,073
Rate (per 100,000 pop.)	1,077	1,298	1,275	1,201	1,371	1,425	1,694	1,589	1,228

Community service industries

Not all workers in community service industries are in community service occupations. The 2001 ABS Census of Population and Housing indicated that community service industries employed people from a wide range of occupations, with the most numerous broad occupations being health professionals (32%) and service workers (21%).  Others included managers and administrators, associate professionals, clerical and sales workers, labourers and tradespersons. 

People employed in community services occupations work across a range of industries. Counsellors, for example, work in a wide range of industries, some of which are community services industries, and some of which relate to health, education or correctional services. In the ABS collection Community Services, Australia, 1999-2000, people working in community services occupations are shown across five broad community services industries: nursing homes, child care services, accommodation for the aged, residential care services n.e.c. and non-residential care services n.e.c . Of these, nursing homes (84,519) and non-residential care services (78,834) had the most employees. Non-residential care services had by far the most volunteers (77%).

Employment and volunteers in community service industries: type of service provision by industry, 1999-2000

	Nursing homes	Child care services	Accommodation for the aged	Residential care services, nec	Non-residential care services, nec	Total
Employment at end of June
Direct CS provision	75,298	38,346	35,569	19,022	52,446	220,681
Other	9,221	2,763	6,833	3,136	26,388	48,341
Total employees	84,519	41,109	42,402	22,158	78,834	269,022
Volunteers during June
Direct CS provision	11,523	3,987	11,406	14,363	131,685	172,964
Other	4,229	7,357	5,471	6,258	80,055	103,370
Total volunteers	15,752	11,344	16,877	20,620	211,741	276,334
Source: Community Services, Australia, 1999-2000 (Cat. No. 8696.0), ABS 2001

There were slightly more volunteers in community service industries in 1999-2000 than employees (276,334 and 269,022, respectively). Volunteers are much more likely to provide indirect services (37.4% in 1999-2000) than employees (18.0%). Even though their total numbers are similar, their distribution across industries were quite different.  For example, over three quarters (76.6%) of all volunteers provided services to non-residential care services industry compared with 29.3% of employees. Almost one third of employees (31.4%) worked in nursing homes compared with just 5.7% of volunteers.

The impact of the unpaid workers on community services workforce

In 1999-00 there were 144,267 full time equivalent (FTE) employed persons working in the community services industry. FTE is a standard measure that converts those working less than a full week to a proportion of a full week. By comparison, it was estimated that 974,000 FTE household members delivered welfare services at almost no charge in 1999-00, more than six times the FTE of paid workers. These household members' contribution was estimated at $27.2 billion, almost double the amount of the monetary welfare services expenditure ($13.7 billion). The unpaid household member therefore provides the bulk of welfare services, either independently or by undertaking voluntary work through community service organisations.

Men and women of working age (15 to 64 years) accounted for the bulk (84%) of the 1.8 billion hours of welfare services provided by households in 1999-00. 

Social trends

The supply of and demand for community services are affected by a range of factors, and the community services workforce is a key factor in both supply and demand.  For instance, the increasing number of women in the workforce has a dual effect on community services. The demand for services increases and the pool of unpaid labour providing services to children, disabled or older family members reduces. On the other hand, the relatively large number of workers moving into retirement over the next few years may augment the number of volunteers providing such services. 

Publications

The principal data source for health and community services occupations other than the Labour Force surveys is the five-yearly national census conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Information based on this source is published in the AIHW publications Health and Community Services labour force 1996 and Health and Community Services labour force 2001.

Employment in the community services industry is examined in some detail in Chapter 2 of Australia's Welfare 2001 and Chapter 4 of Australia's Welfare 2003.