Key Takeaways:
- The 2025 Occupation Shortage Report shows healthcare and community service roles remain among the hardest to fill, with fill rates below the national average.
- Shortages in aged care, disability support, childcare, and nursing keep these sectors at the top of the occupation shortage list.
- Persistent demand stems from demographic ageing, high turnover, regulated training pathways, and greater challenges in regional areas.
- These shortages affect more than employers: childcare and aged care gaps limit workforce participation, while reduced access to health services weakens community wellbeing.
- Expanding vocational education and training programs in care sectors is essential for effective workforce planning, ensuring graduates are job-ready and employers can fill critical roles.
Healthcare and community services are the backbone of every community. Yet Jobs and Skills Australia’s (JSA) Occupation Shortage Report for June 2025 shows that employers in these sectors are struggling more than most to recruit and retain staff. While vacancy fill rates are improving across the economy, care-related roles continue to sit stubbornly on the occupation shortage list.
This blog explores why healthcare and community service occupations remain a consistently in-demand occupation group in Australia, what the latest data means for communities, and how vocational education and training (VET) providers can shape future workforce planning to strengthen this essential sector.
The Stakes for Communities
When employers cannot fill healthcare and social care roles, the impact ripples far beyond workforce statistics. Communities feel the shortages directly:
- Healthcare access declines, with longer hospital wait times and reduced capacity in local clinics.
- Aged care and disability services face understaffing, putting vulnerable Australians at risk.
- Childcare shortages reduce available places, limiting parents’ ability to participate in the broader workforce.
- Mental health support becomes harder to access, leaving community members without early intervention or ongoing care.
These outcomes demonstrate why healthcare and community services dominate the occupation shortage list. They are not just jobs but roles tied directly to community wellbeing and economic participation.
What the 2025 Data Shows
JSA’s report highlights a clear trend: despite progress elsewhere, community services and healthcare remain under strain.
- Community and Personal Service Workers: Fill rate fell to 68.6%, down from the previous quarter.
- Healthcare Professionals: Fill rate improved to 71.3%, but gaps remain in nursing, allied health, and mental health.
- Support Labourers: Fill rate of 65.3%, showing consistent shortages in essential care-related support work.
Even where applicant numbers have risen, suitability remains low. Employers report that many candidates lack the regulated qualifications or practical experience required. This mismatch reinforces the need for stronger vocational education and training pipelines tailored to these sectors.
Why These Shortages Persist
Demographic Pressures
Australia’s ageing population continues to increase demand for aged care and disability support services. With life expectancy rising and more people living with chronic conditions, the demand curve for care workers is climbing faster than training pipelines can supply.
Workforce Retention and Turnover
High turnover rates are a defining feature of community and personal service roles. Factors include:
- Physically and emotionally demanding work
- Lower pay compared to professional qualifications required
- Limited career progression in some care pathways
Training Pathways
Care roles often require formal certification or licensing, meaning workers cannot simply walk into the job. This makes the role of RTOs delivering vocational education and training even more critical. Without robust pipelines, employers are left with vacancies that remain open for months.
Workforce Mobility
Regional areas are particularly affected. Healthcare providers outside major cities find it harder to attract professionals, and once workers relocate to metro areas for training, many may not return. This mobility gap is a key reason why the shortages are sharper in rural and remote Australia.
Ripple Effects Across Society
Shortages in healthcare and community services do not exist in isolation. They affect other sectors of the economy. For example:
- Childcare shortages reduce workforce participation rates, particularly among women.
- Aged care gaps increase reliance on unpaid carers, often pulling family members out of the labour market.
- Mental health service gaps lead to higher costs for employers through absenteeism and reduced productivity.
In this sense, leaving these roles unfilled is not only a social issue but an economic one. Addressing shortages in these areas must be a central part of national workforce planning.
Where Vocational Education and Training Can Intervene
RTOs and other VET providers are uniquely positioned to address shortages in healthcare and community services. Strategies include:
- Expanding Course Delivery: Scale qualifications in aged care, disability, and childcare to match demand on the occupation shortage list.
- Integrating Practical Training: Partner with hospitals, aged care facilities, and childcare providers to embed placements that prepare students for real-world challenges.
- Providing Retention-focused Training: Embed resilience, communication, and workplace wellbeing skills into programs to reduce post-graduation turnover.
- Offering Regional Delivery: Provide block or blended modes of learning to increase accessibility for regional learners, reducing the workforce mobility gap.
- Marketing Microcredentials: Offer short, targeted courses to upskill existing staff into higher-demand areas such as dementia care or disability support.
By designing training that is industry-linked and accessible, VET providers can ensure more learners graduate with the skills employers urgently need.
Workforce Planning for the Future of Care
The 2025 report is not just about today’s shortages, but also a preview of tomorrow’s. Healthcare and community services will remain an occupation in demand in Australia well into the next decade. Effective workforce planning must anticipate this.
Future-focused strategies include:
- Forecasting Long-term Demand: Use demographic data to anticipate spikes in aged care and disability roles.
- Building Clear Pathways: Create seamless progression from entry-level certificates through to diplomas and higher qualifications.
- Upskilling the Existing Workforce: Support career advancement for those already in the sector to fill supervisory and specialist roles.
- Embedding New Technologies: Prepare graduates for care models that incorporate digital health tools, telehealth, and assistive technologies.
Forward-thinking workforce planning ensures that today’s RTO decisions set the stage for tomorrow’s stable care workforce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are healthcare and community service roles on the occupation shortage list?
They remain on the list due to demographic pressures, high turnover, and regulated training requirements. As the national population ages, these roles will continue to be an occupation in demand in Australia.
How do shortages in care industries affect the broader economy?
Gaps in childcare reduce parental workforce participation, while aged care shortages increase reliance on unpaid carers. Both contribute to lower productivity and higher costs across industries.
What role can vocational education and training play in addressing these shortages?
RTOs can expand qualifications in aged care, disability, and childcare, integrate practical placements, and use blended delivery to support regional students. This strengthens pipelines into care roles.
Why are regional areas hit harder by healthcare and community service shortages?
Regional employers face smaller applicant pools, limited training options, and difficulties attracting workers from cities. This makes workforce planning in regional contexts especially urgent.
How can training improve retention in the care workforce?
Embedding employability and resilience skills into training programs helps graduates manage the demands of care roles. Ongoing upskilling and clear career pathways also improve retention.
Conclusion: Closing the Care Gap
The June 2025 Occupation Shortage Report highlights a truth Australia cannot ignore: healthcare and community service roles remain some of the most difficult vacancies to fill. These occupations dominate the occupation shortage list not only because of demographic and workforce challenges, but because they underpin the social and economic health of the nation.
For RTOs, the opportunity is clear. By aligning vocational education and training with the realities of community demand and investing in long-term workforce planning, providers can prepare graduates for the occupations that matter most. In doing so, they support not just employers, but the wellbeing and resilience of communities across Australia.
