Career Development Opportunities in Australian Labor Market

This report discusses the past, current, and future trends in the Australian labor market, specifically in the healthcare industry, and provides recommendations and a job seeking plan for international students.

Running head: CAREER DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
CAREER DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Executive summary:
This is a career development report prepared keeping in mind an international student
who is studying or intending to work in the nation of Australia. This report would mainly discus
the past, current as well as future trends in the Australian labor market along with the
employment trends. This would help an international student in seeking for job opportunities in
their desired industry. It is true that every student has come from a specific nation with different
backgrounds for which their aspiration, interest, values, beliefs, level of understanding, knowledge
and experience would differ from others. Many of the students might be already working as
healthcare professionals in their nations or hometowns but are not able to get hob opportunity in the
nation of Australia due to lack of their understanding of the labor markers here. This report would be
discussing the employment trends in the labor market here, seek oyt the bet domain of healthcare
industry that have best opportunities, venture the intercultural barriers and others. It would also
discuss the organizations where an individual can seek employment and along wit it job seeking plan
would be also developed.

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Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Australian Labor Market analysis in healthcare:.............................................................................3
Healthcare sectors analysis:.............................................................................................................5
Mental healthcare industries:.......................................................................................................5
Disability care industries:............................................................................................................6
Intercultural challenges:...................................................................................................................7
Recommendations:..........................................................................................................................9
Job seeking plan:........................................................................................................................10
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................11
References:....................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction:
Career development can be defined as the series of activities as well as the
on-going/lifelong process that concerns the development of one’s
career. It usually refers to the management of one’s career in an intra-
organizational or inter-organizational scenario involving training on new skills. As
well as to move onto higher job responsibilities and even making a career change within the
same organization. It may also move moving to a different organization or starting of one’s own
business. This assignment is mainly composed in the form of career development report which
mainly tends to evaluate career opportunities within the present national labor market
specifically focusing on the target industry of healthcare. It would mainly comprise of a number
of sections with the first one being the analysis of the current trends in the nation both on a
national as well state wise levels along with the identification of the employment trends. These
sections would then be followed by the venturing the career opportunities in two specific health
sectors along with the need to analyze the skills and knowledge that would be required to chose
one as the viable option for enhancing career paths. These would then be followed by
intercultural barriers one can face in the industry along with the three organizations that can be
chosen as the potential ones for applying for career opportunities. A job seeking plan would be
also included.
Australian Labor Market analysis in healthcare:
Healthcare is considered to be Australia’s biggest employer and it is found to get bigger
thereby accounting for 13.7% of the entire workforce as found in February, 2018. According to
the data provided by the Department of Jobs and Small Business ‘Australian Jobs 2018’ report, it

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can be stated that the Healthcare & Social Assistance industry would be growing a further by
16.15 over the next five years. Since the time of the launch of the National Disability Insurance
Scheme (NDIS) screen in the year 2013, newer jobs are now been observed. Experts are
expecting a clear upward trajectory over the past five years as the scheme has been found to roll
out across all states and territories (Nsightsresources.seek.com.au, 2018). The top roles that
would be contributing to the growth are mainly in the healthcare services in different parts of the
nations are Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy & Rehabilitation, as well as Aged Care
Nursing. Researchers are of the opinion that varieties of roles in both the community as well as
healthcare services would be experiencing significant growth thanks to the ageing population as
well as the rise of chronic disorders that require on-going healthcare management and support
(McCracken et al., 2017). An example can be provided where in 2012, about 12% of the
healthcare job ads in Victoria were found to be in regional areas, but the current figures in 2018
shows that the figures is now 22% (Sellers et al., 2015). This equates to about 78% increase over
the period. The following table will help in showing the employment growth opportunities in
healthcare centers over the years. The health and social care industry is seen to span around
hospitals, GPs and aged and child care and the employment rate grew by 16 percent. The
industry is now accounting for about 12.6 % Australia’s working population, increasing from
11.6 per cent in 2011 and 10.5 per cent in 2006. The industry was found to be largest in six
different states with two states having the highest medial ages like the Tasmania and South
Australia. This recorded the largest working population that had been employed in the industry at
14.2 per cent and 14.8 per cent respectively

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Source: (ABS, 2018)
.

