The National Care Workforce Alliance (NaCWA) has reached a major milestone after successfully delivering the proof-of-concept trial run of the ‘NaCWA Care Work Essentials: Getting Ready to Work in the Care Sector’ training session.
Five of NaCWA’s Foundation Partners – the Australian Catholic University (ACU), Ballycara, Burnie Brae, Centacare, and Xavier – co-created the training to provide a standardised industry-wide induction for all workers in the care sector, no matter their employer/s, to help inspire, prepare and empower them for a career in the care sector.
The training trial was attended by a group of allied health students from ACU together with job seekers from MTC Australia and is one element of NaCWA’s Queensland pilot, a project funded by Jobs Queensland to help address the care workforce crisis in Queensland, and across Australia.
The alliance team are developing and trialling a range of processes, training and supporting technology to increase worker attraction to the care sector and improve worker mobility, retention and wellbeing. By working together as an alliance, the foundation partners are also trialling ways to reduce worker underemployment, improve onboarding training and reduce duplication between organisations.
During the four-hour training session, care sector leaders, support workers and attendees worked together to build a clear understanding of a Code of Conduct in the care sector. Attendees then learned what a ‘day in the life of’ a support worker really looks like as well as how to navigate communicating with vulnerable people, how to spot compassion fatigue, and the importance of self-care and looking after yourself.
Aynsley Johnson, Head of Care Services at Burnie Brae said that having a purpose-built onboarding process that doesn’t just stick to the ‘tick box compliance’ topics will enable the industry to have a new quality of workers that are even more empowered and equipped to understand the job they’re getting into.
“We anticipate that retention rates will be stronger as a result of that [standardised onboarding and training], and that’s what we’re looking for,” she said.
ACU Occupational Therapy student, Stephanie, said she felt excited about the opportunity to work in the sector after attending the training session.
“Today was really enjoyable, I learned a lot,” she said.
“It was good to hear from lots of care providers. It was really nice to hear more about the wellness side and how to take care of yourself. I came along because I really wanted a new job and I was considering doing OT in Aged Care so I thought this was the perfect opportunity.
“I really love that this is a trial/study as well because then I can have a voice if something isn’t working.”
Joanne Roy, General Manager – Aged Care & Housing at Centacare said that this industry-first alliance between care providers is a real game changer.
“It’s an innovative solution to a problem that all providers and candidates are experiencing,” she said.
“So, I think it [the Alliance] could provide a really meaningful and long-term benefit to the industry.”
In addition to standardised workforce training, some of NaCWA’s other key initiatives being trialled in the Queensland pilot are the development and roll out of a digital skills passport and deep-dive care workforce research.
The skills passport is a digital platform designed to securely store and manage verified worker qualifications in one central location, enabling care workers to easily access their competency data and share their skills and training with other potential employers. Providers will use the skills passport to post jobs and identify suitable candidates, significantly streamlining current recruitment processes.
“We need to make it as easy as possible for people working in the sector to move amongst providers, and to remove barriers for those wanting to enter the sector,” Ms Roy said.
“The skills passport enables this as it simplifies the compliance process for the worker.”
Richard Littler, CEO at Xavier says the skills passport is the perfect way for workers to get connected to some of the best providers in the care sector, and for providers to share training and resources across the industry.
“The benefits far outweigh what we can do individually – sharing training, sharing recruitment, sharing the expenses of initiatives like the skills passport,” he said.
“You can’t have the same impact when you do that on your own. If you do it collectively you can work with partners like ACU, colleges or other training providers, not only to leverage their knowledge, research, resources and diligence, but also the thousands of students they have.
“We don’t do enough university partnering in the care sector, and it can only be a good thing moving forward.”
The skills passport is currently being trialled by the training attendees as they progress their applications and attend further standardised training that has been developed by the alliance partners.
Feedback from the training attendees will be gathered by the ACU research team prior to further roll out across NSW and Victoria including additional foundation partners Catholic Healthcare and Calvary. The progress of the prospective workers involved in the trial will also be tracked to determine if they are successful in obtaining roles in the care sector, and their ongoing satisfaction and retention rates.
All seven of NaCWA Foundation Partners are also now commencing a deep dive care workforce research project which aims to conduct more than 200 in-depth interviews with current care workers to better understand workforce sentiment. The deep dive research results are expected to be released at the end of 2024.
