The para-professionalisation of Australia’s community services sector: an analysis of contemporary employment patterns
Bob Lonne and Karen Healy
Queensland University of Technology and University of Queensland
Contact Email:   b.lonnequt.edu.au

The community services sector provides a range of services to vulnerable people. The sector is one of the fastest growing fields of employment in Australia. In this paper we draw on a range of data sources to present an analysis of the characteristics of the front-line workforce and current and projected employment trends. Our analysis incorporates data sets from: the Australian Censuses (2001 and 2006); DEEWR data on the 'helping professions'; and Graduate Careers Australia. This data indicates an emerging "para-professionalisation" of the community services sector. By this we refer to the exceptionally strong employment growth amongst occupational groups with non-degree level qualifications. Employment amongst these occupational groups has almost tripled over the past decade. This group is now the largest occupational group in the sector. Strong employment growth is also observed amongst workers without post-school qualifications. By contrast, employment growth amongst professionally qualified workers has remained steady. We will discuss policy drivers contributing to these employment trends. We will discuss the implications of the para-professionalisation of the community services workforce in terms of the capacity of the sector to respond to the increasingly complex challenges it faces.

Paper Download Information (if available):

Paper445.pdf

Copyright © 2009 Social Policy Research Centre.