Australian Labour Market Update

Australian Labour Market Update

Australian Government, Department of Employment

Australian Labour Market Update

July 2015

Are you looking for a job in Australia?

The Australian Labour Market Update provides information on the Australian labour market on a quarterly basis. It is intended to inform people interested in working in Australia on a temporary or permanent basis.

Further information on job prospects, earnings and related information is at the Job Outlook website.

Unless otherwise stated, data are from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Labour Force Survey, May 2015.[1]

Employment

Over the 12months to May 2015, the strongest employment growth (in trend terms) occurred in Victoria (3.2%), the Northern Territory (NT, 2.6%), Western Australia (WA, 2.4%) and New South Wales (NSW, 1.9%). Employment declined in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT, down 0.3%).

Employment opportunities and growth varied across industries. Over the 12 months to May 2015, the largest increases in trend employment occurred in Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (up99500), Health Care and Social Assistance (up67300),Accommodation and Food Services (up48100) and Arts and Recreation Services (up34300). The largest decrease in trend employment occurred in Mining (down33300). The strongest rates of employment growth were in Arts and Recreation Services (up17.1%) and Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (up10.9%). Increases in trend employment by industry are shown in Figure1.

Figure 1: Trend employment growth by industry (’000s persons)—May 2014 to May 2015

Industry Change in the trend number of employed persons in thousands of persons in the 12 months from May 2014 to May 2015 Professional Scientific and Technical Services 99 5 Health Care and Social Assistance 67 3 Accommodation and Food Services 48 1 Arts and Recreation Services 34 3 Transport Postal and Warehousing 24 7 Construction 23 5 Public Administration and Safety 18 1 Information Media and Telecommunications 10 0 Administrative and Support Services 6 2 Education and Training 4 7 Wholesale Trade 0 5 Financial and Insurance Services 3 8 Electricity Gas Water and Waste Services 4 1 Rental Hiring and Real Estate Services 8 1 Retail Trade 8 6 Manufacturing 9 7 Other Services 18 0 Agriculture Forestry and Fishing 20 2 Mining 33 3

Source: ABS, Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, Quarterly, May2015, ABS Cat. No. 6291.0.55.003.

ISSN1833-413X

Australian Labour Market Update—July 20151

Unemployment

Australian Labour Market Update—July 20151

The trend rate of unemployment in Australia in May 2015 was 6.0%, which is the same as forMay 2014.

In the past year, the trend unemployment rate increased in South Australia (SA, 6.8% to 7.5%), WA (5.0% to 5.5%), the NT (4.1% to 4.5%),the ACT (3.9% to 4.2%), NSW (5.6% to 5.8%) and Queensland (6.3% to 6.4%).

Over the same period, the trend unemployment rate decreased in Tasmania (7.4% to 6.8%) and Victoria (6.5% to 6.0%).

In May 2015, the trend unemployment rate was highest in SA (7.5%) and lowest in the ACT (4.2%). See Figure 2.

Figure 2: Unemployment rates (%) by
State/Territory—May 2015

State Territory Country Trend Unemployment Rate percentage New South Wales 5 8 Victoria 6 0 Queensland 6 4 South Australia 7 5 Western Australia 5 5 Tasmania 6 8 Northern Territory 4 5 Australian Capital Territory 4 2 Australia 6 0

Australian Labour Market Update—July 20151

Migrant Unemployment

The unemployment rates for people who migrate to Australia vary appreciably. Several factors influence migrant unemployment rates including skill level, age, English proficiency, recent and relevant work experience, and the period since arrival in Australia. Data consistently show recently-arrived migrants have a higher unemployment rate on average than those who have lived in Australia for some years.

Figure 3 below shows unemployment rates (average of the last 12months to May 2015) for people resident in Australia born in selected overseas countries. People born in the UK and Ireland, Italy and Malaysia have relatively low unemployment rates (4.0%, 4.4% and 4.7% respectively), while unemployment rates for people born in Lebanon, Indiaand Vietnam are relatively high (7.4%, 7.1% and 7.1% respectively).

Figure 3: Unemployment rates (%) by selected countries of birth—12 months to May 2015[2]

Country or Country Grouping Unemployment Rate percentage at May 2015 average of the last 12 months to May 2015 Australia 6 2 Netherlands 5 8 New Zealand 5 5 Italy 4 4 UK and Ireland 4 0 Greece 5 5 Malaysia 4 7 Philippines 5 4 Germany 7 0 China 5 1 India 7 1 Vietnam 7 1 Lebanon 7 4 Main English Speaking Countries MESC 4 7 Other Than Main English Speaking Countries OTMESC 6 8

MESC: Main English Speaking Countries[3]

OTMESC: Other Than Main English Speaking Countries

Australian Labour Market Update—July 20151

Employment by Occupation[4]

Employment growth is not the only factor influencing job prospects and it may be easier to obtain a job in an occupation which is experiencing strong employment growth than one growing only slowly or declining.

