The human services sector covers a diverse range of industries including health, aged care, community, disability, education services, social housing and prisons, delivered by both government and private providers. It provides support for people who are vulnerable or in times of crisis, with professionals helping people navigate through health challenges or chronic situations where the person needs guidance with their issues or to reach their potential. This may include services which help them find stability, with a disability, counselling, treatment or end of life care.
While we tend to focus on our most vulnerable people when we consider the human services sector, we often forget that it’s South Australia’s largest employment growth industry with forecasted growth of 14.9 per cent over the five years to 2023 and it contributes approximately 9.4 per cent to our Gross State Product - more than manufacturing, agriculture or construction. More jobs are being created in the health and human services sectors than any other.
Business SA’s Human Touch discussion paper outlines the sector’s diversity, growth opportunities, updates on the NDIS and the aged care sector, and includes employment case studies demonstrating the range of careers available.