Information regarding workforce distribution and distinguishing features is collected, including geographic distribution (State location, rural vs urban,) gender, nature of practice (private vs public sector, academic,) ethnic background and academic activities (undergraduate student enrolments and course completions.)

Podiatry labour force 1994 - features

1. Estimated 1659 registered podiatrists in the six States of Australia (Excludes employed podiatrists in the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory due to lack of registration at that time)
2. Over two thirds of the total work force were female (67.9%), ranging from 57.4% in Western Australia to 80.7% in Tasmania.
3. 56.3% of podiatrists were aged less than 35 years and 10.2% were aged 60 years or more.
4. 25.1% of males and 49.5% of females worked part time
5. 27.3 % of podiatrists were employed in salaried positions, whilst 47.7% worked in their own practice (or in partnership)
6. Public sector employment was relatively low in New South Wales (18.9%) and Queensland (21.4%), compared with Victoria (38.1%), Western Australia (32.2%, and Tasmania (31.0%).
7. There were considerable differences among the States in the numbers of employed and full time equivalent podiatrists per 100,000 population. The lowest provision of 6.3 per 100,000 population was for Queensland, while the highest of 13.2 was for Victoria.
8. Nationally, an increase in both registrations and labour force participation between December 1991 and June 1994 created an increase in employed podiatrists of 15%.
9. 117 students completed podiatry courses at universities in Australia in 1994, compared to 102 in 1993, 110 in 1992, 103 in 1991 and 132 in 1990.
10. The total number of students enrolled in university podiatry courses increased from 318 in 1993 to 366 in 1994, but fell to 352 in 1995.
11. The proportion of students who are female appears to be falling. In 1992 a peak of 70% was achieved of course completions by females. By 1994 this had fallen to 59% and in 1995, 53.1% of bachelor pass degree enrolments were females.