For decades, developers opened feasibility studies with the same equation: land supply, demographics, and demand. But in 2025, a new factor is overtaking them all: the workforce.

At DCM Group’s recent Westpac Conversations at the Wharf event in Melbourne, operators and advisers agreed that no matter how strong the demographics look on paper, without staff a project will stall before it even starts.

Matthew Filocamo, CEO of For Purpose Aged Care, put it bluntly: “There are plenty of areas massively under-bedded, but you also need to look at the workforce. If you don’t have people, you can’t run services.”