Industry Workforce Analysis: Community Sector...Services Industry Strategy. 1.3 Overview of the Authority’s registered employee & employer database All registered employees and employers

Industry Workforce Analysis:

Community Sector

ACT Long Service Leave Authority 2019

2

Index

1. Background 4

1.1 The Scheme 4

1.2 Previous reports 4

1.3 Overview of the Authority’s registered employee & employer database 4

1.4 Data scope 5

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Point in time analysis 6

2.1 Number of employees and positions 6

2.2 Multiple position holders 6

2.3 Length of service 7

2.4 Turnover rates 8

2.5 Age of workers 9

2.6 Median wages by sub-sector 12

2.7 Median wages by age 13

2.8 Median wages by length of service 14

2.9 Organisation size 14

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Time series analysis 16

3.1 Number of positions and registered individuals in the Industry 16

3.2 Number of positions by sub-sector 17

3.3 Growth rate of registered positions 17

3.3 Sub-sector share of Industry positions 19

3.3 Median ages 19

3.4 Wage growth over time 23

3.5 Number of workers recording service 24

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Glossary 26

Disclaimer: This report has been compiled from data held in the ACT Long Service Leave Authority’s

database as described in chapter 1.3. Information in this report is provided ‘as is’ and neither the ACT

Long Service Leave Authority, nor Insight Consulting Australia, make any assurances about the

accuracy or completeness of this information.

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4

1. Background

1.1 The Scheme The ACT Long Service Leave Authority was established on 1 July 2010 under the Long Service Leave

(Portable Leave Schemes) Act 2009. The Authority administers portable long service leave benefit

schemes for the:

Building and Construction Industry Contract Cleaning Industry Community Sector Industry Security Industry

The scheme enables workers (whether part time, full time, casual or sub-contractor) to transfer from employer to employer without losing their accrued service entitlements. At the commencement of the Scheme in 2010, the scope of the Community Sector covered by the Scheme included child care, residential care services for disadvantaged people where nursing or medical care was not provided as a major service and residential corrective services for young offenders, non-residential welfare services, employment placement services for people with a disability and community service advocacy services. From July 2016, residential aged care services and community aged care services became eligible for entry to the scheme. Community Sector employers are legally required to register with the Authority and declare the wages

and days worked for all employees via quarterly returns (via an online portal). Since its establishment in

2010, the Authority has carried out education and compliance activities to ensure organisations are

aware of and meet their legal responsibilities under the Act.

1.2 Previous reports

The Authority commissioned a previous data analysis on the Community Sector Industry in 2016. That

analysis examined data from approximately 20,000 employee records, from the time of the scheme’s

establishment in 2010 to the close of 2015. The analysis provided significant and foundational data on

the ACT Community Services Industry.

Other data collections with currency, jurisdictional and industry relevance for ACT Community Sector

workforce are the 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and Housing; the 2016

ACTCOSS State of the Community Services Sector report; and annual data collected from the Annual

Information Statement by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. These reports were

recently collated for the Workforce Data and Community Needs Assessment for the ACT Community

Services Industry Strategy.

1.3 Overview of the Authority’s registered employee & employer database All registered employees and employers are allocated a unique identification number within the Authority’s database. Each employer is allocated one primary classification such as child care or residential aged care services. Quarterly reports detailing service and ordinary wages for each employee are submitted by employers. The greater the length of time that an employee works within the industry the more quarterly reports will be submitted and held in the Authority database. For example, if a worker is employed by a single employer for one year, then four separate quarterly reports will be held against their registration number during that time. If they are employed for five years, the system will hold 20 quarterly reports. If an employee works for more than one employer, a separate report will be returned for each position, for each quarter (or part thereof) they are employed. If an employer changes their employer, then a separate

5

quarterly return will be submitted by each respective employer during the quarterly reporting period, noting the employee’s start and cease date. When an employee ceases work in the Industry, they can remain inactive for four years. In the lead up to the mark of four years, the Authority posts a letter to the ceased employee’s registered address advising them that their account will be deregistered if they do not respond to the letter. Once a worker has a break from the industry for more than four years, their account with the Authority is deregistered. The Scheme commenced operation in 2010, and as expected there was an initial growth in the number of registered employees as more and more employers became aware of their responsibilities under the Long Service Leave (Portable Schemes) Act 2009. This initial growth should be recognised as a growth in the registration process, rather than solely a growth in new positions within the Industry. Changes also occurred in July 2016 when Residential Aged Care employees became eligible for entry to the Scheme. Again, the data shows an influx of registrations in this sub-sector at and following this date. Any positions that remain vacant for an entire three-month reporting period are uncaptured in the data.

