Partnership aims to boost home care workforce
An industry collaborative aims to help plug the skills shortages in the home care sector by sibsidising wages.
The wages of casual home care workers hired through a new recruitment initiative will be subsidised by 50 per cent.
Non-profit organisation Settlement Services International in New South Wales has teamed up with National Disability Insurance Scheme-registered job platform Hireup to connect providers with thousands of trained support workers.
“We are bringing more jobs to carers and giving them the opportunity to broaden their skills and gain experience in home aged care,” said SSI’s head of home care workforce support program Iggy Pintado.
“We also want to help ease some of the financial stress faced by home care providers and are supporting them with a subsidy that covers half of the wages of the casual workers they hire through this new initiative.”
The Home Care Staffing Support program – which aims to grow the home care workforce in New South Wales and the Australian Capitol Territory by 4,400 workers – is the latest attempt by SSI to deliver the government-funded Home Care Support Program, established to help providers attract, train and retain new and existing workers in the sector.
“Few industries in the country have been as impacted by workforce shortages as the care and support sector,” said Mr Pintado, “so there’s a real need for the sector to come together to find solutions that provide senior Australians with the care they need.”
Home care providers can hire casual staff through the Home Care Staffing Support program and receive the subsidy by registering with SSI and signing up to the Hireup platform, where they will be able to post jobs or search for workers.
“Hireup is delighted to be partnering with SSI in this initiative,” said Peter Willis – general manager of Hireup for providers. “Sharing our workforce with providers facing staffing shortages aligns with our purpose – to enable the pursuit of a good life for everyone – and provides valuable opportunities for our workers. We see partnerships like this as critical to solving the workforce crisis across the care and support sector.”
More than 9,000 workers employed by Hireup across NSW and ACT can enrol in the Home Care Staffing Support program to search for job opportunities in the home care sector. SSI will then screen applicants to ensure eligibility and provide them with additional training if needed.
“As the care sector faces an increased demand for talent, our efforts are focused on making home care a career choice for Australians,” said Mr Pintado. “That is why we are bringing more jobs to support workers looking for more shifts and are supplying them with the skills and training that will help them further develop and build a long-term home care career.”
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