Client Services
Overview
The Client Services Industry Reference Committee Industry Skills Forecast indicates that workers in this sector are diverse and provide a broad range of services across the community services industries.
The main job roles within this sector are:
- Career/employment consultants
- Case managers
- Celebrants
- Child protection workers
- Counsellors
- Dispute resolution practitioners.
Nationally recognised qualifications for occupations related to Client Services are delivered under the CHC Community Services Training Package. For more information on other community services related industries, please visit the pages for Community Sector and Development, Direct Client Care and Support, and Children’s Education and Care.
All data sources are available at the end of the page.
IRC and Skills Forecasts
Employment trends
Employment snapshot
The Health Care and Social Assistance industry is the largest employing industry in Australia. In 2017 approximately 1.6 million people were employed in this industry. By 2022 it is projected that about 1.8 million people will be employed in this industry. Within this industry, and relevant to Client Services, the occupations of Welfare Support Workers and Counsellors have experienced growth in employment since 2000 and will continue to do so until 2022.
Training trends
Training snapshot
There were over 19,000 enrolments in Client Services qualifications in 2016 and over 3,000 program completions. The enrolments were dominated by one qualification – the Diploma in Counselling. Similarly the main intended occupation of the training was Counsellor although there were also over 4,700 enrolments with the main intended occupation of Welfare Support Worker.
Eighty seven percent of the enrolments were with private training providers and nearly 90% of the funding was from domestic fee for service. Over three-quarters of the students were from the Eastern states.
Relative to the numbers of enrolments, there was only a small level of apprenticeship and traineeship activity for Client Services qualifications. The activity that did occur was for qualifications in employment services.
For more data specific to your occupation, industry or training package, please visit NCVER’s VET Students by Industry.
For more data specific to your region please visit NCVER’s Atlas of total VET. If you are prompted to log in, please select cancel and you will continue to be directed to the program.
If you are interested in extracting NCVER data to construct tables with data relevant to you, please sign up for a VOCSTATS account.
Industry insights
Industry insights on skills needs
The Client Services Industry Reference Committee Industry Skills Forecast 2017 identifies factors that influence the need for skills. These include:
- new service delivery models
- workforce mobility between sectors
- attracting and retaining the workforce
- ageing population
- specific issues relevant to regional areas.
The Skills Forecast ranks communication as the top priority skill for this sector and the job vacancy data for the broader Health Care and Social Assistance industry also ranks communication as the top skill sought by employers.
Other priority skills identified in the Skills Forecast include:
- customer service/people skills
- skill relevancy and multi-skilling
- financial skills
- leadership skills.
The job vacancy data indicates that Welfare Support Workers was the second most sought after occupation in the broader Health Care and Social Assistance industry. The employment data presented on this page indicates that there will be ongoing demand for workers in this occupation. Indeed, the numbers employed in this occupation are expected to increase by 22.1% by 2022.
Links and resources
Below is a list of industry-relevant organisations and associations. Hyperlinks have been included where available.
Government
Australian Capital Territory Government Community Services
Australian Government Department of Human Services
Australian Government Department of Jobs and Small Business (formerly Department of Employment)
Australian Government Department of Social Services
Australian Government Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet –Indigenous Affairs Group
New South Wales Government Family and Community Services
Northern Territory Government Territory Families
South Australia Government Department for Education and Child Development
Tasmanian Government Department of Health and Human Services
Victoria Government Department of Health and Human Services
Western Australia Government Department of Communities, Child Protection and Family Support
Industry associations and advisory bodies
Australian Community Workers Association
Australian Counselling Association
Career Industry Council of Australia
Case Management Society of Australia
Coalition of Celebrant Associations
Family and Relationship Services Australia
Financial and Consumer Rights Council
National Employment Services Association
Employee associations
Regulators
Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department
Relevant research
Client Services Industry Reference Committee Industry Skills Forecast 2017
Data sources and notes
Department of Employment, 2017, Employment Projections, available from the Labour Market Information Portal:
- by ANZSIC 1 digit Health Care and Social Assistance, employment projections to May 2022
- by ANZSCO, selected occupations, employment projections to May 2022
- 2721 Counsellors
- 4117 Welfare Support Workers.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2017, Employed persons by Industry group of main job (ANZSIC), Sex, State and Territory, November 1984 onwards, 6291.0.55.003 - EQ06, viewed 1 September 2017 <http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/6291.0.55.003May%202017?OpenDocument>
- Employed total by ANZSIC 1 digit Health Care and Social Assistance, 2000 to 2017, May Quarter.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2017, Employed persons by occupation unit group of main job (ANZSCO), Sex, State and Territory, August 1986 onwards, 6291.0.55.003 - EQ08, viewed 1 September 2017 <http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/6291.0.55.003May%202017?OpenDocument>
- 2721 Counsellors
- 4117 Welfare Support Workers.
