Not For Profit PresCare, part of the Apollo Care group, along with Riverside Christian College and TAFE Queensland have formed a partnership to establish a 'Health Hub' where students can receive hands-on experience at PresCare's two aged care communities, Groundwater Lodge and Yaralla Place, in Maryborough, Central Queensland, as they work towards their Certificate III qualification.

There will be a maximum of 12 students per class, and a mix of online and face-to-face instruction, making the courses suitable for distance education. Students will be required to complete 80 to 120 hours of vocational training with PresCare. The first intake will be from 28 January 2025, with the course set to finish in December 2026.

The training agreement is one of several forged by Apollo Care, a national alliance of 12 Not For Profit aged care communities, with similar agreements in place in Mirani and Rockhampton, Qld; Tenterfield, Kempsey, Harden, Wauchope and Waverley, NSW; and Yackandandah and Hastings, Victoria.

Stephen Becsi OAM CEO ApolloCare said, “Building a permanent workforce to reduce costly temporary agency contractors is key to the sustainability of aged care services in regional Australia."

The alliance also has the Key2Care program which supports internationally qualified nurses work full-time as personal care workers while finishing their Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) registration.

“We’ve also streamlined the compliance and onboarding process by simplifying workflows," Stephen said.

In some Apollo Care homes, agency use has been reduced to zero and overall agency use has dropped to 20%.

Apollo Care acquired PresCare in 2021, and has upgraded its homes several times. Most recently, it opened the final six of 30 new aged care beds at PresCare Groundwater Lodge, 255km north of Brisbane.