Wages have been boosted for these Aussie jobs to fill dire shortages

Wages rises are being offered for roles that Australia desperately needs to be filled. See what the jobs are.

Higher salaries are being offered to address alarming worker shortages in the health and education sectors.

Australia’s educators and health workers have long occupied the lower end of the income spectrum, causing many to overlook careers such as nurses, aged care workers and teachers.

But as worker shortages reach crisis levels, Randstad national director of education, health and social care Matt Hodges says it is hoped that better remuneration will turn the situation around.

From July, minimum wages for aged care workers, including nurses, personal care workers and recreational and lifestyle officers,will increase by 15 per cent, while Hodges says many aged care providers are also offering sign-on bonuses for new workers and rewarding long-term staff with a loyalty bonus.

Education is one sector that is badly in need of staff.

In education, a new salary band has been introduced in NSW and Queensland to reward “high achieving teachers’’, with other states and territories expected to follow suit, Hodges says.

“We are moving in the right direction (by increasing pay for health and education workers), which is extremely positive,’’ he says.

“It’s taken a big push by many people to increase wages and it’s good to see (salary reviews have) started.’’

Ongoing opportunities

Hodges says the health and education sectors have taken a battering over the past few years, with low wages and staff burnout contributing to a mass exodus of workers.

But, with the pay now increasing, he says it is a good time for Aussies to consider taking up vital roles.

“It comes down to what your motivation is and if you’re motivated to support and help people then, absolutely, these are extremely rewarding careers,’’ he says.

“We need to elevate these professions. They are good careers with plenty of ongoing opportunities.’’

Desperate for help

Australian College of Applied Professions senior lecturer in counselling Timothy Hsi says the mental health sector is desperate for more workers, with one in three psychologists so overwhelmed and with cries for help, that they are turning patients away.

“Since Covid, issues of mental health have gone through the roof,’’ he says.

“This is a terrible situation that’s happening in Australia and I feel so much for those people that can’t get the mental health support that they need.

“If we don’t address this, people are just going to continue to spiral down and come to the point where they have quite a severe mental health issue – and they will clog up the hospital system.’’

Of those seeking to join the mental health profession, career changers make up the largest cohort, with 80 per cent of those enrolled in counselling and psychology courses with ACAP coming from other sectors.

Many choose to transition based on previous experience with mental health conditions, either first hand or through a close friend or relative, Hsi says.

Job satisfaction and impressive salaries – including more than $100,000 a year for clinical psychologists – are also attracting workers, he says.

Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia immediate past president Di Stow hopes a review of the Medicare Better Access program will allow more Australians to receive mental health support but warns it will further exacerbate demand for workers.

Community mental health worker Stewart Glass.

“I can’t see (demand for mental health workers) calming down or stopping anytime soon,’’ she says.

“There’s every opportunity for there to be more counsellors and psychotherapists in the future.’’

Good prospects

Stewart Glass transitioned to the mental health sector because he believed it offered better prospects and more job security than his former job as a photographer.

After completing a Bachelor’s degree in counselling, he now works in community mental health at Skylight Mental Health, facilitating group sessions and activities.

“I certainly feel there is a big need for more mental health workers,’’ Glass says.

“The work is definitely interesting and you are helping people and making the world a better place – that makes it very rewarding.’’

Six vital roles that need more workers

•Palliative care nurses

•Aged care nurses

•Aged care personal assistants

•Mental health nurses

•Early learning educators

•School teachers

Source: Matt Hodges, Randstad.