Disability Team Leader
A Disability Team Leader runs a team that helps people with disability. The work is done in clients' own homes. It focuses on building living skills and community access.
What this job is
This job means leading a disability support team. You oversee daily operations and keep care standards high. The work helps clients live more independently at home. Note: aged care team leadership is a separate job.
Are employers advertising this role?
Steady, down 0.3% over 5 years
Counted across a group of similar roles. These are three-month rolling averages of online job advertisements, not filled positions.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Internet Vacancy Index.
Day-to-day
Each day may include managing the support worker team. Keeping rosters and attendance records is part of the work. You may liaise with government and non-government bodies. This helps arrange services and funding for clients. Overseeing team training is also part of the role. You may work with Disability Employment Consultants too. All work follows relevant guidelines and codes of conduct.
Who does this now
About 1,100 people worked in this occupation across Australia at the 2021 Census.
Is it steady
Rostering and documentation are increasingly automated in many providers. Direct supervision, behaviour support and safeguarding decisions tend to stay human-led.
What this role asks for
Certificate IV or Certificate III with at least two years of on-the-job training (ABS skill level 3)
Can employers fill these jobs
Employers hiring for this occupation had trouble finding suitable applicants in 2025. This measures how hard employers found it to fill jobs. It is not a count of jobs, and it does not say whether the occupation is growing.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Training Occupation Pathways dataset, March 2026, version 1.0
Jobs and Skills Australia defines an occupation-ready qualification as:
Completing this qualification will provide the skills and knowledge to undertake this occupation. Further training and experience may be required to meet specific industry requirements including licensing and registration.
Jobs and Skills Australia, Training Occupation Pathways dataset, March 2026, version 1.0
Requirements
The ABS puts this job at skill level 3. That means a Certificate IV, or a Certificate III plus at least two years on the job. You can check current courses at yourcareer.gov.au and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe.
The honest hard part
You are responsible for how well your team performs. Keeping rosters accurate can be hard when staff change. Following codes of conduct requires care at all times. Arranging funding through multiple bodies adds extra complexity.
Where the jobs are
The work takes place in clients' own homes. It involves contact with government and non-government service bodies.
Pay
Published for ANZSCO unit group 4231, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.
This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.
Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
Skills
- Active Listeningcore
- Case Note Documentationcore
- Confidentiality and Privacy Compliancecore
- Cultural Awareness and Sensitivitycore
- Empathy and Emotional Intelligencecore
- Incident Reportingcore
- Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
- Professional Boundaries Maintenancecore
- Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
- Rostering and Scheduling Supportcore
- Stakeholder Communicationcore
- Team Collaborationcore
- Time Management and Prioritisationcore
- Verbal Communicationcore
- Written Communicationcore
- Adaptability and Flexibility
- Conflict Resolution
- Goal Setting and Planning
- Inclusive Practice
- Leave Management
- Participant or Client Advocacy
- Report Writing
- Risk Identification
- Trauma-Informed Communication
Which of these do you have?
Tick the ones you haveSources
- ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
- ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
- ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.
Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.
Last updated: 9 October 2026
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