The latest figures are out on Australia’s nursing, midwifery and allied health workforce.

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency’s (AHPRA) March 2013 registration data shows Australia is now home to 346,508 practising nurses and midwives, an increase of 7516 nurses and midwives from December’s registration figures, while the numbers of non-practising nurses and midwives is also slightly up from 3377 to 3437.

Under the nurses category, most of the 59,108 practising enrolled nurses (at a figure of 33,736) are aged 46-65, most of the 241,484 registered nurses (at 103,847) are aged 46-65 and most of the 3147 listed as RN and EN (1486) are aged 36 and under.

Under nurses and midwives, most of the 29 ENs (18) are aged 36 and under, most of the 32,825 RNs (22,602) are aged 46-65, most of the 22listed as RN and EN (12) and most of the 2377 midwives (939) are aged 36 and under.

The figures also show there are 310,899 female practising nurses and midwives and 35,253 male practising nurses and midwives, while 219 did not state their gender.

There are 843 nurse practitioners and 807 registered nurses who can supply scheduled medicines and one midwife practitioner.

There are also eight eligible midwives who can provide scheduled medicines and 166 eligible midwives who are not qualified to obtain endorsement for medicines.

The data, recently released from the 14 National Boards, also provides a snapshot of Australia’s allied health workforce.

It shows there are:

* 30,189 registered psychologists, most (10,132) live in New South Wales, most (4409) are aged 31-35 and most (23,680) are female

* 3852 registered podiatrists, most (1238) live in Victoria, most (770) are aged 26-30 and most (1792) are female

* 24,502 physiotherapists, most (7131) live in New South Wales, most (4954) are aged 26-30 and most (16,198) are female

* 27,226 pharmacists in Australia, most (8399) live in New South Wales, most (6077) are aged 26-30 and most (15,817) are female

* 1765 osteopaths, most (905) live in Victoria, most (398) are aged 31-35, there are 627 male practitioners, 601 female practitioners while 537 did not state their gender

* 4627 optometrists, most (1582) live in New South Wales, most (664) are aged 26-30, there are 2214 female practitioners, 2291 male practitioners while 122 did not disclose their gender

* 14,871 occupational therapists, most (4161) live in New South Wales, most (3358) are aged 26-30 and most (13,633) are female

* 288 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners, most (228) live in the Northern Territory, most (55) are aged 46-50 and most (212) are female

* 3999 Chinese Medicine practitioners, most (1610) live in New South Wales, most (576) are aged 51-55 and most (2120) are female

* 13,769 medical radiation practitioners, most (4472) live in New South Wales, most (2736) are aged 26-30, most (9154) are female, and

* 4637 chiropractic practitioners, most (1551) live in New South Wales, most (751) are aged 31-35, and most (2958) are male.