Fed Govt delivers $91M to help provide an extra 13,000 home care workers

Greg Hunt, Minister for Health and Aged Care, has allocated more than $91 million under the Home Care Workforce Support Program to six organisations to radically increase the home care workforce over the next two years. Home care providers will be able to work with these organisations to grow and upskill their workforce.

“The Home Care Workforce Support Program will help senior Australians to remain at home by growing the personal care workforce. This will allow people to access home care services where and when they need them,” he said.

The money will go to:

• Settlement Services International in NSW and ACT;
• Aged and Community Services (ACSA), together with Mediasphere Holdings (Powerhouse Hub), Human Services Skills Organisation (HSSO), and MEGT in Victoria and Tasmania;
• Council on the Ageing Queensland, together with Skills Hub Ltd, Partners4Health and Skills Generation, in Queensland;
• Recruitment Solutions Group Australia in South Australia and Northern Territory;
• North Metropolitan TAFE, together with South Metropolitan TAFE, Amana Living and Programmed Skilled Workforce in Western Australia; and the
• National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in rural and remote communities.

The number of people on Home Care Packages (HCP) now outnumbers those in residential aged care for the first time, COTA Australia Chief Executive Ian Yates told the LEADERS SUMMIT last month. There are now 204,146 people accessing a Home Care Package (HCP), with 19,599 people entering a HCP for the first time in the September quarter last year. But providers are experiencing severe workforce shortages, with COTA reporting complaints from home care recipients unable to find a provider to service their package due to lack of staff.

“The growth in demand for the aged care services provided by the workforce combined with the need to provide skilled workers in the right place at the right time is one of our most pressing challenges nationally,” said Human Services Skills Organisation CEO Jodi Schmidt. “The Human Services Skills Organisation will lead a team of sourcing and training specialists in Victoria and Tasmania to find new workers suited to the industry, build their capability, and enhance the skills of existing workers. “We will be working in close partnership with home care providers to access talent from a range of sources including employment services and education and training providers.”