Social Workers in the Census

The human services are a major area of employment growth. According to the census data on occupations from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of people employed as welfare workers grew nearly three-fold in Australia over the last decade. However, the number defining themselves as social workers increased only slightly between 1976-81 and declined between 1981-86. Social workers appear not to have shared in the expansion of the welfare labour force, and are no longer a numerically dominant occupational group. Contrary to the general belief that state government is the major employer, the non-government sector now employs the most social workers.