Planning for the Best

Tripartite National Strategic Plan for Radiation Oncology 2012-2022

Appendix I – Workforce Projections by Jurisdiction

Radiation oncologist workforce

2012  2017  2022
supply demand shortfall supply demand shortfall supply demand shortfall
NSW  85.4  98.1  12.7  124.3  139.7  15.4  165.2  182.3  17.2
VIC  79.0  79.7  0.7  114.9 99.3 -15.6 152.7 129.6 -23.1
QLD  51.0  58.4  7.4  74.2 80.8 6.6 98.6 105.4 6.8
SA  17.0  25.6  8.6  24.7 33.8 9.0 32.8 44.1 11.2
WA  9.4  35.6  26.2  13.7 37.7 23.9 18.2 49.2 30.9
TAS  6.6  8.1  1.5 9.6 10.9 1.4 12.7 14.3 1.5
NT  1.5  0.3  ‐1.2 2.2 2.1 -0.1 3.0 2.8 -0.2
ACT  7.7  6.6  ‐1.1 11.2 5.3 -5.9 14.8 6.9 -7.9
AUS  258.6  311.4  52.8 375.8 409.5 33.6 499.0 534.6 35.5

 

Radiation Therapist workforce

2012  2017  2022
supply demand shortfall supply demand shortfall supply demand shortfall
NSW 476.3 490.5 14.2 599.1 698.3 99.2 702.9 911.7 208.8
VIC 380.6 398.3 17.7 478.6 496.4 17.7 561.6 648.0 86.4
QLD 317.6 292.1 -25.5 399.4 403.8 4.4 468.6 527.2 58.5
SA 99.8 128.1 28.3 125.5 168.8 43.3 147.2 220.3 73.1
WA 74.7 178.1 103.5 93.9 188.3 94.4 110.2 245.8 135.6
TAS 50.6 40.3 -10.3 63.6 54.7 -9.0 74.6 71.4 -3.3
NT 8.5 1.6 -6.9 10.7 10.7 0.0 12.5 13.9 1.4
ACT 38.8 33.0 -5.8 48.8 26.4 -22.4 57.3 34.5 -22.8
AUS  1446.8  1556.9  110.1 1819.6 2047.3 227.7 2134.9 2672.8 537.9

Radiation Oncology Medical Physicist workforce

2012  2017  2022
supply demand shortfall supply demand shortfall supply demand shortfall
NSW  95.4  98.1  2.7  125.6  139.7  14.1  154.0  182.3  28.3
VIC 42.9 79.7 36.7 56.5 99.3 42.8 69.3 129.6 60.3
QLD 25.7 58.4 32.7 33.8 80.8 46.9 41.5 105.4 63.9
SA 17.7 25.6 8.0 23.3 33.8 10.5 28.5 44.1 15.5
WA 8.0 35.6 27.6 10.6 37.7 27.1 13.0 49.2 36.2
TAS 5.4 8.1 2.7 7.0 10.9 3.9 8.6 14.3 5.6
NT 3.2 0.3 -2.9 4.2 2.1 -2.1 5.2 2.8 -2.4
ACT 4.3 6.6 2.3 5.6 5.3 -0.4 6.9 6.9 0.0
AUS 202.5  311.4 108.9 266.7 409.5 142.8 327.0 534.6 207.5

The supply is based on existing workforce with current entrant and attrition trends. The demand is based on radiotherapy utilisation rate of 39.3% in 2012, 45.2% in 2017 and 52.3% in 2022.

Source: The Allen Consulting Group, 20127

Note regarding the WA Data.

An adjustment was made to reflect the 2012 actual data from Western Australia in the above table to account for the one non-responded WA facility in the original data collection process. The Australian total does not reflect the adjusted WA figures to maintain consistency of the data set.

Cautionary note about small numbers

The workforce numbers in some jurisdictions can be very small. Due to a large degree of year-to-year statistical fluctuation in these small numbers, great care should be taken when assessing apparent differences involving small numbers and measures based on small numbers.