1.4 Data scope For the purposes of this analysis, the Authority generated a file of quarterly returns from a six-year period, from the time period of 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2018. The file contained 298,725 records, relating to 30,877 unique workers. The table below provides a breakdown of the registration status of these workers as at 11 July 2019:

Number of workers reported between 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2018 by registration status (as at 18 Apr 2019)

Active (Employee) 14,172

Active (Contractor - Working Director) 1

Active (Ceased) 8,467

Active (4 Year Rule No Letter Sent) 212

Active (4 Year Rule Letter Sent) 881

Deregistered (Deceased) 9

Deregistered (Deregistered) 4,916

Deregistered (Duplicate) 4

Deregistered (Paid out) 310

Deregistered (Rejected) 1

Inactive (Greater than 5 years of service, but not paid out)

9

Inactive (Greater than 55 days of service, registered pre-July 2012, aged 55+, but not paid out)

273

Pending 1,622

TOTAL 30,877

6

2. Point in time analysis

The point in time analysis presented in this chapter relates to the status of the industry as at 31

December 2018.

In this analysis, records included in the Oct-Dec 2018 return which relate to positions where the worker

has stopped working for the employer before 31 December 2018 are ignored. This eliminates the double

counting that occurs in a quarterly report when one employee leaves and another starts in the same

position. In this scenario there is only one position and only one worker at any time.

This type of point in time analysis is the same methodology used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics

in conducting the five yearly Census of Population and Housing.

2.1 Number of employees and positions As at 31 December 2018, there were 14,077 employees working in a total of 15,301 positions.

Childcare Services held the largest number of positions (5,501) followed by Non-residential Care Welfare

Services (3,528) and Residential Aged Care Services (3,112).

2.2 Multiple position holders A small but significant proportion of workers in the Industry concurrently hold more than one position. As

at 31 December 2018, 7.7 per cent of workers held more than one position, with 15% of positions filled

by a multiple position holder.

26 per cent of positions in the Employment Placement Services for Disabled People were held by a

multiple position holder while 22 per cent of positions in Residential Aged Care Services were.

1,239

5,501

40 19

3,528

3,112

1,862

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

IndividualAdvocacy Services

Childcare Services Community AgedCare Services

EmploymentPlacementServices for

Disabled People

Non-residentialCare Welfare

Services

Residential AgedCare Services

Residential CareServices

Number of positions by sub-sector, 31 December 2018

8

The median length of service for Community Sector workers covered by the Scheme was two years. Half of all workers had two years or less of experience, and half had two years or more. The average (mean) length of service could not be accurately determined as the Authority only records service from the date the scheme commenced in 1 July 2010. For Aged Care workers, only service from 1 July 2016 is recorded, as these workers only became eligible to the scheme from that date. Community Sector employees registered with the Scheme become eligible to access long service leave of 4.33 weeks after 5 years (1825 days) of service in the industry. The file generated by the Authority for this analysis did not indicate which eligible employees had already accessed leave.

2.4 Turnover rates Turnover rates are a valuable source of information for workforce planning, as they highlight the burden

of recruitment and orientation efforts, and show the degree of success in retaining workers in their current

positions.

The three-month (1 October 2018-31 December 2018) turnover rate in positions in various sub-sectors

is shown below. Note that a portion of those exiting their positions are moving to other positions in the

same sector or within the Community Services Industry and are then represented as New Workers.

QUARTERLY TURNOVER RATES

SUB-SECTOR NEW WORKERS

RETAINED WORKERS

EXITING WORKERS

Individual Advocacy Services 111 9%

1,057 85%

71 6%

Childcare Services 800 15%

4,194 76%

507 9%

Community Aged Care Services 10 25%

26 65%

4 10%

Employment Placement Services for Disabled People 2 11%

17 89%

0 0%

Non-residential Care Welfare Services 469 13%

2,721 77%

338 10%

Residential Aged Care Services 277 9%

2,635 85%

200 6%

Residential Care Services 221 12%

1,557 84%

84 5%

3,140

2,140

3,190

1,005749

588 552 530

2,183

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

Lesss than 1year

1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years 6 years 7 years 8 years ormore

Length of time in the the Industry

9

Excluding those sub-sectors with less than 50 positions, the sub-sectors with the highest proportion of

their workforce as new entrants were Child Care (15 per cent over the three-month period) followed by

Non-residential Care Welfare Services (13 per cent), and Residential Care Services (12 per cent).

