New Aged Care Assistant program attracts over 400 candidates – first recruits starting work next week

Providers are being urged to register their workforce needs with the new Aged Care Assistant (ACA) program – developed by Leading Age Services Australia (LASA), Altura Learning and DASH Group recruitment – with applications already received from 41 providers. You can watch a video about the program here. The program – which was announced last month – is designed to provide a temporary workforce to the aged care sector by training people from the hospitality, retail, tourism and airline sectors left unemployed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 400 candidates have already applied for the positions with the first screened and trained and 10 assistants due to be placed in positions next week. Trainees undertake a 10-hour course to be able to provide meal preparation, delivery and dining assistance, resident mobility assistance, delivery of non-intimate hygiene for residents, recreation and social assistance, bed making and linen distribution and administrative duties. Screening for candidates includes an interview, personality and aptitude testing, reference checks, police check and influenza vaccination. Providers can hire candidates directly or through a labour hire agreement with DASH. For more information, visit the DASH website here.