Certificate three aged care and disability merge – possible impact on aged care workforce

The entry level qualifications for aged care have changed. Aged care and disability have been merged into one common qualification: Certificate 111 in Individual Support.

The student enroll in general core subjects then selects up to 2 areas out of ageing, home and community or disability to complete the course. They are also now required to complete a minimum of 120 hours workplace engagement before qualifying.

While commendable, there is a risk to the strategy. The stated objective is to give workers more freedom to transfer between aged care and disability. Our hypothesis is that the new National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) money will be more desirable for care workers who will get greater satisfaction caring for a younger, more social client than aged care clients.

Aged care is short of workers now and if the sector is losing the young people coming through to disability care a staffing crisis will evolve.