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Fig: the growth in regional share of healthcare opportunities from 2012 to 2018
Source: (Sellers et al., 2015)
Healthcare sectors analysis:
Mental healthcare industries:
Shortage of healthcare professional in the mental healthcare industry has been one of the
most concerning issue to the health department of the nation. The data reported by AIWH
provides a clear picture to that scenario. It has been found that about 3200 psychiatrists or about
13 full time equivalent professional are present for every 100000 mental health patients in the
year 2016 (Quinlan et al., 2015). To be more specific, when considering time spent as a clinician,
about 10.8 clinical FTE were found to be per 100000 populations with rates ranging from 6.8 in
northern territory to 12.5 in South Australia. Around 21500 accounting for only 6.8% of the total
nurses in the nation work in mental healthcare centre (Shah, 2015). This can be equated to only
85 FTE mental health nurses in 100000 populations. The national rate of clinical FTE mental
health nurses was found to be 78.1 per 100000 people that raged from 58.2 in Australian Capital
Territory with 90.5 in Western Australia. More than 24500 FTE psychologists were working in
Australian in 2015 that equated to 88.1 FTE registered psychologists per 100000 population.
This concerning scenario of shortage of mental healthcare professionals shows the need for more
and more mental health care students to get the opportunity to satisfy the mental healthcare
demands of the nation. 45% of the Australians are believed by AIWH to develop common
mental health disorder in their lifetime according to the data published in 2007 by National
Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (NSMHWB) of adults (aged 16–85). This can be
equated to about 8.6 million people who would be experiencing a common mental disorder in

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their lifetime as found as per the data estimated in 2016 (AIHW, 2018). It has been found that 1
in every 5 people in the nation in the said age range accounting for about 20% or 3.8 million
people are estimated to experience a mental disorder as found in 2016. This can show that
although the mental healthcare demands are increasing at an alarming range, but the shortage of
mental healthcare professional is quite high. This can show that a successful career as per the
demand of the mental healthcare industry can suffice me to fulfill the dream of a mental
healthcare expert. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists had
emphasized the need to retain overseas trained psychiatrists already working in Australia and had
advocated the government for considering policies that could impact on the capacity for overseas
trained psychiatrists to work in the Australian health care system.
Fig: professionals, clinical FTE per 100,000 population, by state and territory, 2016
Source: (AIWH, 2018)

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Disability care industries:
The introduction of the National Disability Insurance scheme also called the NDIS had
been stated by experts to involve substantial expansion of the disability services sector. This
would eventually lead to an increased demand for more and more disability support workers. The
Productivity commission had been found to propose during the introduction of NDIS that the
capacity for providing expanded services would depend mainly on the attracting of new
employees as well as enabling of the workers in the system to work longer as well as for more
flexible hours (Barr et al., 2018). One of the studies have found the State of the Disability service
providers that had been developed by the NDIS had found that significant workforce shortages
is present in the allied health with most of the providers stating that it has become moderately
difficult for them to recruit psychologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech
therapists. Therefore, to make the job more lucrative the NDIS transition is capping the ability of
the disability service providers in offering competitive employment benefits and secure
positions.
It has been already found that national disability sector workforce will eventually need to
increase from about 110000 – 120000 now to that of 220000 – 250000 people over the next five
to six years under disability care Australia. It has been found that more and more aged people are
living longer but they are not being able to live better quality lives due to the huge epidemic of
chronic ailments found in the nation (Halpelm et al., 2015). Different types of ailments like
stroke, cardiac accidents, falls and similar other health concerns often leave people disabled and
hence demands for disability services are also increasing with more older people seeking such
services in the later ages. Hence, this also provides an excellent opportunity for me to venture

