Personal care assistant
Provide direct personal care to clients in residential aged care, hospital wards and community settings.
Salary
Cited figures only: median full-time weekly earnings for the ANZSCO unit group Nursing Support and Personal Care Workers (4233) from Your Career (Jobs and Skills Australia), and where available the QILT graduate starting salary for the matching study area.
| Figure | AUD | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Median full-time weekly earnings | $1279 | Your Career (2026-09-23) |
Jobs, demand and who does this work
Figures for the ANZSCO occupation Personal Care Assistant (423313), the closest official match for personal care assistant, from Your Career (Jobs and Skills Australia data, sourced 2026-09-23).
- People employed
- 42,300
- Future demand
- Very strong
- Work full-time
- 33%
- Average full-time hours
- 42 a week
- Women
- 86%
- Median age
- 43
Where the jobs are (share of workers)
| NSW | 19.8% |
| VIC | 38.9% |
| QLD | 12.2% |
| WA | 12.8% |
| SA | 10.5% |
| TAS | 3.6% |
| ACT | 0.9% |
| NT | 1.2% |
Highest qualification held by workers
| Postgraduate qualification | 6.2% |
| Bachelor degree | 14.6% |
| Diploma or advanced diploma | 12.9% |
| Certificate I-IV | 39.4% |
| Year 12 | 10.2% |
| Below Year 12 | 9% |
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
- 1Finish Year 10 (minimum) or Year 12 with general literacy
- 2Complete a Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing) (CHC33021) or Certificate III in Allied Health Assistance (HLT33021)
- 3Pass the required 120 hours of supervised work placement
- 4Obtain a National Police Check, aged-care worker screening and any state-specific working-with-children check
- 5Apply for entry-level PCA roles in residential aged care or assistant-in-nursing roles in hospitals
- 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 roles. Years of experience are a rough guide; pay at each stage depends on the employer, award or agreement.
- Entry-level PCA0-1 yearsTypical roles: Personal care assistant, Assistant in nursing
- Experienced PCA2-5 yearsTypical roles: Senior PCA, Specials AIN, Lead carer
- Team leader or stepped up to EN5+ yearsTypical roles: Team leader, Coordinator, Enrolled nurse (after bridge)
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
Ways in
Uni and TAFE routes for personal care assistant. 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.
Sources
ExamExplained does not publish predictive salary figures. For current Australian earnings data check Your Career (yourcareer.gov.au) directly. Career classifications follow the ABS ANZSCO 2022 release.