A 44.4 year old clinician working 33.5 hours per week – Australia’s “average” nurse
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) data on nursing and midwifery workforce says that in 2015, the total number of nurses and midwives registered in Australia was 360,008. Of these, 263,209 were registered as a registered nurse only, 59,429 were registered as an enrolled nurse only and 3,591 were registered as a midwife only.
92% of all registered nurses and midwives were in the nursing and midwifery workforce (331,015). Of these, 8,930 were looking for work, compared to around the same number as in 2014 (9,110). 79.6% received their initial nursing and midwifery qualification in Australia, followed by England (4.7%) and India (2.8%).
The overall supply of employed nurses and midwives was 1,138 FTE per 100,000 population, around the same as in 2014 (1,135). The overall supply varied across remoteness areas, from 1,083 FTE per 100,000 population in outer regional areas to over 1,219 FTE per 100,000 population in remote areas.
The data shows nurses and midwives are more likely to be women (89.3%). The average age of employed nurses and midwives in 2015 was 44.4 years, with almost 4 in 10 of them were aged 50 or older. 3,187 were identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
The figure shows that 90% employed nurses and midwives were working as clinicians. Three areas that had the greatest supply of nurses and midwives was aged care, medical and surgical. The total number of nurses and midwives who reported working some hours in the private sector was 113,732, while those who reported working some hours in the public sector was 182,268.
On average, employed nurses and midwives worked 33.5 hours per week. 48.8% worked less than 35 hours per week. Nurses and midwives in very remote areas worked 40.1 hours per week, while inner regional areas reported working the least hours (32.5).
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