Palliative care workforce

In 2021, 289 full-time equivalent (FTE) palliative medicine physicians and 3,080 FTE palliative care nurses were employed in Australia. This section provides information on the number and characteristics of the employed workforce of physicians with a primary specialty of palliative medicine (referred to as ‘palliative medicine physicians’) and nurses working in palliative care (referred to as ‘palliative care nurses’).

This information was sourced from the National Health Workforce Dataset (NHWDS) for the period 2013 to 2021. It only includes information on medical practitioners and nurses, as these professionals can be specifically identified as palliative care providers using the Department of Health and Aged Care’s Health Workforce Data Tool (HWDT).

The palliative care workforce is made up of a broad range of professional groups, each playing a unique role in supporting people with a life limiting illness to receive comprehensive, patient-centred care. It is recognised that general practitioners, other medical specialists, social workers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and other allied health professionals form an integral part of the palliative care workforce. However, existing national data sources are not able to accurately capture the extent of palliative care services provided by these health professionals. See Data sources for further details.

The information in this section was last updated in November 2023.

Key points

In 2021:

  • there were 289 full-time equivalent palliative medicine physicians (1.1 per 100,000 population) and 3,080 full-time equivalent palliative care nurses (12 per 100,000 population)
  • women accounted for 2 in 3 (64%) employed palliative medicine physicians and 9 in 10 (92%) employed palliative care nurses
  • most worked in Major cities – over 4 in 5 (84%) employed palliative medicine physicians and almost 3 in 4 (72%) employed palliative care nurses
  • 3 in 4 (73%) employed palliative medicine physicians worked in a hospital setting, compared with over half (52%) for employed palliative care nurses.

Between 2013 and 2021:

  • the number of employed palliative medicine physicians increased by 70% (from 183 to 311) – steeper than that observed for all employed specialist medical practitioners (36% increase, or from 29,200 to 39,700)
  • for employed palliative care nurses, the number increased by 16% (from 3,265 to 3,798) between 2013 and 2020, and then decreased by 7.4% to 3,518 in 2021. While the number of all employed nurses and midwives increased each year by 24% (from 295,100 to 366,700) over the same period.

Downloads

PDF version of this section

Latest data tables

Characteristics of specialist palliative care workforce

In 2021, there were 311 palliative medicine physicians (289 FTE) and 3,518 palliative care nurses (3,080 FTE) employed in Australia, accounting for 0.8% of all employed specialist medical practitioners and 1.0% of all employed nurses and midwives.

In 2021, among employed palliative medicine physicians and palliative care nurses (Figure Wk.1):

  • Almost 2 in 3 (64%) palliative medicine physicians were women – almost twice as high as for all employed specialist medical practitioners (36%; Table Wk.7). Female palliative care physicians were younger than their male counterparts (76% and 65% were aged under 55, respectively).
  • Almost 9 in 10 (92%) palliative care nurses were women – slightly higher than the proportion among all employed nurses and midwives (88%; Table Wk.8). Female palliative care nurses were older than their male counterparts (32% and 22% were aged 55 and over, respectively).
  • The rate of palliative medicine physicians (FTE per 100,000 population) ranged from 0.8 in South Australia to 1.4 in New South Wales (data are not presented for Australian Capital Territory and North Territory due to small numbers). For palliative care nurses, the rate ranged from 10.4 in Queensland to 15.8 in Northern Territory.  
  • More than half of palliative medicine physicians and palliative care nurses worked in a hospital setting (73% and 52%, respectively) and most were principally employed as a clinician (93% for palliative medicine physicians and 95% for palliative care nurses, respectively).
  • Of the 3,518 palliative care nurses, over 4 in 5 (83% or 2,925) were registered nurses (only) and 15% (509) were enrolled nurses (only), see Table Wk.1. 

Further, 97 nurse practitioners worked in palliative care with 80 of those employed as a nurse practitioner in 2021 (see Factsheets on Nursing and Midwifery for further details). 

In addition, according to data from the Medical Board of Australia Registrant, there were 6 paediatric palliative medicine physicians in Australia over the period 01 October 2021 to 31 December 2021, accounting for 0.2% of all physicians with a primary speciality of paediatrics and child health (3,556) over this period (MBA 2021). 

Figure WK.1: Characteristics of employed palliative medicine physicians and palliative care nurses, 2021

Figure 1.1: This interactive visualisation shows the number and percent of employed palliative medicine physicians and palliative care nurses by sex and age group in 2021. Physicians aged 35–44 accounted for the largest proportion of palliative medicine physicians both for males and females (with publishable data). For palliative care nurses, male nurses aged 35–54 accounted for the largest proportion and female nurses aged 45–64 accounted for the largest proportion. 

Figure 1.2: This interactive visualisation shows the number of employees, number of FTE employee, FTE per 100,000 population, number of clinical FTE employees and clinical FTE per 100,00 population of palliative medicine physicians and palliative care nurses by states and territories in 2021. New South Wales had the highest number of palliative medicine physicians, while Victoria had the highest number of palliative care nurses.

Figure 1.3: This interactive visualisation shows the number of employees, number of FTE employee, FTE per 100,000 population, number of clinical FTE employees and clinical FTE per 100,00 population of palliative medicine physicians and palliative care nurses by principal role in 2021. Clinician was the most common principal role of the job for both palliative medicine physicians and palliative care nurses.

Figure 1.4: This interactive visualisation shows the number of employees, number of FTE employee, FTE per 100,000 population, number of clinical FTE employees and clinical FTE per 100,00 population of palliative medicine physicians and palliative care nurses by work setting in 2021. Hospital was the most common work setting for both palliative medicine physicians and palliative care nurses.