Over the 12months to May2015, the largest increases in trendemployment occurred for Professionals (up116700), Technicians and Trades Workers (up46200) and Community and Personal Service Workers(up34900). Trend employment growth rates in descending skill order are shown in Table1 below.

Table 1: Trend employment growth by occupation—12months to May 2015

Occupational Group / 1 Year Change (’000 persons) / 1 Year Change (%)
Managers / 14.9 / 1.0
Professionals / 116.7 / 4.5
Technicians and Trades Workers / 46.2 / 2.7
Community and Personal Service Workers / 34.9 / 3.0
Clerical and Administrative Workers / 18.3 / 1.1
Sales Workers / 2.9 / 0.3
Machinery Operators and Drivers / 28.7 / 3.8
Labourers / -6.5 / -0.6

Additional information on occupational groups is provided in the following section on internet vacancy trends.

Internet Vacancy Trends[5]

The Department of Employment produces the monthly Vacancy Report, containing the Internet Vacancy Index (IVI) (seeFigure4). Over the year to May2015, the IVI (trend) increased by2.2%, with increases recorded in six of the eightoccupational groups.

The largest occupational group increases were for Community and Personal Service Workers (up7.8%) and Clerical and Administrative Workers (up5.1%).

At the more detailed occupation level, vacancies increased in 29 of the 48occupation clusters over the year to May 2015, with the strongest increases being for Farmers and Farm Managers (up24.5%) and Medical Practitioners and Nurses (up23.4%). The strongest decreases over this period were for Construction and Mining Labourers (down12.1%), Automotive and Engineering Trades (down11.6%) and Sales Support Workers (down10.7%).

Over the year to May 2015, vacancies rose in three states and the Australian Capital Territory, which recorded the strongest rise (up23.5%). The largest falls were in the NT (down23.8%) and WA (down13.5%).

