Australia’s occupational therapy workforce: Jobs for the future

Abstract

The forces that affect the economic, technological and industrial structure of Australia in the future will also affect its occupational and educational structures. The number of people participating in the education system is expected to grow, but at a slower rate than over the past decade, and the proportion of the workforce with a qualification is expected to reach a historically high level by the year 2005. Workforce modelling projections indicate that more highly skilled occupations will have strong employment growth over the next decade. It is estimated that, in 2005, the demand for occupational therapists will represent an increase of 79.9% of the number working in 1993–94. However, the accuracy of this projection is based on a macro‐analysis of data from various sources and does not account for any analysis of factors internal to the profession that may affect its occupational structure or employment growth. The paucity of occupational therapy microworkforce data has been noted by national workforce planning agencies and regular national workforce collections will start in 1998. Inclusion of macro‐ and microfactors into a comprehensive occupational therapy workforce planning framework is essential to the development of appropriate response strategies that address demand and supply issues for occupational therapy jobs in the future.

Celebrating International Year of the Health and Care Worker and a profession in demand

“…Future growth for the Australian occupational therapy profession has been predicted to remain very strong (Australian Government Department of Education, Skills, & Employment, 2021). This was also the case in 1999 when Millsteed (1999) stated that workforce modelling expected an 79.9% increase in demand for occupational therapists by 2005 as a highly skilled profession. Millsteed also reported that in 1994, 481 occupational therapy students were graduating.…”

Barriers to the use of Information and Communication Technology by occupational therapists working in a rural area of New South Wales, Australia

“…Furthermore, the increasingly ageing population is likely to result in a greater demand on occupational therapy services in both metropolitan and rural areas (Millsteed, 1999). Occupational therapists working in rural areas face particular challenges related to geographic distance and professional isolation (Lannin & Longland, 2008).…”

Recruiting experienced occupational therapists: A practical approach

“…Recent Australian literature (Franklin, Gibson, Merkell-Stoll, Neufelt, Verbara-Yiu & Eu, 1995;Millsteed, 1999;Bourke, B. & Hemphill, R., unpublished data, 2001) alerts us to the increase demand for occupational therapists, thus compounding recruitment issues.…”