NESA 2026 Australian Employment Services Workforce Report

NESA’s 2026 Australian Employment Services Workforce Report

Published November 2026

The people who deliver employment services

Every day, thousands of people across Australia help others find and keep work. NESA’s 2026 Australian Employment Services Workforce Report gives the sector, Government and the community an up-to-date picture of who they are, how they are paid and supported, and the challenges they face.

About the survey

NESA has tracked the employment services workforce through regular surveys since 2004. For 2026, NESA commissioned The Centre for International Economics (CIE) to run the Australian Employment Services Workforce Survey of Remuneration and Human Resource Management Performance and prepare this independent report.

The survey ran online from 4–26 August 2026. It was distributed to providers by the funding agencies, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR), the Department of Social Services (DSS) and the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA), reaching providers beyond NESA’s membership.

In total, 142 providers responded, and those reporting staff numbers employ 8,831 people.

The report covers staff of organisations delivering Australian Government-contracted employment services, including Workforce Australia Services, Inclusive Employment Australia, Transition to Work, Parent Pathways, the Remote Australia Employment Service, and other employment services programs.

Key findings

57% of staff manage a caseload of job seekers, and about one in three have lived experience of unemployment or looking for work.
Around seven in ten staff (68%) are women, and 8.5% are Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, about twice their share of the population.
The average full-time equivalent base salary for frontline staff was about $74,000 at 30 June 2025 (around $76,000 in 2026 after pay increases), and 95% of providers pay above award rates for at least some roles.
Pay is the main reason providers give for staff leaving, and earnings in the sector sit below comparable industries such as health care and social assistance.
43% of providers report aggression, threats or violence towards staff at least monthly.
Providers report a vacancy rate of 6.2%, against 2.0% across all Australian industries, and annual staff turnover of around 50%.
Providers estimate that almost half (48%) of frontline staff and team managers’ working time goes on administrative and compliance tasks.
Attracting and retaining staff is the workforce challenge providers raise most often for the next three to five years.

Thank you

NESA thanks every provider that took the time to respond. We also thank the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations for its support, DEWR, DSS and NIAA for distributing the survey to providers, and the CIE for its independent analysis.

Results are based on a voluntary survey of providers. Responses are self-reported and have not been independently verified, and respondents may not represent the whole sector. Questions on pay, turnover and workforce challenges were typically answered by 20 to 45 providers, and comparisons with earlier surveys are indicative because the 2026 survey reached a broader pool of providers. See section 1 of the report for limitations.