Australian Labour Market Update—July 20151

Figure 4: Internet Vacancy Index, January 2006 to May 2015

Month Australian Total Trend Index Professionals Trend Index Technicians and Trades Workers Trend Index January 2006 100 0 100 0 100 0 February 2006 101 2 103 2 100 5 March 2006 102 4 106 4 100 5 April 2006 103 1 109 3 100 1 May 2006 103 4 111 2 99 4 June 2006 103 4 111 9 98 6 July 2006 103 8 112 6 98 4 August 2006 105 2 114 2 98 9 September 2006 107 0 116 5 99 9 October 2006 109 1 118 7 101 8 November 2006 111 2 120 7 104 0 December 2006 113 7 123 5 106 7 January 2007 116 8 127 7 109 8 February 2007 120 1 132 9 113 2 March 2007 123 0 137 4 116 6 April 2007 125 0 140 3 119 3 May 2007 126 6 141 7 121 4 June 2007 128 4 143 0 123 2 July 2007 130 1 144 5 124 7 August 2007 131 7 145 9 126 3 September 2007 133 1 147 9 128 2 October 2007 134 9 151 2 130 7 November 2007 137 4 156 1 134 0 December 2007 140 0 161 3 137 5 January 2008 141 8 165 4 140 7 February 2008 142 9 167 7 143 5 March 2008 143 3 168 6 145 7 April 2008 143 1 169 1 147 3 May 2008 141 8 168 9 146 9 June 2008 139 0 167 2 144 3 July 2008 134 5 163 8 139 9 August 2008 128 9 159 5 134 6 September 2008 123 1 155 0 129 0 October 2008 116 5 149 4 122 3 November 2008 109 2 141 7 114 4 December 2008 101 0 131 4 105 1 January 2009 92 8 119 3 95 5 February 2009 85 4 107 7 86 8 March 2009 79 8 98 9 80 3 April 2009 76 2 93 6 76 2 May 2009 74 4 91 7 74 6 June 2009 74 1 92 0 75 0 July 2009 75 0 93 0 76 5 August 2009 76 3 93 3 78 3 September 2009 77 4 92 3 79 8 October 2009 78 3 91 0 81 7 November 2009 79 3 90 7 84 2 December 2009 80 4 91 9 87 0 January 2010 81 7 94 5 89 5 February 2010 83 0 97 7 91 2 March 2010 84 2 100 7 92 0 April 2010 85 3 103 0 92 7 May 2010 86 4 104 6 93 7 June 2010 87 5 106 2 95 3 July 2010 88 9 107 8 97 7 August 2010 90 7 110 1 100 7 September 2010 93 1 113 6 103 8 October 2010 95 4 117 3 106 0 November 2010 97 2 120 2 107 2 December 2010 98 5 122 0 108 0 January 2011 99 5 123 2 108 8 February 2011 100 1 124 0 109 8 March 2011 100 3 124 5 110 7 April 2011 99 9 124 0 111 2 May 2011 99 3 122 4 111 5 June 2011 98 3 119 8 111 5 July 2011 96 7 117 0 110 7 August 2011 94 7 114 7 109 1 September 2011 93 1 113 7 107 3 October 2011 92 2 113 6 105 8 November 2011 91 8 113 8 104 9 December 2011 91 7 113 7 104 5 January 2012 91 3 112 8 104 3 February 2012 90 3 111 1 104 0 March 2012 89 0 109 2 103 5 April 2012 87 3 107 2 101 8 May 2012 84 9 104 9 98 4 June 2012 82 4 102 2 94 2 July 2012 80 5 99 9 90 5 August 2012 78 8 97 7 87 7 September 2012 77 1 95 2 85 4 October 2012 75 2 92 3 83 1 November 2012 73 1 89 1 80 4 December 2012 71 0 86 1 77 5 January 2013 69 5 83 9 75 1 February 2013 68 4 82 3 73 4 March 2013 67 4 80 6 72 1 April 2013 66 6 78 8 71 2 May 2013 66 1 77 0 70 6 June 2013 65 8 75 7 70 2 July 2013 65 5 74 9 69 9 August 2013 65 4 74 7 70 0 September 2013 65 3 74 8 70 4 October 2013 65 4 75 1 71 3 November 2013 65 9 75 6 72 8 December 2013 66 7 76 5 74 6 January 2014 67 3 77 4 76 2 February 2014 67 9 78 1 77 0 March 2014 68 6 78 8 77 3 April 2014 69 4 79 8 77 6 May 2014 70 3 80 9 78 5 June 2014 71 3 82 2 79 9 July 2014 72 0 83 2 81 2 August 2014 72 4 83 6 81 9 September 2014 72 4 83 4 81 7 October 2014 72 3 83 0 81 1 November 2014 72 2 82 9 80 6 December 2014 72 4 83 1 80 3 January 2015 72 9 84 1 80 3 February 2015 73 3 85 1 80 6 March 2015 73 2 85 7 80 6 April 2015 72 5 85 9 80 0 May 2015 71 7 85 9 79 1

Source: Department of Employment, Vacancy Report(June 2015), Trend Index data.

Future Job Openings

The Australian Jobs 2015[6] publication containsinformation on future job openings, which reflects the number of new jobs expected to be created over the five years to November2019 and the number of openings likely due to workers leaving their occupation group for other employment or leaving the workforce. As there may be significant variation between and within states, information on job openings should be used with caution.

Job openings estimates are indicative only and are intended to provide a guide to opportunities likely to be available over the fiveyears to November2019. It is important to note that these estimates do not provide any guidance about the number of people are looking for opportunities in each occupation. The Australian labour market can change quickly so information should be re-assessed prior to making a decision to lodge a visa application.

Queries on the Australian Labour Market Update publication should be emailed to .

Australian Labour Market Update—July 20154

Australian Government, Department of Employment

Australian Labour Market Update

Hot Topic

July 2015

Occupational Therapist

Occupational Therapists assess functional limitations of people resulting from illnesses and disabilities, and provide therapy to enable people to perform their daily activities and occupations.[i]

In the Australian labour market, employers generally seek applicants with a relevant Bachelor degree or higher level qualification. To practise in Australia, Occupational Therapists must be registered with the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia and meet the Board’s registration standards.

Labour Market Profile

Employment growth projections by the Australian Department of Employment indicate that the occupation group of Occupational Therapists will grow strongly for the five years to November 2019. The majority of Occupational Therapists are employed inHealth Care and Social Assistance (85.8%), Public Administration and Safety (6.9%), Education and Training (2.8%) and Other Services (1.9%) industries. Table A provides a labour market profile for Occupational Therapists from theJob Outlookwebsite,

Table A: Occupational Therapists—Key Labour Market Indicators

Key Indicator / Occupational Therapists
Occupation size (November 2014) / 12800
Most common level of educational attainment / Bachelor degree (67.2%)
Median age / 35 years
Full-time share of employment / 49.6%
Average weekly hours (full-time) / 34.2
Median weekly earnings (full-time and before tax) / $1250
Unemployment rate / below average
Employment growth over past five years (to November 2014) / 73.9%
Projected (to November 2019) occupation size / 17 500

Recent labour market research by the Department of Employment suggests that, with the exception of the Northern Territory (NT) at March 2014, there is no shortage of Occupational Therapists in Australia.[ii]

Regional Employment

Australian Labour Market Update—July 2015Hot Topic1

Occupational Therapists are employed in all States and Territories in Australia.

