Managers of Aged Care Residential Services: 2006-2016

Abstract

Purpose : Aged care Australia is going through a transformation reform to respond to the growing number of aged people in need of support in daily living. In this context, this article provides analyses of the number and characteristics of managers of aged care residential services in relation to number of aged people, residents of aged care facilities and people employed in them. 

Methodology/Design: Design of the analyses follows specifications provided by the authors for tabulations prepared by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) from the censuses of population conducted by ABS in 2006 and 2016. 

Analysis : Analysis of changes of the number of managers of aged care residential facilities against the number of aged people, residents of aged care facilities, and people employed in them. Further, the analyses examine changes in the age and sex of managers, their category, field and level of education, weekly income, hours worked, marital status, country of birth and indigenous status. 

Findings:  There was a large increase in the number of employees and managers per resident, and a stable ratio of managers per employees. While the proportion of female managers declined, the average age of managers increased slightly. Both the fields and level of education remained similar in the decade. The average income of managers was similar as that in all industries in 2016, with a larger increase during the decade than in all industries. Average hours worked remained about the same. The same applied to marital status. The proportion of Australia-born managers declined while that of managers born in Asia rose substantially. The proportion of indigenous managers about doubled during the decade. 

Implications: Relevance to those concerned with the evolving transformation of aged care in Australia and those interested with management training of the growing number of managers of aged care residential services.