Ear, nose and throat specialists
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Introduction Overview Age and sex State and territory Remoteness Job setting Over time-
87%
of ENT specialists (around 500 FTE) report their principal place of practice to be in Major cities in 2024.
-
79%
of ENT specialists (around 450 FTE) reported that they mainly worked in a private practice in 2024.
Ear, nose and throat specialists, often referred to as ENTs, are specialist surgeons who investigate and treat conditions involving the ear, nose, throat, head and neck.
About the data
Data in this section are from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing's National Health Workforce Dataset (NHWDS). NHWDS data comes from the annual registration process for 14 health professions, along with information from a workforce survey that is voluntarily completed at the time of registration. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), in conjunction with the national health professional registration boards, is responsible for the national registration process.
Data in the NHWDS includes demographic and employment information for registered health professionals – for example, labour force status, location of main job, area of practice and work setting.
For more information see: National Health Workforce Dataset.
The information reported includes a measure of the full-time equivalent (FTE) workforce. This is a standard measure of the size of a workforce that considers both the number of workers and the hours that each works. For ENT specialists, 40 hours per week is assumed to be the full-time workload of 1 worker. On that basis, if for example a workforce was made up of 2 people working 20 hours per week each, that would be a FTE of 1 worker.
Overview
In 2024, 514 ENT specialists were employed in Australia. On average, ENTs worked 45 hours per week. This is greater than the assumed standard working week of 40 hours, so the full-time equivalent ENT specialist workforce was 567. This is a rate of 2.1 ENTs (full-time equivalent) per 100,000 (Data Table 5.2a).
Fewer than 5 ENT specialists identified as First Nations people.
Age and sex
Around 6 in 10 ENT specialists were aged 35–54 (61% or 311 specialists, 372 FTE) and nearly 2 in 10 (19% or 89 specialists, 65FTE) were aged 65 and over.
Around 20% of ENT specialists were women (102 specialists, 114 FTE) and 80% were men (412 specialists, 454 FTE).
State and territory
The highest proportion of ENT specialists were in New South Wales, with 33% (169 specialists, 190 FTE) indicating that state as their principal place of practice. South Australia had the highest rate of ENT specialists (2.8 FTE per 100,000 population) (Figure WORKFORCE 5).
Figure WORKFORCE 5: ENT specialists, number of FTE, by state/ territory of work, 2024
Column chart show number of ENT specialists (full time equivalent) is highest in NSW at 187 and lowest in the NT at 3.
| State | FTE per 100,000 |
|---|---|
| NSW | 2.2 |
| Vic | 2 |
| Qld | 2.2 |
| WA | 1.7 |
| SA | 2.8 |
| Tas | 0.9 |
| ACT | 1.3 |
| NT | n.p. |
| State | Number of FTE |
|---|---|
| NSW | 190 |
| Vic | 140.3 |
| Qld | 122 |
| WA | 50.1 |
| SA | 52 |
| Tas | 5 |
| ACT | 6 |
| NT | <5 |
- FTE = Full-time equivalent
- Data are based on registered otolaryngologists employed in Australia.
- FTE is based on a 40-hour work week.
- NT FTE not published due to small numbers.
Source:
Source: AIHW analysis of Australian Government Department of Health National Health Workforce Dataset, 2023; and ABS population estimates for rate calculations.
Remoteness
The principal place of practice of over 4 in 5 ENT specialists was in Major cities (87%, 449 ENT specialists, 495 FTE) (data table 5.2c).
Job setting
There were 407 ENT specialists (79.8%, 454 FTE) reported that they mainly worked in private practice (Data Table 5.2d).
Over time
The number of ENT specialists employed in Australia increased from 420 (485 FTE) in 2013 to 514 (567 FTE) in 2024. However, this increase in numbers has just kept pace with growth in the overall population over this period – the number of ENT specialists per 100,000 population remained stable within the range of 2.0 to 2.2 per 100,000 population in the decade to 2024 (Table WORKFORCE 1).
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of ENTs | 420 | 427 | 443 | 459 | 455 | 458 | 475 | 481 | 498 | 498 | 500 | 514 |
| FTE | 484 | 472 | 499 | 525 | 530 | 516 | 540 | 510 | 533 | 547 | 559 | 567 |
| FTE per 100,000 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
Notes:
- ENT specialists are medical practitioners employed in Australia with the surgical specialisation of otolaryngology.
- FTE rate is per 100,000 Australian population.
Source: AIHW analysis of Australian Government Department of Health National Health Workforce Dataset, 2023; and ABS population estimates for rate calculations.
Specialist services in First Nations-specific primary health-care organisations
In 2023–24, 38 (16.5%) of First Nations-specific primary health-care organisations reporting data to the AIHW Online Services Report database collection either employed or had visiting ENT specialists. The proportion of these organisations with an ENT specialist generally increased from 12.3% in 2013–14 to 20.2% in 2017–18. A large decrease in 2018–19 (to 13.8%) was followed by a peak of 32.1% in 2019–20.