Those experiencing the highest exit rates were Non-residential Care Welfare Services (10 per cent over

the three-month period), followed by Child Care (9 per cent).

2.5 Age of workers The median age of workers in the Community Services Industry at 31 December 2018 was 38.5 years.

The sub-sectors with the youngest age profile were Childcare Services (34.9 years), followed by

Employment Placement Services for Disabled People (37.9 years) and Community Aged Care Services

(38.2 years).

The sub-sector with the oldest age profile were Individual Advocacy Services (43.9 years), followed by

Residential Care Services (40.0 years) and Residential Aged Care Services (39.8 years).

Across the Industry, just over 1 in 6 workers were within ten years of the notional retirement age of 65

years.

43.9

34.9

38.2 37.939.2 39.8 40

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50




Disabled People


Services



Median age of workers, by sub-sector, 31 December 2018

10

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Under 25 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 and older

Age distribution of workers in Individual Advocacy Services, 31 December 2018

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

Under 25 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 and older

Age distribution of workers in Childcare Services, 31 December 2018

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Under 25 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 and older

Age distribution of workers in Community Aged Care Services, 31 December 2018

11

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Under 25 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 and older

Age distribution of workers in Employment Placement Services for Disabled People, 31 December 2018

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

Under 25 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 and older

Age distribution of workers in Non-residential Care Welfare Services, 31 December 2018

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

Under 25 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 and older

Age distribution of workers in Residential Aged Care Services, 31 December 2018

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2.6 Median wages by sub-sector Wages continue to be a significant motivating factor for staff recruitment and retention.1

Wages are a reflection of hours worked, and the Community Sector industry has a lower proportion of

full-time workers. It is not possible to determine which workers within the Authority database are

employed full-time but general information is available from the 2016 Census of Population and Housing.

The Census revealed that in 2016, 52 per cent of Community Sector Industry employees worked full

time, compared to 72 per cent of all workers in the ACT economy. The Census also showed that the

median Industry income was lower than the median income of all ACT workers.

The wages of employees are outlined below. Note that the figures show wages paid per position, so

multiple position holders will naturally collect more than one salary.

1 The State of the Community Services Sector in the Australian Capital Territory, 2016. Prepared for the ACT Council of Social Services by Cortis, N and Blaxland, M from the Social Policy Research Centre

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

Under 25 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 and older

Age distribution of workers in Residential Care Services, 31 December 2018

$54,013

$34,969 $34,002

$50,575

$41,841 $42,723

$33,660

$0

$10,000

$20,000

$30,000

$40,000

$50,000

$60,000




Disabled People


Services



Median Annual Gross Ordinary Pay

13


Median Quarterly Gross Ordinary Pay

Median Daily Pay

Individual Advocacy Services

$54,013 $13,503 $151

Childcare Services $34,969 $8,742 $98

Community Aged Care Services

$34,002 $8,501 $99

Employment Placement Services for Disabled People

$50,575 $12,644 $140

Non-residential Care Welfare Services

$41,841 $10,460 $116

Residential Aged Care Services

$42,723 $10,681 $118

Residential Care Services

$33,660 $8,415 $93

2.7 Median wages by age As at 31 December 2018, the median pay rates increased steadily with age rising to a peak level in the

cohort 45-54 years, presumably as Industry experience increases. The rate of median daily pay

decreases after this age, and it is postulated that this correlates with a drop in average hours worked for

this age group as many workers transition into retirement by gradually decreasing their hours.

Across the ACT economy in 2016, the proportion of employees working full time was 79 per cent for

those aged 50-54 years, 76 per cent for 55 to 59 years and 65 per cent for employees 60 to 64 years of

age.2



Median Daily Pay

Under 25 years of age $24,008 $6,002 $68

25-34 years of age $38,936 $9,734 $109

35-44 years of age $43,560 $10,890 $121

45-54 years of age $47,880 $11,970 $132

55-64 years of age $47,224 $11,806 $130

65 years and older $37,412 $9,353 $103

2 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016, Census of Population and Housing (2016), TableBuilder. Findings based on use of ABS TableBuilder data

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2.8 Median wages by length of service Median wages are clearly influenced by length of service in the Industry, as shown below:

Length of Industry service



Median Daily Pay

8-9 years $49,380 12,345 $135

7-8 years $48,448 12,112 $134

6-7 years $42,416 10,604 $117

5-6 years $44,900 11,225 $123

4-5 years $44,360 11,090 $121

3-4 years $39,656 9,914 $109

2-3 years $42,552 10,638 $117

1-2 years $36,152 9,038 $100

1 year or less $27,536 $6,884 $82

2.9 Organisation size As at 31 December 2018, there were 301 registered employers in the Industry. The mode (most frequent)

number of employees per organisation was less than 10, with 1 out of every 3 positions being held by

an organisation of this size.

