Aged Care Minister Anika Wells has hosted an aged care workforce roundtable ahead of the Federal Government’s Jobs and Skills Summit next week.
Ms Wells (pictured, centre) led the discussion, which included representatives from Not For Profit aged care providers such as Bolton Clarke and HammondCare; unions such as the United Workers Union, Health Services Union, and Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation; and industry, government and advocacy groups such as Aged & Community Care Providers Association, Aged Care Workforce Industry Council, the and Council on the Ageing Australia.
However, For Profit aged care had little representation at the table, with only Opal Healthcare’s Director of People & Culture Yolande Nealon present from among the big private providers.
According to Ms Wells, topics discussed in the three-hour session included boosting job security, making aged care more attractive to workers, creating innovation, improving education and training, and the role of migration.
“Aged Care reform needs to be done once and done well and that’s why consultations like today’s Aged Care Workforce Pre-Jobs Summit Roundtable are crucial.
“It was great to see such healthy dialogue among a wide array of stakeholders. We must work together to improve the lives of aged care workers and care recipients who have been neglected after successive Liberal governments ignored their plight.
“We need ambition for aged care. We need to be innovative and have thought leadership,” she said.
The upcoming Jobs and Skills Summit, to be held from 1-2 September, may lead to an increase in the migration cap to as much as 200,000 per year.