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career opportunities in this field and thereby develop skills and knowledge by which I can
become an expert professional in this industry.
Intercultural challenges:
I am from Nepal which is a country in Asia. Asian cultures are quite different from that
of the western culture and I might face various intercultural barriers while trying to work in the
healthcare industry. One of the most common issues that I have already started facing is the
communication issues. Communication is an integral part of effective healthcare services and my
communication my act as barriers in developing therapeutic relationship with patients.
Therapeutic relationship is extremely important for professionals to for bonds with patients in
order to make patients feel empowered and helping them to adhere with treatment procedures
(McCracken et al., 2017). My communication style does not align with the communication style
followed by westerners. For example, Nepalese do not follow eye contacts especially with elders
as well as strangers although eye contacts with friends and people of similar ages are common.
The westerners follow the communication style where they consider direct eye contact to be a
medium of expressing honesty, respect and confidence (Engessor et al., 2017). Again, Nepalese
tradition follows periods of silence in between conversations as a normal pace of interaction but
western culture of communication does not prefer silence and immediately tried to fulfill them.
In this way, non-verbal communication styles that differ between the two culture might act as the
barriers in me providing care to patients. Another barrier can also be the customs and traditions
that are followed by the two nations. Nepalese are not very comfortable with touches between
two different genders and mainly try to reduce touches as less as possible between males and
females (Inglehart, 2015). However, in the western culture, touches, hug and kisses are normal
mediums of greeting and bidding goodbyes. It might happen that I would need to follow such

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customs while caring in the western culture (Mossialos et al., 2016). However, such clashes can
result in huge negative outcomes resulting in patient dissatisfaction. On the other hand, I might
also feel morally low being affected by such cultural issues that might make me feel low.
Language would create the highest barrier as I am not as much fluent in English language as I am
in my mother tongue. This might create language barriers where the westerners might not be able
to understand me and my advices properly and this might result in medication errors,
misunderstandings, misconceptions, and other forms of conflict as well (Kalin et al., 2017). As I
am from the Asian country, I have also witnessed racism against me as many of the people here
hold prejudices that result them in discriminating Asians and looking low on them. I might be
treated in appropriately by certain patients who might not feel comfortable working with me or
getting my support. Therefore, I need to make sure that I develop cultural knowledge as well as
cultural intelligence and sensitivity so that I can adapt to the culture efficiently and work
according to the preferences of the patients to please them. I will join workshops by which I can
develop cultural competency as well as cultural sensitivity. I would also develop reflection based
practices so that i can reflect on incidences and learn from them.
Recommendations:
I want to work with Wellways Australia. It is mainly a leading not-for profit organization
which provide support for both mental healthcare services as well as disability support services
in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Tasmania. The
services provided by them spans around different sectors like that of community care; disability
services as well as mental health services and reaches out to thousands of patients (Lopes et al.,
2015). As per my research, I have found that the values and beliefs of this organization align
with the principles that I harbor myself as a healthcare professional. Their services are based on

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honesty, acceptance, equity, flexibility, commitment and participation which is very similar to
the core values that forms of the foundation of my healthcare practices. Moreover, while working
here, I would get the scope to travel all over the nation and also provide both mental care and
disability acre services. Therefore, I believe that joining this organization would be one of the
best options for me to enhance my career in healthcare industry.
Another important organization where I can also seek for job opportunity is Mind
Australia Limited. It is one of the country’s leading community managed specialist healthcare
service providers who have been supporting people with different day-to-day impacts of their
mental health disorders as well as supporting to their family members, friends as well as careers
for around 40 years. Another interesting thing that makes me feel like being a part of this service
is that it helps in providing holistic care to patients (Enticott et al., 2016). They focus on making
patients psychologically feel strong as well as healthy and also become resilient. Another
additional aspect that makes me feel in working with this organization is that it also works with
people to address poverty, housing, education and employment that ensure complete wellbeing.
This organization is also an NDIS provider providing disability services to people. As I would be
able to provide not form of services, I would also try to seek for job opportunities ere for their
unique approach to mental treatment and also for incorporating disability services.
Another important organization where I can also seek for services is called the open
minds. One of the most interesting reasons that had made me excited to work with them is that
they are working for over 100 years and I would be getting to work with healthcare services that
are already a century old. They are committed to supporting people who are not only living with
mental ailments but are also living with disability and acquired brain injury. They are spread
around 23 locations across Queensland as well as into New South Wales and other regions. By