The median number of positions per employer was 45.

$49,380 $48,448

$42,416 $44,900 $44,360

$39,656 $42,552

$36,152

$27,536

$0

$10,000

$20,000

$30,000

$40,000

$50,000

$60,000

8 - 9 years 7 - 8 years 6 - 7 years 5 - 6 years 4 - 5 years 3 - 4 years 2 - 3 years 1 - 2 years 1 year or less

Median Annual Gross Ordinary Pay by length of service in Industry

15

More than 1 in 4 positions (27 per cent) in the Industry were held by the top ten largest employers,

while the proportion of positions held by the top 20 largest employers was 44 per cent.

102

81

58

2418 18

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Less than 10employees

10-24 employees 25-49 employees 50-99 employees 100-200 employees More than 200employees

Number of organisations by number of employees, 31 December 2018

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3. Time series analysis

The time series analysis seeks to identify trends within the overall Industry and various sub-sectors.

Yearly figures were determined by averaging the results of the four quarterly reports.

The number of records and the number of individuals increased steadily over each progressive quarter.

3.1 Number of positions and registered individuals in the Industry The number of positions reported by registered employers has grown between 2013 and 2018, as well as the number of registered individuals.

9,810 10,126 10,543

12,891

15,23516,078

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Average number of positions across a reporting period, 2013-2018

9,293 9,472 9,818

11,884

13,90014,594

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Average number of individuals across a reporting period, 2013-2018

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3.2 Number of positions by sub-sector The number of positions reported by registered employers grew steadily for most major sub-sectors throughout the reporting period. The influx of aged care employees can be attributed to their formal eligibility to enter the Scheme from July 2016, while the increase in the employment placement services for disabled people sub-sector follows the trial of the NDIS in the ACT in 2014, and subsequent roll-out.

Number of positions by sub-sector

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018


1,208 1,192 1,176 1,248 1,260 1,283

Childcare Services 4,294

4,533 4,985 5,197 5,501 5,810

Community Aged 0 2 1 4 10 35


0 0 0 0 14 22


2,585 2,746 2,926 3,332 3,478 3,722


242 292 328 1,713 3,203 3,297


941 1,128 1,117 1,396 1,769 1,910

Sub sector not recorded 540 235 11 0 0 0

Total 9,810 10,126 10,543 12,891 15,235 16,078

3.3 Growth rate of registered positions

The number of positions in all sub-sectors has increased substantially over the 2013-2018 reporting period (by 64 per cent), as shown below: As noted earlier, part of the growth in positions can be attributed to more employers becoming aware of their responsibilities under the Long Service Leave (Portable Schemes) Act 2009 rather than solely a growth in new positions within the Industry.

Growth rate of positions by sub-sector, 2013-2018

Individual Advocacy Services 6%

Childcare Services 37%

Non-residential Care Welfare Services 44%

Residential Aged Care Services 1262%

Residential Care Services 103%

Total 64%

18

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Median number of positions in Community Services Industry, 2013-2018

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Median number of positions in Individual Advocacy Services,

2013-2018

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Median number of positions in Childcare Services, 2013-2018

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Median number of positions in Community Aged, 2013-2018

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Median number of positions in Non-residential Care Welfare

Services, 2013-2018

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3.3 Sub-sector share of Industry positions

The Childcare Services sub-sector has remained the largest sub-sector across 2013-2018.

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018


12% 12% 11% 10% 8% 8%

Childcare Services 43% 44% 47% 40% 36% 36%

Community Aged 0% < 0.1% < 0.1% < 0.1% < 0.1% 0.2%


0% 0% 0% 0% < 0.1% < 0.1%


26% 27% 28% 26% 23% 23%


2% 3% 3% 13% 21% 21%


10% 11% 11% 11% 12% 12%

Sub-sector not recorded 6% 2% 0% 0% 0% 0%

3.3 Median ages

The median age of workers in the Industry was 38.1 years in 2018.

