More Than Just Counselling: Australian Counsellor Job Advertisement Trends

Abstract

Research on counsellors in Australia has tended towards workforce surveys that profile association members, and thus, tend to reflect the interests and priorities of counsellors and the counselling profession. However, little is known about what the employment context offers and expects of counsellor positions. This exploratory point-in-time study undertook a content analysis of counsellor job advertisements and categorised the findings into three main areas: conditions, description of the role, and selection criteria. The findings suggest that for counselling roles, employers are less concerned about whether applicants have had specialised counselling training, but that they have tertiary qualifications in cognate disciplines and can undertake a wider range of tasks in addition to providing counselling. Several role requirements specified by employers are not mentioned in contemporary Australian counselling training standards, though most are mentioned in the profession’s scope of practice documents. This research provides counselling educators, counselling students, and counsellor jobseekers data on possible trends of contemporary employment patterns appearing in advertised counsellor positions.

Editorial: Setting Standards, Shifting Paradigms

“…Beel's content analysis compares current employer expectations of counsellors with employer expectations between 1984 and 1990 when the last study on this topic was conducted (Franklin et al, 1994). While both studies found that counsellors were expected to undertake a broad range of responsibilities other than solely counselling, Beel's (2023) study highlights new counsellor specialisations, such as gambling, domestic violence, and trauma, which had been unidentified in the previous study.…”

“…Thus, it is timely that training standards, scopes of practice, and employability are addressed in Nathan Beel's (2023) article "More Than Just Counselling: Australian Counsellor Job Advertisement Trends". Beel's content analysis compares current employer expectations of counsellors with employer expectations between 1984 and 1990 when the last study on this topic was conducted (Franklin et al, 1994).…”

The Australian Counselling Profession in 2030: An Educator’s Perspective

“…Although the social need for, and availability of, counsellors is evident (Bloch-Atefi et al, 2021), counsellors are still discriminated against. They are unable to access Medicare's Better Access initiative and continue to be excluded from consideration for roles that are essentially counselling positions (Beel, 2023).…”

“…Training for entry into the profession is not primarily designed to teach students to be specialists but to prepare them as well-rounded counselling professionals. In addition, the registered counsellor has been trained and assessed in competencies that are expected of many counsellors in the modern workforce, including case management, risk management, telehealth, group work, psychoeducation, administration, record keeping, prevention and early intervention, interprofessional collaboration, referrals, and research skills (Beel, 2023). The training standards incorporate knowledge from regular consultation and targeted research into employer needs, social trends, government requirements, and national and international trends in counsellor education and education more broadly to ensure that graduates are sufficiently prepared for the roles contemporary counsellors undertake.…”