Community services workforce insights

Workforce insights has been developed to inform government skills planning and to support employers and individuals to make informed workforce and skill development decisions. These reports bring together advice from South Australia's Industry Skills Councils (ISCs) and their networks, labour market and training data and industry research to explore the latest trends in skills and workforce development. The reports were developed prior to, and in the early stages of, the global outbreak of [Coronavirus Disease 2019] Coronavirus (COVID-19), and it is evident that significant disruption has since occurred - impacting both industry and the demand for a skilled workforce, as well as the ability of employers to commence and retain apprentices and trainees. The need for further consideration of the impacts relevant to each industry is noted, and work in this regard has commenced.

Community services are typically provided by government and the not for profit sector, although the for-profit sector is also involved through operations such as aged care facilities. The community services sector is comprised of a wide range of sub-sectors including adult community education, aged and disability care, residential care, employment services and other interest group services. Health, disability, aged care and community services provide support and care to the most vulnerable people in society. The complex health needs of consumers mean that services are often multidisciplinary and interrelated, not mutually exclusive. It is recommended that the care sector workforce insights [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 141.201, TD/TNC 141.208 and TD/TNC 141.211] are read in conjunction with each other to improve understanding of the relationship between services and the complexity of service provision.

The key findings in this report are: The community services sector is expected to grow over the next five years, driven by a combination of the NDIS, government funding, income and donations. NDIS consumer movement between services creates some instability for community service providers; For many community cohorts, homogeneous services create barriers and further disadvantage vulnerable people; There is potential for the community services sector to move to a more person-centred care model, to offer services tailored to the specific needs of consumers; Working conditions, including low wages and casualisation, mean retention is a problem for the sector; The community services workforce must reflect the diversity of the community and the consumers that access services; The lack of adequate services in regional areas adds to the disadvantage faced by vulnerable people in these locations; A reliance on fly in, fly out health and community services workers in regional and remote areas restricts the development of trusting relationships for consumers, and limits the ability of regional communities to build their own workforce.

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