For the four quarters to May 2015[iii], the average employment of Occupational Therapists was highest in Victoria (31.8%), New South Wales (NSW, 23.1%), Queensland (17.1%) and Western Australia (WA, 14.9%).

South Australia (SA), Tasmania, the NTand the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) employed the smallest number of Occupational Therapists. See Figure A (original data).

Figure A: Employment Distribution of
Occupational Therapists by State/Territory
to May 2015 (%)

State Territory Percentage of the employed occupational therapists in Australia who are employed in the particular State Territory average of 4 quarters to May 2015 original data New South Wales 23 1 per cent Victoria 31 8 per cent Queensland 17 1 per cent South Australia 8 2 per cent Western Australia 14 9 per cent Tasmania 2 8 per cent Northern Territory 1 8 per cent Australian Capital Territory 0 3 per cent

Australian Labour Market Update—July 2015Hot Topic1

Skills Assessment

The Occupational Therapy Council (Australia New Zealand) Ltd (OTC) is the Australian assessing authority for overseas-trained Occupational Therapists wishing to practise in Australia, and those with an accredited Australian Occupational Therapy qualification seeking to migrate under Australia’s skilled migration programmes.

The assessment consists of two stages: a Stage 1 desktop assessment and a Stage 2 period of supervised practice. The Stage1 desktop assessment may need to be completed prior to the individual lodging a visa application (clarification should be sought from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) on the visa application process). An English language proficiency assessment[iv],[v] is undertaken as part of the Stage 1 process and applicants should refer to the Stage 1 explanatory notes on the OTC website ( for clarification on this assessment.

The Stage2 period of supervised practice needs to be undertaken in Australia and guidelines for this stage can be found on the OTC website. The Stage 2 process needs to be undertaken by overseas-trained Occupational Therapist practitioners who have completed the Stage 1 assessment successfully.

A detailed step-be-step guide to the complete process leading to general registration to practise in Australia can be found on the OTC website and details on the registration requirements can be obtained from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency website (

Employer-Sponsored Migration

The Australian Government has several employer-sponsored migration programmes including the Temporary Work Skilled, the Employer Nomination Scheme and the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme. Information on these programmes is on the DIBPwebsite at

Seeking Employment in Australia

Occupational Therapists should note that neither acceptance of qualifications for migration (visa) purposes nor registration as an Occupational Therapist in Australia, assures employment in this or related occupations in Australia. Employment will depend on other factors such as the number of vacancies, skill needs in the Australian labour market, and suitability of an applicant for employment in a particular job in Australia.

The Department of Employment is not an employment agency and is not able to assist visa applicants or potential migrants to obtain employment in Australia. Australian employers are increasingly using the internet to advertise vacancies and websites of Australian professional bodies (which may recognise membership of affiliated overseas bodies) and industry bodies often include information on vacancies.

Australian Labour Market Update—July 2015Hot Topic1

[1] The firstparagraph of the Employment section and the Unemployment section use trended data from the ABS’ Labour Force,Australia, June 2015 (ABSCat.No.6202.0) time series spreadsheets.

[2]Estimates for individual countries in Figure 3 (original data) may be subject to high sampling variability.

[3]MESC are the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, South Africa, Canada, the United States of America and New Zealand.

[4]This section is based on May 2015 Department of Employment trend data derived from ABS Labour Force Survey data. Occupational Groups are from the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) (ABSCat.No.1220.0).

[5]See Department of Employment, Vacancy Report (May 2015 and June 2015 (for Figure 4)) on the Department of Employment’sLabour Market Information Portal website ( Internet Vacancy Index (IVI) is based on a count of online job advertisements newly lodged on SEEK, CareerOne and Australian JobSearch during the month. Duplicate advertisements are removed before IVI vacancies are coded by the Department of Employment to occupations based on ANZSCO. The data are seasonally adjusted and trended, then indexed (January 2006=100).

[6]

[i]Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and Statistics New Zealand, Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, Cat.No.1220.0, First Edition,

[ii] Department of Employment, Occupational therapist occupational reports,

[iii] ABS Labour Force Survey (original data).

[iv] The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) website provides information on the IELTSscore, component and test types (

[v] The Occupational English Test (OET) website provides information on the OET (

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