Recently, I had the honour of presenting evidence to the Committee on the Future of Australia’s aged care sector workforce. I will share with you that I was nervous sitting in front of several senators plus the public gallery, however, it was a golden opportunity to not only voice our concerns but also present a Solution to Government. A solution we call “Bridging the Gap in Aged Care”.
Concern 1. Non-competent candidates receiving the qualification in Aged Care.
Did you know? ASQA released a report in 2013 on training for aged and community care in Australia. The report showed that 472 training organisations were registered to provide aged and community care qualifications to deliver the Certificate III in Aged Care training. The duration of the training varied between training organisations. A full certificate could be obtained from 4 weeks to six months’ full-time!
Concern 2. The Shortage in aged care workers?
Did you know? Since August 2016 there have been 20,122 enrolments for the Aged Care Certificate nationally with 227 RTO’s.. and drawing from our own experiences, we placed one advertisement for aged care work and received 476 applications.
Concern 3. Candidates leaving training with little or no real understanding of aged care services.
Interviewing and assessing is part of the recruitment process and I am continued to be astonished at the number of job seekers who are unable to answer common questions on aged care services such as; (remembering these are workers who have completed the formal qualification in aged care & placement.)
1. What are ADL’s?
2. How would you maintain a client’s privacy and dignity?
3. How would you first approach a resident to provide services?
4. If a resident refused your assistance or services, what would you do?
5. What PPE’s would you use in your job role?
Fast forward from 2013 to now, we believe we have the solution!
Our program “Bridging the Gap in Aged Care” has been developed to address the gaps we have identified in “qualified worker skill sets” and for those who are seeking sustainable long term work in aged care services.
With the support from state and federal government including our existing aged care client base, I am proud to announce we have successfully supported close to 300 job seekers into aged care positions nationwide.
If you like what you have read and want to know more about how we can help in finding the right workers for you, call us on 1300 472 847 or shoot me an email at [email protected] and let’s work together to achieve the best outcome for you, the aged care provider, the home care client, the resident and the worker!
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