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This report includes detailed information on the number of health and community services workers in Australia, along with their demographic and work characteristics. It is based mainly on data from the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census of Population and Housing, but also includes census data from the two earlier reports in the series, 'Health and community services labour force 1996' (indexed at TD/TNC 87.2302) and 'Health and community services labour force 2001' (indexed at TD/TNC 87.2301) (AIHW 2001, 2003). The labour force has two main components: (1) those that are employed (the workforce); and (2) those that are not employed (people not employed and who are looking for work). The main focus of the report is people in the health and community services workforce, although some data on unemployed people with qualifications relevant to health and community services occupations are also included. Key messages are that: in 2006, over nine per cent of Australia's workforce was employed in health and community services occupations - a 26% increase from 2001; between 2001 and 2006 the health workforce and community services workforce increased by 22.8% and 35.6% respectively; and over the same period, the health and community services workforce aged with the proportion of workers in the 55 to 64 years age bracket increasing by four percentage points. The report is structured as follows: chapter one provides introductory information; chapter two presents an overview of those employed in health and community services occupations and related industries at a broad level; chapter three presents more detail on the demographic characteristics, qualifications, work patterns and associated industries of the specific groupings of the health and community service occupations; chapter four focuses on geographic distribution; the first three appendices include detailed technical notes on the census data and the underlying classification systems used in the report; and the final two appendices contain additional data tables and links for accessing comprehensive online data.