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ANZSCO 4231Skill level 4Health and care

Personal care assistant

Provide direct personal care to clients in residential aged care, hospital wards and community settings.

Salary

Cited figures from Job Outlook and QILT. ExamExplained does not publish predictive earnings or projections.

FigureAUDSource
Full-time weekly earnings$1150Job Outlook (2025-06-01)

How far does this stretch in each city?

What a personal care assistant actually does

Personal care assistants (PCAs), sometimes called assistants in nursing in hospitals, do the hands-on body work that keeps health and aged-care facilities running. A morning shift starts with team handover, then straight into helping residents or patients shower, dress and use the toilet, then breakfast service. Mid-morning brings observations, manual transfers using hoists or sit-to-stand devices, and recreation programmes. The afternoon repeats the routine with smaller showers, continence rounds, family meetings and admission paperwork in facility software. Hospital PCAs sit close to RNs and do the same fundamentals - turns, feeds, ambulating patients - plus specials shifts (one-to-one) with delirious or high-risk patients. Shifts are 8 to 10 hours and rotate across day, evening and night. The work is physically demanding, with frequent bending, lifting and turning even with hoists. Casualisation is common.

Typical tasks

  • Assist with showering, dressing and toileting.
  • Support meal service and feeding.
  • Use mechanical and team-based transfer techniques.

Skills you'll use

  • Showering, dressing and toileting assistance
  • Mechanical and team-based transfer techniques
  • Pressure-area care and skin-integrity checks
  • Vital-signs measurement
  • Documentation of activities of daily living
  • De-escalation of confused or distressed patients
  • Infection-control routines including PPE
  • Mealtime supervision and safe feeding techniques

How to become one

  1. 1Finish Year 10 (minimum) or Year 12 with general literacy
  2. 2Complete a Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing) (CHC33021) or Certificate III in Allied Health Assistance (HLT33115)
  3. 3Pass the required 120 hours of supervised work placement
  4. 4Obtain a National Police Check, aged-care worker screening and any state-specific working-with-children check
  5. 5Apply for entry-level PCA roles in residential aged care or assistant-in-nursing roles in hospitals
  6. 6Consider stepping up to Diploma of Nursing for Enrolled Nurse registration or Cert IV in Ageing for senior carer roles

Where you can work

  • Residential aged-care facilities
  • Public and private hospital wards (AIN role)
  • Sub-acute rehabilitation hospitals
  • Mental-health inpatient units
  • Multicultural and Aboriginal-specific aged-care services
  • Hospice and palliative-care services
  • Retirement villages with care components

Career progression

Typical stages and salary bands. Salary figures are sourced from Job Outlook, QILT or industry bodies; brackets are 25th-75th percentile not absolute floors or ceilings.

  1. Entry-level PCA
    0-1 years
    Typical roles: Personal care assistant, Assistant in nursing
    Salary band: $55,000 - $65,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  2. Experienced PCA
    2-5 years
    Typical roles: Senior PCA, Specials AIN, Lead carer
    Salary band: $60,000 - $72,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  3. Team leader or stepped up to EN
    5+ years
    Typical roles: Team leader, Coordinator, Enrolled nurse (after bridge)
    Salary band: $65,000 - $85,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)

Is this for you?

You might love this if

  • You like building relationships with vulnerable people
  • You can stay patient with confused or aggressive behaviours
  • You're physically fit enough for 10-hour shifts
  • You're comfortable with bodily fluids and end-of-life care
  • You can take direction from RNs without taking it personally

This might not suit you if

  • You want a desk-based or remote job
  • You can't handle the physical strain on your back and knees
  • You can't take shift work including overnights and weekends
  • You don't cope well with patient deaths

Three ways in

Uni, TAFE and trade routes for personal care assistant. Not every career has all three; we only list pathways that actually lead to this occupation.

University

Bachelor degrees that lead to this career.

No direct undergraduate pathway. Consider postgraduate study after a related bachelor degree.

TAFE / VET

Nationally accredited Certificate and Diploma qualifications.

Apprenticeship trade

Earn while you learn through an Australian Apprenticeship.

Not an apprenticeship trade.

Sources

ExamExplained does not publish predictive salary figures. For current Australian earnings data check Job Outlook directly. Career classifications follow the ABS ANZSCO 2022 release.