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working with them, I would get the scope of travelling a lot and also provide disability care
beside mental care as they are also aligned with NDIS.
Job seeking plan:
One of the most interesting features required by employers is a complete portfolio of
healthcare students along with their resume. Portfolio comprises of additional details about
experiences, reflective accounts, certificates and degrees and many others. My portfolio would
also comprise of details of knowledge and skills gained from class discussion, attending the
workshops, resources available at the Moodle site. This should be provided along with an
interesting resume. The resume should be prepared in ways that grabs the attention of the
employers and also reveal my genuine details in an elaborative manner so that the employers
understand my skills and knowledge successfully. I will also use innovative job seeking and job
applying methods like looking for vacant positions on linked in jobs, indeed, Seeks as well as
many others. I would also try to develop rapport with many friends and seniors along with
different mentors and placement facilitators so that they can refer me to any vacant positions in
any healthcare organization that suits my aim and objectives. I will also drop forced application
letters in case where they might like my resume. Moreover, I will also engage in a feedback
session with my mentor and discuss with my friends who have already started working on the
strategies to get myself placed in a good organization and see myself successful in the future.
Conclusion:
From the above discussion, it can be clearly seen that the healthcare industry is booming
and hence, more and more professionals would get the scope of working in this sectors and
reaching the zenith of success in their lives. Mental healthcare and disability services require

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more and more professionals to meet the demand of the patients. Following the demands, an
individual needs to select organizations where they would get the scope of further career growths
the same time being able to follow their passion. They would also need to develop job-seeking
plans so that they can follow systematic path and grab good jobs in best organizations.

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References:
Abs.gov.au (2018) Healthcare and Social Assistance our largest industry, Retrieved from:
www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mediareleasesbyCatalogue/B611DFF5E8590F8ACA
2581BF001F743B?OpenDocument
Aihw.gov.au , 2018, Mental health services In brief 2018, Australian institute of health and
welfare services retrieved, from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/0e102c2f-694b-
4949-84fb-e5db1c941a58/aihw-hse-211.pdf.aspx?inline=true
Barr, B., Taylor-Robinson, D., Stuckler, D., Loopstra, R., Reeves, A., & Whitehead, M. (2016). ‘First, do
no harm’: are disability assessments associated with adverse trends in mental health? A
longitudinal ecological study. J Epidemiol Community Health, 70(4), 339-345.
Engesser, S., Fawzi, N., & Larsson, A. O. (2017). Populist online communication: introduction
to the special issue.
Enticott, J. C., Meadows, G. N., Shawyer, F., Inder, B., & Patten, S. (2016). Mental disorders and
distress: associations with demographics, remoteness and socioeconomic deprivation of area of
residence across Australia. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 50(12), 1169-1179.
Halpern, B. S., Longo, C., Lowndes, J. S. S., Best, B. D., Frazier, M., Katona, S. K., ... & Selig, E. R.
(2015). Patterns and emerging trends in global ocean health. PloS one, 10(3), e0117863.
Inglehart, R. (2015). The silent revolution: Changing values and political styles among Western
publics. Princeton University Press.
Kälin, W. (2017). Troubled communication: Cross-cultural misunderstandings in the asylum-
hearing. In International Refugee Law (pp. 175-186). Routledge.

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Lopes, M. A., Almeida, Á. S., & Almada-Lobo, B. (2015). Handling healthcare workforce planning with
care: where do we stand?. Human resources for health, 13(1), 38.
McCracken, K., & Phillips, D. R. (2017). Global health: An introduction to current and future trends.
Routledge.
McCracken, K., & Phillips, D. R. (2017). Global health: An introduction to current and future
trends. Routledge.
Mossialos, E., Wenzl, M., Osborn, R., & Sarnak, D. (2016). 2015 international profiles of health care
systems. Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health.
Nsightsresources.seek.com.au, 2018, Why the healthcare industry is Australia's biggest employer,
retrieved from: https://insightsresources.seek.com.au/why-healthcare-is-australias-
biggest-employer
Quinlan, M. (2015). The effects of non-standard forms of employment on worker health and
safety. Geneva, Switzerland: ILO.
Sellers, K., Leider, J. P., Harper, E., Castrucci, B. C., Bharthapudi, K., Liss-Levinson, R., ... & Hunter, E.
L. (2015). The Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey: the first national survey of
state health agency employees. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 21(Suppl 6),
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Shah, G. H., & Madamala, K. (2015). Knowing where public health is going: levels and determinants of
workforce awareness of national public health trends. Journal of Public Health Management and
Practice, 21, S102-S110.

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