A thriving sector
- Canberra’s population is growing faster than the rest of Australia3.
- An expanding, aging and increasingly diverse and dispersed population means that the ACT community sector will also need to grow rapidly.
- That means more community sector jobs and more opportunities for career progression for those with experience and passion to make a change.
- No surprise, that workers in the community sector feel confident about the future despite the uncertainty and disruption from COVID-19. Most community services sector respondents – 73% – said they felt confident about the future of their industry4.
How confident do you feel about the future of the industry post-COVID-19?4
Help to leverage Canberra’s increasing diversity
The ACT’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population is one of the fastest-growing of all states and territories3.
2% of the ACT population identify as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin3.
In 2021, nearly 30% of people in Canberra spoke a language other than English at home3.
16,900 people have a sexual orientation other than heterosexual3.
“What we always need is diversity. We need all types of people because we work with all types of people and need to understand all types of people. Both now and in the future – diversity will be key to the success of our organisations.”
Emma, CEO
Play your part in creating a fairer Canberra community
The ACT has the highest medium income of any state or territory in Australia. But did you know:
In the ACT, more than 38,000 people live in poverty including 9,000 children5.
Poverty, financial stress, and housing pressures are driving increasing demand for community services.
Rising prices of essential goods and services including electricity, gas, health, education, housing and food, contribute to the need in vulnerable households.
“Bring hope, support, empowerment to just one person – it’s the best feeling in the world, but it’s also bigger than that. You are making real change. Who doesn’t want to feel that way?”
Jessi
“We might not solve the housing crisis, but we’re able to make a small but very meaningful material difference in people’s lives.”
Hannah
References
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- National Skills Commission, Care Workforce Labour Market Study – Report summary
- Income and work, ABS Census 2021
- Snapshot of Australian Capital City, ABS Census 2021.
- State of the Sector Report, Community and disability services workforce insights, Hesta, 2021.
- Poverty & inequality in the ACT, ACT Council of Social Service Inc.
- ACT continues to over-incarcerate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples at alarming rates, ACTCOSS Media Release 2023.
- Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander children continue to be overrepresented in child protection and youth justice systems, ACTCOSS Media Release 2023.
- Urgent action needed to address ACT’s worsening housing and homelessness crisis, ACTCOSS Media Release 2023.
