Navigating the Aged Care Workforce Crisis: Practical Strategies for Providers in 2025

Australia’s aged care sector has been in the middle of a fairly chronic workforce crisis for some years now. Recent data show that more than 10,000 nurses and care staff left their roles between July and September 2023 (Kelly, 2024). This turnover, estimated at around 29% annually in residential care (with 35% turnover among registered nurses), far outpaces the national average across industries (The Weekly Source, 2023). The scale and persistence of this issue threaten care quality and financial sustainability.

We believe that understanding the root causes for these challenges is the first step towards navigating them. Australia’s ageing population has drastically intensified demand for care services since 2010, but care worker supply has not kept pace. According to some critics, this imbalance has been worsened by mandated care minutes and RN coverage. While essential for quality, these increases raise pressure on an already stretched workforce. Reports indicate that ongoing work pressure, low pay, poor working conditions, and limited career pathways remain key drivers of retention issues (Jobs and Skills Australia, 2023; NDIS Review Panel, 2023). Similar issues face the Disability Services sector in Australia as well.

Here are five practical strategies for leaders of service providers to attempt to better navigate the aged care workforce crisis:

1. Invest in retention before recruitment
   Recruitment in a tight labor market is expensive and often unsustainable. Providers should focus on retaining existing staff by responding to workforce needs through regular pulse surveys, burnout prevention, and supportive leadership. Enhancing career pathways via micro-credentials, flexible roles, mentoring, and internal growth opportunities can improve staff engagement and loyalty (ANZ Healthcare, 2025; AHRI, 2018).

2. Build career ladders from within
   Aged care often lacks structured advancement pathways. Establishing clear career progression from care worker to team leader or advanced practitioner, supported by recognised CPD or credentialing, gives staff a clear future and encourages retention (ANZ Healthcare, 2025).

3. Use data to predict and manage demand
   Data dashboards tracking care minutes, vacancy rates, staff satisfaction, and incidents provide early warning of workforce stress. Insights from such data allow management to intervene proactively, such as activating recruitment options or retention incentives before turnover accelerates (Australian Department of Health and Aged Care, 2024).

4. Rethink rostering and be agile, not brittle
   Traditional rostering creates inflexibility and burnout. Agile models such as self-rostering, shift-swapping, and variable shift lengths offer flexibility. Coupled with predictive roster models that reflect service needs and leave patterns, these improve staff control and work-life balance (AHRI, 2018).

5. Embed peer support and leadership incubation
   Peer connection builds resilience. Pairing new or stressed staff with ‘buddies’ during onboarding, running peer check-in groups, and facilitating small leadership initiatives help staff feel connected and valued. These interventions foster cohesion and cultivate emerging leaders (Jobs and Skills Australia, 2023).

Used in conjunction, these strategies have a decent potential to reinforce each other. Retention preserves staffing levels, internal promotions boost morale, data interventions reduce crises, flexible rostering improves well-being, and peer support strengthens culture. Together, they form the foundation of a resilient aged care workforce.

Leadership shaped through strong vision, resource investment, and visible commitment is essential. Leaders who champion these initiatives and participate in team settings signal that staff are central to the organisation’s mission. Organisations that succeed in building workforce resilience create competitive advantage through better care, stronger compliance, lower incident rates, and positive reputations. This fosters long-term sustainability and excellence.

In 2025, while the aged care workforce crisis presents critical challenges, it also offers a unique opportunity. Providers that implement retention, internal development, data-informed management, flexible rostering, and peer support will not just survive. They will thrive. Strong leadership, supported by evidence-based strategies, can turn current pressures into the starting point for dynamic, high-quality, and future-ready aged care.

References

AHRI. (2018). Turnover and retention research report. Australian HR Institute.

ANZ Healthcare. (2025, January 29). Reducing staff turnover in the aged care industry. ANZ Healthcare.

Australian Department of Health and Aged Care. (2024). Aged care worker survey 2024 report. Commonwealth of Australia.

Jobs and Skills Australia. (2023). Care workforce labour market study – Report summary.

Kelly, C. (2024, February 16). Staff leave in their thousands, data shows. Australian Ageing Agenda.

NDIS Review Panel. (2023). NDIS Review final report. Commonwealth of Australia.

The Weekly Source. (2023, May 3). 29% staff turnover vs 7.5%: Workforce shortages to drive aged care consolidation. The Weekly Source.