Employment Outlook
Welfare Worker
Average wage for
Employment Levels
There are around 17,800 people employed as Welfare Workers in Australia. This is set to increase by 2018, with the Department of Employment predicting there will be 20,500 people working within the profession.
Employment by State
The largest proportion of Welfare Workers are located in New South Wales, with 29.5%. The fewest numbers of Welfare Workers are located in ACT, with 2.8%.
Gender Split
This is a female dominated industry with 72.2% of Welfare Workers being women and only 27.7% male.
Age Brackets
The most popular age for people working as a Welfare Worker is 34-44 years old, with 24.3%. However, a small percentage (0.5%) of people get into this career path younger, from 15-19 years old. Around 1.1% of people are still working in this job at 65 and over.
Hours Worked
Welfare Workers work an average of 36 hours a week which is 5.1 hours less than the average for all occupations.
Education Level
The majority of workers employed in this profession have a Certificate III/IV qualification (26.6%) or reached Bachelor level (22.3%). 81% have a Certificate III or higher, whilst 19% have a qualification which is Year 12 or lower.
Welfare Worker Duties & Tasks
- Provide support to individuals and families
- Give advice on emotional, financial and social issues
- Refer clients to agencies who can provide additional help
- Prepare in-depth reports of clients worked with
Professional Associations & Groups
*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.
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