It is no secret within our healthcare industry that there is an undeniable trend that has emerged since COVID and under the current government, of rising wage pressure, coupled with global allied health workforce shortages and compounded further by the changing expectations and needs of the modern employee. As it stands the industry finds itself on an inflationary treadmill of growing costs in an ever-shrinking budgetary environment. Given the aforementioned, I start this blog with the burning question; Is the allied health sector in Australia at a crossroads or crisis point right now?
Rising Wage Demands: A Double-Edged Sword
The issue of high wage demands within the allied health sector has been a point of contention in recent years. Clinicians are hotly contested, recruitment agents seeking the highest bidder in what seems like a war of the healthcare providers. On one hand, wage increases in parts of the sector have been well overdue and have come as a welcome reprieve in the post COVID stagflation economic state. Under the current industrial award, I don’t think many clinicians would argue that the minimum wage is adequate renumeration for the professional pressures that allied health practitioners face in today’s day and age. Additionally, most would agree that the award rate is disproportionate to the extensive training that’s required to become a registered practitioner in this country. However, the unprecedented demand for allied health staff due to a global workforce shortage, fuelled by sporadic government funded healthcare programs and initiatives, has intensified this wage growth to a point where it is no longer representative of industry recognised levels of experience, knowledge or expertise, instead organisations are forced to sacrifice not just margin but possible quality of care just to keep a service viable, without a guarantee of employee quality and company value alignment. The resultant state is an overheated market with a looming boom or bust situation on the horizon.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the average wage for allied health professionals has been rising steadily over the past decade. In 2022, the median weekly earnings for allied health professionals were reported at approximately $1,500 per week, however, there are now concerns that these wage demands are unsustainable, particularly for non-metropolitan and public health services. The Australian Allied Health Workforce Strategy acknowledges that the rise in wages is outpacing the growth of healthcare funding in some sectors, creating budgetary constraints. This discrepancy could lead to a situation where healthcare providers are unable to maintain adequate staffing levels, ultimately affecting patient care and access to services.
Workforce Shortages: An Ever-Growing Challenge
Australia’s allied health sector has long struggled with workforce shortages, and recent trends have exacerbated this issue. According to the Australian Allied Health Workforce Strategy, there has been a steady increase in demand for allied health services, particularly in emerging fields like the disability sector, mental health, and aged care. Yet, the number of qualified practitioners entering the workforce has not kept pace with this demand.
As of 2021, the ABS reported that Australia had approximately 165,000 allied health professionals, but the demand for these professionals was projected to grow by nearly 30% over the next decade. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) also found that certain regions and specialties are facing critical shortages, particularly in rural and remote areas. For instance, physiotherapists, speech pathologists, and occupational therapists are in high demand, but the supply is not sufficient to meet the needs.
This shortage has been particularly felt in the disability sector, where allied health professionals play a crucial role in providing therapy and support services for individuals with disabilities. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has significantly increased the demand for allied health services, but the sector struggles to recruit and retain the necessary workforce.
The Disability Sector: A Growing Area of Demand
The NDIS has fundamentally reshaped the allied health landscape in Australia. Since its inception, the demand for allied health professionals in the disability sector has skyrocketed. The ABS reports that the number of participants in the NDIS has grown from approximately 400,000 in 2017 to over 500,000 in 2023, with this number projected to increase even further in the coming years.
This surge in demand has placed immense pressure on allied health practitioners, particularly in regional areas where the workforce is already stretched thin. According to the Australian Allied Health Workforce Strategy, one of the key recommendations for the sector is to increase the availability of training and professional development opportunities for practitioners to ensure they are well-equipped to meet the needs of the growing disability sector. However, with fewer students entering these fields, the pressure to keep up with demand continues to mount.
Changing Expectations of the Younger Workforce
The expectations of the younger workforce are also transforming the allied health sector. Younger professionals are increasingly seeking flexible work arrangements, better work-life balance, and opportunities for faster career progression than previously seen. The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated this shift, with many allied health workers now prioritizing roles that allow for remote or hybrid work, as well as more flexible hours, some taking advantage of higher rates of pay and seeking part-time employment over traditional full-time hours. These changes bring challenges and opportunities for organisations but equally put pressure on allied health sector to evolve and transform away from more traditional models of care to operational practices that embrace technology, flexibility and are able to keep pace with the developing complex care needs of our clients.
The Australian Allied Health Workforce Strategy highlights that the younger generation of allied health professionals is more likely to consider workplace culture and job satisfaction as key factors when choosing employers, but salary continues to be a massive driver of an employee’s ultimate choice. This shift in priorities has led to challenges in staff retention with the average allied health professional remaining at any one employer for 3 years, with this reducing further in rural, regional and remote areas according to an article in Rural and Remote Health. The top 4 reasons quoted within a recent journal article on “trends in retention and attrition in allied health professions in Australia” for an employee to leaving a job role/ an employer and/ or the sector were: mental burnout, retirement, feeling undervalued/ unrecognised, lack of professional satisfaction and work no longer being fulfilling.
These themes are supported in the 2022 survey by Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA) where they found that 48% of younger allied health workers were seeking employment in more flexible, supportive work environments, and 33% indicated they would consider leaving the profession if these conditions were not met. This trend is a massive change for many healthcare providers who are forced to reassess their workforce strategies now regularly and have a stronger focus on company culture and monitoring of employee engagement and mental health.
Allied health professionals are increasingly having to operate within and adapt to increasingly stressful work environments owing to the rise in poorer population mental health within our country. In the 2023 Mental Health Australia survey it was reported that burnout rates of health professionals have remained high over the last 3 years post COVID with data showing that rates have steadily risen from 80% (2020) to 84% (2022) with this trend anticipated to continue along without significant change within the industry.
With the pending new workplace psychological harm legislation about to take effect in Victoria in the coming months, which highlight key areas of mental health such as burnout & fatigue, the sector may soon be finding itself in a precarious position, some might say at a pivotal crossroads or crisis point.
Conclusion: Navigating the Path Forward
The allied health sector in Australia is undeniably at a crossroads. Rising wage demands, workforce shortages, declining government health care funding, the challenges of new government policy, reforms and legislation, and the ever-changing expectations of younger workers has created significant challenges for all of those that operate within it. However, these issues also present opportunities for positive, well considered, and funded reforms and the adoption of new service models underpinned by innovation and technology.
As the Australian Allied Health Workforce Strategy emphasizes, addressing these challenges requires a multi-pronged approach: an overhaul and review of our current education and training across the allied health disciplines, expanding workforce capacity in line with appropriate remuneration and staged wage growth and implementing workforce retention strategies that met the cultural requirements of the modern employee. With the right policies and strategies in place, Australia’s allied health sector can not only meet the increasing demand for services but also ensure that practitioners are supported and equipped to thrive in an evolving healthcare landscape.
Ultimately, while the allied health sector may be facing growing pains, it is far from having “lost its way.” With the right investment and forward-thinking approaches, the sector can adapt and continue to play a vital role in Australia’s healthcare system
