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# Australia’s jobs boom is increasingly a care-and-government story
- URL: https://www.benchmarkanalytics.com.au/australia-jobs-boom-care-government/
- Published: 2026-09-06T05:06:47.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-06T05:06:47.000Z
- Description: Australia added about 1.29 million main jobs between June 2022 and June 2026. Health, education and public administration accounted for roughly 689,000 of them — 53.4 per cent of the total increase.
- Author: Nick Hossack
- Tags: Australian Jobs Growth, Australian Labour Account, Employment, ABS, Government, Education

### 

Australia has created a large number of jobs since 2022, but the **composition of that growth is unusually concentrated**.

Benchmark analysis of the ABS **Labour Account Australia, June 2026**, released on 4 September, shows the number of seasonally adjusted **main jobs** increased by about **1.29 million between June 2022 and June 2026**, from 13.87 million to 15.16 million. The ABS defines a main job as the job in which an employed person usually works the most hours; each person can have only one.

Of those additional main jobs, around **412,000 were in Health Care and Social Assistance, 205,000 in Education and Training and 72,000 in Public Administration and Safety**.

Combined, those three industries generated about **689,000 jobs — 53.4 per cent of the entire net increase in Australian main jobs since June 2022**.

Health Care and Social Assistance alone accounted for almost one-third.

This does not mean 53 per cent of new jobs were government jobs. Health and education include substantial private-sector employment. But both industries are heavily influenced by taxpayer funding and government programs, while Public Administration and Safety is directly government-based.

The longer-term transformation is even more striking. In 1994, manufacturing accounted for around **13.8 per cent of Australian main jobs**, compared with 8.4 per cent for health and social assistance. Today those positions have reversed: manufacturing represents about **5.9 per cent**, while health and social assistance accounts for **15.7 per cent**.

Australia’s employment story is therefore not simply about how many jobs are being created. Increasingly, it is also about **which parts of the economy are creating them — and how dependent that growth is on government-supported activity**.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, *Labour Account Australia, June 2026*, seasonally adjusted industry time series. The release reports 15.159 million main jobs in June 2026.

More than half of main-job growth came from three industries 

Seasonally adjusted Labour Account main jobs, June 2022 to June 2026 

| Industry                        | Jun-22  | Jun-26  | Change  |
| ------------------------------- | ------- | ------- | ------- |
| Health care & social assistance | 1.963m  | 2.375m  | +412k   |
| Education & training            | 1.011m  | 1.216m  | +205k   |
| Public administration & safety  | 0.748m  | 0.820m  | +72k    |
| Three industries                | 3.722m  | 4.411m  | +689k   |
| All industries                  | 13.870m | 15.159m | +1.289m |

The three industries accounted for **53.4%**of Australia's net increase in main jobs. 

Source: ABS, Labour Account Australia, June 2026\. Seasonally adjusted main jobs. Benchmark Analytics calculations. Figures rounded. 

Australia’s employment structure has reversed 

Share of Australian main jobs 

| Industry                        | 1994  | 2026  |
| ------------------------------- | ----- | ----- |
| Health care & social assistance | 8.4%  | 15.7% |
| Manufacturing                   | 13.8% | 5.9%  |

A main job is the job in which an employed person usually works the most hours. Each employed person can have only one main job. 

Source: ABS, Labour Account Australia, June 2026\. Seasonally adjusted industry time series. Benchmark Analytics calculations.