Stacey represented Gratis Recruitment this week and had the opportunity to attend the first of two workforce summits this week which was held by the Aged Care Workforce Strategy Taskforce.

The first summit was to provide an early opportunity for the wide range of interests in the workforce to contribute to shaping thinking about an industry driven strategy. Feedback from the workshops will be fed into the summit, along with the results of some initial work being done on strategic imperatives, trends and potential scenarios to consider in developing a workforce strategy.

The second is to contribute to building a strategy, with the aim of informing the development of an exposure draft for wide dissemination and feedback.

The purpose of the taskforce  is to develop a strategy for growing and sustaining the workforce providing aged care services and support for older people, to meet their care needs in a variety of settings across Australia.

The work of the taskforce is to be completed by 30 June 2018, and is supported by a $2 million Australian Government funding commitment.

The Minister for Aged Care, the Hon Ken Wyatt AM MP, announced the appointment of Professor John Pollaers as the independent chair of the taskforce on 14 September 2017 and taskforce membership was announced on 1 November 2017.

The taskforce will provide guidance on strategic direction, steer the process of developing a strategy and sponsor robust consultation and engagement..