The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has
released two reports about important segments of the allied health
labour force in Australia - psychologists and occupational
therapists.
Drawing from a number of sources, including AIHW surveys,
figures from registration boards, and Australian Bureau of
Statistics (ABS) labour force and census data, these reports
describe various aspects of the two professions including some
demographic and work characteristics of people employed in the
psychology and occupational therapy professions.
Some of the findings from Psychology labour force 2003
were:
o In 2004-05 there were 22,175 registered psychologists in
Australia (excluding the Northern Territory and the Australian
Capital Territory, where registration figures were not
available).
o Over 80% of surveyed psychologists were working in the
profession.
o Psychology appears to be a predominantly female
occupation.
Findings from the Occupational therapy labour force
2002-2003 report include:
o According to ABS census figures, there were about 5,300
employed occupational therapists in Australia in 2001.
o Over 80% of surveyed occupational therapists were working in
the profession.
o Occupational therapy also appears to be a predominantly female
occupation.
Ms Glenice Taylor, Head of the AIHW's Labour Force Unit said the
Institute intends to do more work in these areas.
'The Institute aims to expand and improve its allied health data
collections over the next few years. We plan to work with major
stakeholders to improve the quality and timeliness of these
collections,' she said.
19 July 2006
Further information: Ms Glenice Taylor, AIHW,
tel. 02 6244 1153
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. 61 2 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability of the Psychology labour force
2003 and Occupational therapy
labour force 2002-2003 reports.