From clinical governance to quality leads — five aged care roles providers are struggling to fill in 2026, and the approaches landing the right hires.
The aged care sector is in a hard hiring moment. The new Aged Care Act is bedding in, compliance expectations have lifted, the workforce shortage is real, and the people who can lead through all of it are in short supply.
These are the five roles I see providers struggle with most, and what's working for the providers who are getting them filled.
1. Head of Clinical Governance / Quality and Risk leads
This is the hardest hire in aged care right now. Demand has surged with the new Act, the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards, and a tighter regulatory environment. Every provider needs this capability, and the senior pool with both clinical credibility and governance maturity is small.
For salary context, see our clinical manager aged care guide.
Why it's hard:
- The role sits at the intersection of clinical practice and corporate governance — most candidates are strong on one, not both
- The best candidates are already in similar roles and being courted constantly
- Providers often write the role too narrowly (compliance-only) and miss the leadership dimension
What's working:
- Broadening the brief to include capable clinical leaders who are ready to step up, not just sideways
- Being honest about the leadership reset the role will need to drive — many candidates are energised by that, not put off by it
- Direct outreach to senior clinicians and quality leads at peer providers — not job ads
- Salary at or above market — this role is being underpaid in many places, which is why incumbents leave
2. Heads of People & Culture
Aged care has historically under-invested in HR leadership. Now, with workforce challenges biting, EBA renegotiations underway across the sector, and the cultural rebuild post-Royal Commission still ongoing, providers are realising they need senior P&C leadership — and there isn't enough of it.
For salary context, see our people and culture manager guide.
Why it's hard:
- The role has changed materially in three years; many incumbents in the sector haven't kept pace
- Strong corporate P&C leaders often don't see aged care as an aspirational sector
- The complexity (large workforces, multi-site, casual and shift-based, EBA-bound, regulated) is real
What's working:
- Looking at adjacent sectors — disability, community health, hospital networks — where the operating environment shares similar complexity
- Articulating the mission clearly. Strong P&C leaders are now looking for purpose-driven work, and aged care can offer that — but you have to say it
- Competitive packages. The corporate sector pays well for this skill set; aged care needs to be in the ballpark — see our aged care leadership salary guide.
3. Senior Operations and Service Delivery leaders
The Regional Manager, the General Manager Operations, the Head of Service. Multi-site operational leadership with real accountability for quality, finance, and culture.
Why it's hard:
- Burnout is high — the people who are good at this role have been through a brutal few years
- Many providers want both operational rigour and warmth — the combination is uncommon
- The role requires constant on-site presence, which limits the talent pool to people in commuting distance
What's working:
- Realistic role design — not asking one person to do the work of three
- Investing in induction and support. The best Operations leaders will join if they can see the runway to do the job properly
- Considering candidates from hospitality and retail multi-site management when paired with care sector mentoring
4. Senior Finance leaders with sector knowledge
Aged care funding is uniquely complex — AN-ACC, ANACC supplements, RAD pools, Refundable Accommodation Deposits, the Hotelling Supplement, daily fees, government funding cycles. Few finance leaders outside the sector understand any of this.
Why it's hard:
- The sector-specific knowledge takes 12 to 18 months to acquire from scratch
- CFO and Finance Manager roles in aged care are increasingly strategic, not just transactional — the role has moved on faster than the talent pool
- Larger providers can pay corporate rates; smaller providers struggle to compete
What's working:
- Considering finance leaders from disability, community health, and hospital networks — the funding mechanics differ but the complexity is comparable
- Pairing a strong commercial CFO with a sector-specific Finance Manager underneath, rather than searching for both in one person
- Being open to interim or fixed-term arrangements while developing internal succession
5. Care-facing service managers (Home Care Manager, Residential Manager)
The on-the-ground leaders. The Home Care Package Manager. The Residential Care Manager. The Service Manager. These are the roles that determine resident and client experience day-to-day. For Director of Nursing roles specifically, see our DON salary guide.
Why it's hard:
- Heavy regulatory burden combined with workforce shortages makes the role exhausting
- Many capable nurses don't want to step into management because of the trade-offs
- The role often pays only marginally more than a senior clinical role, which makes the move unattractive
What's working:
- Investing in management development before promotion, not after
- Real flexibility on hours and on-call expectations — the old model is broken
- Paying these roles properly. A meaningful step up from the senior clinician salary is what makes the move worthwhile
- Looking at experienced managers from disability and community health who want a clinical-adjacent role
What links all five
The providers getting these hires right are doing the same things:
- Direct outreach, not just job ads. The best candidates are employed and need to be approached.
- Honest, current salary benchmarking. The sector has moved; old benchmarks mislead.
- Clear articulation of mission and purpose. Aged care can attract great talent, but you have to make the case.
- Investing in proper search, not contingent. At this level, in this market, contingent is too slow and too shallow — see why in retained vs contingent.
- Building internal pipelines for succession, not just hiring externally every time.
None of it is mysterious. It's harder than it used to be, and the providers who treat senior recruitment as a strategic capability — not an HR task — are pulling ahead.
Sources
- Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth) — Department of Health and Aged Care
- Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards — Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission
- Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety — Final Report (2021)
- Patterson Recruitment placement experience across the aged care sector
Recruiting a clinical governance, P&C, or operations leader in aged care? Patterson Recruitment specialises in retained aged care executive search. Book a confidential briefing with Gab or call 0416 170 100. Or explore our aged care recruitment pillar.
This article is current as at May 2026. Market observations reflect Patterson Recruitment's own placement experience in the Australian aged care sector.