Visualisation not available for printing

Hours worked

In 2021, among employed palliative medicine physicians and palliative care nurses (Figure Wk.2):

  • Palliative medicine physicians worked an average of 37 total hours per week (30 clinical hours), which was less than the average weekly hours for all employed specialist medical practitioners (42 total hours and 35 clinical hours, respectively).
  • Palliative care nurses worked an average of 33 total hours per week (31 clinical hours), similar to that worked by all employed nurses and midwives (34 total hours and 30 clinical hours, respectively).
  • Men worked longer hours on average per week than women both for palliative medicine physicians (41 compared with 35 total hours) and palliative care nurses (36 compared with 33 total hours). This is consistent with the pattern observed for all employed specialist medical practitioners and all employed nurses and midwives. 
  • For palliative medicine physicians, the average hours worked per week varied by states and territories, ranging from 31 total hours in South Australia to 42 total hours in Queensland (note data are not presented for Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory due to small counts). 
  • For palliative care nurses, the average hours worked per week ranged from 31 total hours in Tasmania to 35 total hours in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory. 
  • The average hours worked per week for palliative medicine physicians ranged from 32–38 hours and for palliative care nurses from 30–34 hours across most work settings. However, palliative medicine physician working primarily in private practice tended to work longer hours, while palliative care nurses worked fewer hours. Note that the average hours worked per week for private practice was based on small counts – 12 for palliative medicine physicians and 8 for palliative care nurses.  


Figure Wk.2: Average hours worked per week by employed palliative medicine physicians and palliative care nurses, 2021

Figure 2.1: This interactive visualisation shows average total hours and average clinical hours for palliative medicine physicians and palliative care nurses by sex in 2021. Palliative medicine physicians had longer average total hours than palliative care nurses, while palliative care nurses had longer average clinical hours than palliative medicine physicians for both males and females.

Figure 2.2: This interactive visualisation shows average total hours and average clinical hours for palliative medicine physicians and palliative care nurses by states and territories in 2021. Palliative medicine physicians in Queensland had the longest average total hours, and palliative care nurses in New South Wales had the longest average total hours out of all states and territories.

Figure 2.3: This interactive visualisation shows average total hours and average clinical hours for palliative medicine physicians and palliative care nurses by work setting in 2021. Palliative medicine physicians in tertiary educational facilities had the longest average total hours, and palliative care nurses in outpatient services had the longest average total hours.

Trends

Between 2013 and 2021, the number of employed palliative medicine physicians increased each year from 183 to 311 (70% increase) – a steeper increase than that observed for all employed specialist medical practitioners (36% increase over this period). The growth in physicians was steeper for females than males for both palliative medicine physicians (88% vs 45%) and all specialist medical practitioners (73% vs 21%). After accounting for population size, the FTE rate for palliative medicine physicians and specialist medical practitioners also increased slightly between 2013 and 2021– for palliative medicine physicians from 0.8 to 1.1 FTE per 100,000 population, and for specialist medical practitioners from 139 to 161 FTE per 100,000 population (Figure Wk.3).

The number of employed palliative care nurses generally increased each year to 2020 – from 3,265 to 3,798 or 16% increase between 2013 and 2020. It then declined by 7.4% in the 12 months to 3,518 in 2021. Over the same period, the number of all employed nurses and midwives increased each year by 24% (from 295,100 to 366,700). When taking into account the size of the population a slightly different pattern emerged – for palliative care nurses the FTE rate per 100,000 population remained relatively stable between 2013 and 2018 (12.0–12.2 FTE), it then increased in 2019 (to 12.5 FTE) and in 2020 (to 12.8 FTE), before declining again to 12.0 FTE in 2021. While for all nurses and midwives the FTE rate per 100,000 population increased slightly each year from 1,155 to 1,274 FTE between 2013 and 2021 (Figure Wk.3).

The average number of total hours worked per week has declined slightly for palliative medicine physicians – from 39 hours (in 2013–2016) to 38 hours (in 2017–2018) to 37 hours in 2019–2021. While for palliative care nurses the average hours worked has remained relatively stable (around 33 hours) over the same period (Figure Wk.3). Both showed an increase in total hours worked per week for 2021 compared to 2020, with palliative medicine physicians increasing by 0.3 hours (36.9 to 37.2) and palliative care nurses by 0.5 hours (32.8 to 33.3).

Figure Wk.3: Trends in employed palliative medicine physicians and palliative care nurses, 2013–2021

Figure 3.1: This interactive visualisation shows the trend of number of employees, number of FTE employee, FTE per 100,000 population, number of clinical FTE employees and clinical FTE per 100,00 population for palliative medicine physicians and all specialist medical practitioners by sex between 2013 and 2021. The number of both professions trended upwards from 2013 to 2021.

Figure 3.2: This interactive visualisation shows the trend of number of employees, number of FTE employee, FTE per 100,000 population, number of clinical FTE employees and clinical FTE per 100,00 population for palliative care nurses and all nurses and midwives by sex between 2013 and 2021. The number of employed palliative care nurses generally increased each year to 2020, and then declined from 2020 to 2021; meanwhile, the number of all nurses and midwives trended upwards from 2013 to 2021.

Figure 3.3: This interactive visualisation shows the trend of average total hours and average clinical hours for palliative medicine physicians and palliative care nurses by sex between 2013 and 2021. The average total hours worked per week had declined slightly for palliative medicine physicians, while for palliative care nurses the average total hours worked per week had remained relatively stable between 2013 and 2021.