The National Care Workforce Alliance (NaCWA), an alliance of care and education providers led by the Australian Catholic University, is collaborating to try to tackle the care workforce crisis.
The group has delivered a proof-of-concept trial run of a standardised industry-wide induction for all care workers, including the use of a skills digital passport.
The ‘NaCWA Care Work Essentials: Getting Ready to Work in the Care Sector’ four-hour training session was trialled in the Queensland pilot by allied health students and job seekers.
The program was co-created by five NaCWA Foundation Partners – the Australian Catholic University Online, and aged care providers BallyCara, Burnie Brae, and Centacare Brisbane, as well as disability support organisation Xavier Children's Support Network.
General Manager Aged Care & Housing
Centacare
The pilot is funded by Jobs Queensland, an initiative of the the Queensland Government’s ‘Good Jobs. Good People: Queensland Workforce Strategy 2022-2023’.
The skills passport is a digital platform designed to securely store and manage verified worker qualifications in a central location, enabling care workers to easily access their data and share their skills and training with potential employers.
Providers can use the skills passport to post jobs and identify suitable candidates, significantly streamlining current recruitment processes. It's intended for the training to be rolled out across NSW and Victoria with other foundation partners Catholic Healthcare and Calvary Health Care.
The prospective workers involved in the trial will be tracked to determine if they are successful in obtaining roles in the care sector, and their ongoing satisfaction and retention rates.
