Open Colleges
aged-care Aged Care Personal Care Assistant careersaged-care outlook

Employment Outlook

Personal Care Assistant

A Personal Care Assistant is someone that is there to help a person who is in need of additional care. This can include everything from washing and cleaning, to being someone who they can interact with, as well as someone who can arrange activities where they can meet other people and have company.

 

Average wage for

Employment Levels

Around 89,800 people are currently employed as Personal Care Assistants in Australia. This is set to increase slightly to 103,300 people by 2019, according to the Department of Employment.

Employment by State

34.6% of all Personal Care Assistants are employed in NSW. The area with the lowest number of Personal Care Assistants is NT, with only 0.9%.

Gender Split

This is a very female dominated industry with 23% of Personal Care Assistants being male and 77% female.

Age Brackets

The most popular age for people working as Personal Care Assistants is 45-54 years old, with 24.6%. A small percentage (7.8%) of people get into this career path older, aged 60-64. There is also a number of people who enjoy a career as Personal Care Assistants, with 12% aged 55-59.

Hours Worked

Personal Care Assistants work an average of 35.7 hours a week which is 5.2 hours lower than the average for all occupations.

Education Level

The majority of Personal Care Assistants have a Certificate III/IV qualification (40.9%) or are at a Year 12 level (15.2%). 69.7% of people have a Cert III or higher, whilst 30.3% have a qualification which is Year 12 or lower.

Personal Care Assistant Duties & Tasks

  • Follow patients personal care plan and medication schedule
  • Help with a range of everyday tasks, from washing and housekeeping, to shopping
  • Go with client to doctor's appointments
  • Provide company and personal interaction

 

 

*The information provided on this page is from the Department of Employment’s Job Outlook website. All salary ranges are from Payscale. Where jobs are not exact matches, job areas have been used. This information is to be used as a guide only.