ANZSCO 2544 Western Australia

Registered Nurses June 2017 Current labour market rating No Shortage Previous labour market rating (June 2016) Regional Recruitment Difficulty

Comments While in the previous survey period employers in regional areas experienced difficult filling vacancies, this year a majority of employers in both metropolitan and regional areas were able to fill advertised vacancies with little difficulty. Survey results This survey found the proportion of surveyed vacancies filled was 83 per cent, compared to 78 per cent in the previous survey period. Employers surveyed in metropolitan areas filled 83 percent of their vacancies this year compared to 86 per cent in the previous survey period. In regional areas, 82 per cent of surveyed vacancies were filled. This represents a marked contrast to the previous year, when only 50 per cent of regional surveyed vacancies were filled. The vacancies surveyed this year were sourced from both the private and public sectors after the lifting of the State Government recruitment freeze, which impacted the last survey period. This year employers attracted an average of 20.3 applicants per vacancy, an increase from 15.2 applicants in the last survey period. Employers in metropolitan areas attracted an average of 29.5 applicants per vacancy, a considerable increase from 18.1 applicants in the previous survey. The average number of applicants for regional vacancies largely remains on par with the previous survey period at 5.2 applicants. This survey showed an average of 10.9 suitable applicants per vacancy, a marked increase from the 1.4 suitable applicants reported by surveyed employers in the previous survey. Significantly, an average of 16.3 applicants was found to be suitable in the metropolitan area, which is notably higher than the average of 1.6 suitable applicants per surveyed vacancy last year. In the regional areas those differences were less marked, with an average of 2.0 applicants found to be suitable in this survey period compared to an average of 0.6 last year. All surveyed employers were seeking experienced, Bachelor qualified nurses registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). A majority of the employers surveyed also sought at least one years’ experience in a specialisation such as aged care, dementia care, ophthalmology, mental health, fertility treatments, emergency department care and theatre and clinical nursing. Experience in a regional or remote setting was highly regarded and often considered a necessity for vacancies outside the metropolitan area. Other requirements identified by employers included: ability to work independently in a high pressure environment supervisory and management experience Labour Economics Office Western Australia Department of Employment experience nursing in a general practice communication and interpersonal skills.

Unsuitable applicants This year, surveyed employers found 23 per cent of qualified applicants to be unsuitable. The main reasons employers found qualified applicants to be unsuitable was because of a lack of experience in a particular nursing specialisation or nursing setting, or due to a lack of experience in supervising and managing staff. Around three times as many qualified applicants were found to be unsuitable for regional vacancies than metropolitan vacancies. Employers in regional areas frequently noted that qualified applicants without experience in a regional or rural setting were generally considered unsuitable due to the unique demands of roles in these areas. Applicants were considered unsuitable if they could not work autonomously, were recent graduates with little industry and/or clinical experience, were unable to be flexible in regards to the hours of work, had unrealistic remuneration expectations or were unwilling to travel or relocate for the job (especially in regional areas).

Demand and supply trends Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that Western Australia recorded a 0.7 per cent increase in population over the year to December 2016. The national growth rate for the same period was 1.6 per cent. 1 A number of factors may influence demand for the skills of Registered Nurses including population growth, advancements in health research and medical technology, an increasing number of people with illnesses and an ageing population. Underlying demand for Registered Nurses in Western Australia remains firm as a result of growth and ageing of the population and an increasing incidence of chronic disease. The Department of Employment data shows the number of online vacancies for Registered Nurses in Western Australia has remained steady over the last 12 months.2 To become a Registered Nurse in Western Australia, a person must obtain a Bachelor of Science (Nursing) or a Bachelor of Nursing and be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. AHPRA registration data shows there were almost 32,874 Registered Nurses in Western Australia as at March 2017, an increase of about 2.1 per cent from March 2016.3 Data from the Department of Education and Training shows that in 2015 there were around 1100 students completing undergraduate courses for initial nursing registration at Western Australian universities. 4

1 ABS, Australian Demographic Statistics, Cat no. 3101.0, December 2016. Data released June 2017. 2 Department of Employment, Internet Vacancy Index, May 2017, 12 month moving average. 3 Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, Registrant Data, Reporting period: March 2017. 4 Department of Education and Training, Higher Education Student Data Collection, 2015, Undergraduate commencements by Field of Education. There were around 2000 students commencing undergraduate courses in nursing in 2015 — the highest in 10 years. 5

5 Department of Education and Training, Higher Education Student Data Collection, 2015, Undergraduate completions by Field of Education. Labour Economics Office Western Australia Department of Employment