In May, the Federal Government put out the tender for the Centre for Growth and Translational Research (CGTR) with a timeframe to have the Centre up and running by early 2021 – now we know who will be steering the first stage.
The Adelaide-based university and the consultancy firm have been awarded the stage one tender to develop an operational model for the CGTR led by Professor Sue Gordon, who is the Chair of Restorative Care at Flinders University’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences, a position co-funded by SA aged care provider ACH Group.
“This represents the first step in achieving sector-wide improvements in workforce capability, models of care, care quality, as well as improvements in overall productivity, investment, commercialisation and the uptake of new technologies,” she said. “Importantly, there is a focus on translation, to ensure the improvements are applied across our ageing society – noting a quarter of our population will be aged 65 or over by 2053, and care needs are increasing as we live longer.”
The Centre was one of 14 strategic actions recommended by Professor John Pollaers OAM’s Aged Care Strategy Taskforce in its 2018 report – the Government committed the funding to the project in the 2019 Federal Budget.
Wells – which bills itself as Australia’s only management consulting firm focused exclusively on the higher education sector – will provide strategic input on the new model.
Their website says their teams in Australia and the UK advise universities on strategy development and governance; quality assurance, compliance and risk; performance and analytics; and organisational development and change management.
Stage 1 of the project will establish the model for the Centre and set the research priorities for the first year of operation.
A request for tender will then be released for a consortium to establish and operate the Centre from early 2021 with funding to run through to 30 June 2024.