Nurse Labour Force Census
Each year the Nurses Board of Victoria (NBV) circulates on behalf of Department of Human Services (DHS), Victoria a survey to every nurse eligible for re-registration. DHS are the owners of the census but use the NBV registration renewal cycle as the vehicle for conducting the census. The completed forms are then handed back to DHS and the de-identifed data is the property of the DHS.
Each State and territory conducts a Nurse Labour Force Census. This same process is used across Australia and the census is now consistent across Australia apart from minor differences related to different regulatory processes such as differences in nursing and midwifery registers in different states/territories.
The Nurse Labour Force Census provides vital information about the nursing workforce for those planning health services, education programs, researchers and employers and assists in the development of evidence based policy.
The data is also used by government to inform a wide range of workforce planning activities that promote and enhance the contribution nurses and midwives can make in health, community and aged care. For example, in 2005, nurse labour force data was used to support policy and programs such as:
- Decisions about targeting areas for DHS postgraduate nursing scholarships
- Informing policy around Division 2 Medication Administration Training, and
- Supporting overseas nurses to register in Victoria
Full reports are available from the Australian Insitute of Health and Welfare
The Nurse Labour Force Census data is one of the key existing datasets to assist planning the nurse workforce in Victoria and all nurses are encouraged to participate by completing and returning the survey.
Data about Victorian Nurses
The attached table has some frequently requested data about Victorian nurses from the Nurse Labour Force survey. The data has been made available to help individuals or health services to undertake simple analysis or to support nursing workforce decisions/planning. It includes sample demographic information based on nursing speciality.
Care should be taken in interpreting or making judgements using data where a low response rate may affect the generalisability of the data.
Nurse Labour Force Census data (pdf, 35kb)
Contact
All enquiries can be directed to Andrew Oates, Project Office