A national profile of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers, 2006-2016

Objective: To undertake a descriptive analysis of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker workforce to quantify the changes from 2006-2016.

Method: We analysed data on Indigenous Health Workers from three waves of Australian Census: 2006, 2011 and 2016. We described the workforce by gender, age and state/territory.

Results: There has been overall growth in the number of Indigenous Health Workers (from 1,009 in 2006 to 1,347 in 2016), but this is not commensurate with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population growth (221 Indigenous Health Workers per 100,000 people in 2006 to 207 Indigenous Health Workers per 100,000 people in 2016). The growth is in Indigenous Health Workers aged ≥45 years, with declines in the proportion of Indigenous Health Workers aged ≤44 years. There was growth in workers in two states only, Queensland (increase 4.2 percentage points) and New South Wales (increase 6.6 percentage points).

Conclusion: There are pressing concerns regarding the lack of growth and the ageing workforce of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers. We remain concerned that little is being done to increase the retention and recruitment of this workforce. Implications for public health: Greater effort is needed to improve the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers, particularly for younger age groups and males. A National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce Strategy needs to be implemented.