Federal budget reveals more aged care training

The recent Federal Budget revealed a $500 million expansion of the government’s Job Trainer program, with opportunity to train a further 33,800 aged care workers over the next two years which could go a long way in alleviating staff shortages.

Residential aged care and home care services have reported shortages of quality staff for some time. They explain that they struggle to get the ‘right people’ in the door. Not being able to secure enough staff suited to the job also means that their aged care clients are potentially not receiving the care they need.

“Our clients describe the ‘right people’ as those who have passion for the sector, empathy, meaning they can see through the lens of the client, fantastic communication skills, they are team players and they have a level of emotional resilience.”

These are all human-centred skills we teach in our courses – and we believe that it sets us apart from other providers.

Supporting quality staff

With a larger focus on aged care by the Royal Commission’s reports and the aged-care related announcements in the Federal Budget, we hope this increased profile will attract the right candidates, who not only have suitable personal attributes but also come with a high level of thinking. The government has pledged $9.8 million in the budget over two years from 2021-22 to extend the national recruitment campaign.

An increase in quality staff will also be essential in meeting the benchmark flagged in the budget for aged care homes to provide at least 200 minutes to residents per day including 40 minutes with a registered nurse from 1 October 2023.

The budget has included the following workforce measures:

• $228.2 million to establish a single aged care assessment workforce for residential care from October 2022 and for home care from July 2023
• $105.6 million to introduce nationally consistent worker screening, register and code-of-conduct for all care sector workers including aged care workers

More home care packages

A further 80,000 home care packages have been promised, to be made available over two years. Other initiatives include enhancing governance and transparency in the delivery of home care packages, better design for packages and providing additional respite services.

In addition, $91.8 million over two years from 2021-22 has been promised to support training of 13,000 new home care workers.

Opportunities to advance

At Selmar, we are committed to delivering quality training via dedicated, passionate trainers who are focused on setting the learner up for success in what can be a challenging – but rewarding – profession. It really aligns with what we’re about which is creating a caring and compassionate workforce in the areas we operate in to have a positive ripple effect into our societies.

For recent Selmar upskilling graduate, Danielle, furthering her skills allowed her to take on more responsibility in a new role and find a new sense of job satisfaction.

“Life is amazing since completing my Advanced Diploma! I feel such a sense of achievement because I never thought I could do something like this”, says Danielle.

 

For further information about our nationally accredited education and training, contact the team at Selmar.