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Median number of positions in Residential Aged Care Services,

2013-2018

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Median number of positions in Residential Care Services, 2013-

2018

20

38.1 38.1 38.1 38.2 38.3 38.1

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Community Services Industry median ages, 2013-2018

43.9 44.1 44.2 44.1 44.3 44.1

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Individual Advocacy median ages, 2013-2018

22

39.6 39.5 39.4 39.5 39.3 39.1

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Non-residential Care Welfare Services median ages, 2013-2018

4142.6 42.1 41.1

39.6 39.3

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Residential Aged Care Services median ages, 2013-2018

42.3 42.2 42.441.1 40.2 39.9

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Residential Care Services median ages, 2013-2018

24

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Individual Advocacy Services $43,031 $45,390 $47,078 $47,773 $49,032 $52,554 Childcare Services $26,898 $28,483 $30,355 $31,769 $32,596 $33,332 Non-residential Care Welfare Services $30,297 $31,459 $33,460 $35,822 $38,287 $40,008 Residential Aged Care Services $27,963 $29,397 $30,317 $35,666 $38,532 $40,692 Residential Care Services $29,777 $29,356 $31,285 $33,157 $32,410 $33,892

3.5 Number of workers recording service Over the six-year period, there were 392 unique employers recorded and not all employers remained

active throughout the reporting period.

Between 2013 and 2018, the number of employers increased modestly by 8.6 per cent (from 280 to 304

employers). During the same time period, the number of positions increased by 277 per cent (from 3,558 to

13,410 positions).

Consequently, the median number of positions per employer rose from 13 in 2013 to 44 in 2018.

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Number of employers 280 239 258 279 291 304

Number of positions 3,558 4,262 5,088 8,583 10,494 13,410

Median number of positions per employer 13 18 20 31 36 44

Number of employers by number of workers recording service

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Less than 10 employees 189 141 146 132 120 103

10-24 employees 54 58 61 72 74 82

25-49 employees 21 19 28 33 50 59

50-99 employees 11 12 12 21 14 24

100-199 employees 5 8 9 11 20 18

200 employees or more 0 1 2 10 13 18

Total 280 239 258 279 291 304

Proportion of employers by number of workers recording service

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Less than 10 employees 68% 59% 57% 47% 41% 34%

10-24 employees 19% 24% 24% 26% 25% 27%

25-49 employees 8% 8% 11% 12% 17% 19%

50-99 employees 4% 5% 5% 8% 5% 8%

100-199 employees 2% 3% 3% 4% 7% 6%

200 employees or more 0% 0% 1% 4% 4% 6%

25

Over the six-year period, the proportion of employers with less than 10 employees fell by half from 68 per

cent to 34 per cent. The proportion of employers in all other categories increased, including in the categories

of employers with 100 employees or more.

A significant proportion of positions are held by very large organisations.

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Proportion of positions held by top 10 largest employers

29% 35% 35% 31% 28% 26%

Proportion of positions held by top 20 largest employers

45% 51% 49% 48% 44% 43%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

Proportion of employers by number of workers recording service, 2013-2018

Less than 10 employees 10-24 employees 25-49 employees

50-99 employees 100-199 employees 200 employees or more

26

4. Glossary

Analytics Drawing conclusions from raw data.

Baseline A starting point in the data, against which future progress is measured.

Cohort A group of people sharing the same characteristic, such as year of birth.

Construct validity The degree to which a research instrument accurately measures a theoretical

concept.

Internal validity

The degree of rigour related to the research study design, the selection of study instruments, the process of conducting research, and the method of attributing findings to the study intervention rather than other confounding factors.

Mean A mean is derived from adding up all results then dividing this number by the total number of items. The mean is commonly referred to as an average.

Median A median is derived by lining up all results in order from smallest to largest. The median is the middle point at which half of the values (or participants) are above and half are below.

Missing data values A data gap results from participants unintentionally skipping questions, refusing to answer particular questions, or providing information in an incomprehensible manner.

Mode A mode is the response that occurs the most frequently.

Rigour The result of scrupulously and meticulously drawing conclusions solely from evidence, rather than from a pre-determined opinion, conviction or bias.

Trajectory An anticipated future destination, based on an examination of past data trends and known confounding factors (e.g. a workforce population projection).

Documents

Industry Workforce Analysis: Community Sector...Services Industry Strategy. 1.3 Overview of the Authority’s registered employee & employer database All registered employees and employers