Training data has been extracted from the National VET Provider Collection, Total VET Student and Courses from the following training package or qualifications:
- CHC Community Services Training Package
- CHC30908 - Certificate III in Employment Services
- CHC30912 - Certificate III in Employment Services
- CHC40502 - Certificate IV in Employment Services
- CHC41015 - Certificate IV in Celebrancy
- CHC41115 - Certificate IV in Employment Services
- CHC41215 - Certificate IV in Career Development
- CHC42008 - Certificate IV in Employment Services
- CHC42012 - Certificate IV in Employment Services
- CHC42108 - Certificate IV in Career Development
- CHC42112 - Certificate IV in Career Development
- CHC42212 - Certificate IV in Telephone Counselling Skills
- CHC42608 - Certificate IV in Celebrancy
- CHC51015 - Diploma of Counselling
- CHC51115 - Diploma of Financial Counselling
- CHC51608 - Diploma of Employment Services
- CHC51612 - Diploma of Employment Services
- CHC51708 - Diploma of Counselling
- CHC51712 - Diploma of Counselling
- CHC52108 - Diploma of Community Services (Financial counselling)
- CHC70108 - Graduate Certificate in Community Services Practice (Statutory child protection)
- CHC70208 - Graduate Certificate in Community Services Practice (Client assessment and case management)
- CHC70308 - Graduate Certificate in Career Development Practice
- CHC80107 - Vocational Graduate Diploma of Relationship Counselling
- CHC80208 - Graduate Diploma of Relationship Counselling
- CHC80308 - Graduate Diploma of Family Dispute Resolution
- CHC81015 - Graduate Diploma of Relationship Counselling
- CHC81315 - Graduate Certificate in Career Development Practice
- CHC82015 - Graduate Certificate in Client Assessment and Case Management.
This includes superseded qualifications and training packages.
Data covers a range of selected student and training characteristics in the following categories and years:
- 2014, 2015, 2016 program enrolments
- 2014, 2015, 2016 subject enrolments
- 2014, 2015, 2016 program completions.
Total VET students and courses data is reported for the calendar year. Program enrolments are the qualifications, courses and skill sets in which students are enrolled in a given period. For students enrolled in multiple programs, all programs are counted. Program completion indicates that a student has completed a structured and integrated program of education or training. Location data uses student residence. Subject enrolment is registration of a student at a training delivery location for the purpose of undertaking a module, unit of competency or subject. For more information on the terms and definitions, please refer to the Total VET students and courses: terms and definitions document.
Low counts (less than 5) are not reported to protect client confidentiality.
Percentages are rounded to one decimal place. This can lead to situations where the total sum of proportions in a chart may not add up to exactly 100%.
CHC Community Services apprentice and trainee data has been extracted from the National Apprentice and Trainee Collection, including:
- 2010 to 2016 commencements
- 2010 to 2016 completions
- 2016 apprentices and trainees in-training October to December 2016 collection, by qualification and state and territory of data submitter.
Priority skills data have been extracted from the Client Services Industry Reference Committee’s 2017 Industry Skills Forecast.
Burning Glass Technologies: Labor insight – real-time labor market information tool <http://www.burning-glass.com> 2017.
- Job advertisements from all of Australia from January 2014 to August 2017 are included in the analysis. Data shown is the top five advertised VET-related occupations in the Community Services and Health industry and the top five locations and employers according to job advertisements.
- Skills data has also been extracted from the Burning Glass labour insights job vacancy data tool. Data shown is the proportion of job advertisements which request generic skills for VET-related occupations in the industry and occupations listed above.