NaCWA partnership delivers industry-first collaborative training

Aged care, home care and community care in Australia is experiencing a workforce crisis. Providers across the care sector are facing significant challenges attracting and retaining the right staff at a time when demand is escalating, and the shortfall of workers and standards of care are increasing.

Providers cannot continue to tackle the workforce challenges alone. That’s why, for the first time, the National Care Workforce Alliance (NaCWA), spearheaded by ACU, is bringing together aged care, disability care, technology, and education and training providers to work in collaboration on a solution to this crisis.

A recent milestone was the first proof-of-concept trial run of the ‘NaCWA Care Work Essentials: Getting Ready to Work in the Care Sector’ training held at our Brisbane campus recently.

The training session was attended by a number of ACU allied health students, together with job seekers from MTC Australia who were interested in learning more about a career in the care sector.

ACU has been working alongside NaCWA Foundation Partners Centacare, Catholic Healthcare, Ballycara, Xavier, Burnie Brae and Calvary, to create a meaningful and consistent industry-wide induction training for all workers in the care sector, no matter their employer/s, to help set care workers up for success before they start.

This training trial is part of NaCWA’s Queensland pilot, funded by Jobs Queensland, focusing on building processes and systems that will increase attraction to the sector, improve worker mobility and retention, and reduce underemployment; as well as improving onboarding training and reducing duplication between organisations.

The training was also an opportunity for partners and prospective care workers to meet, build relationships and discuss work opportunities.

The ACU research team, led by Professor Laurie Buys and Senior Lecturer Kieran Flannagan, who spearheaded the formation of NaCWA in 2023, will now seek feedback from the attendees to inform where and how this training fits within the care worker recruitment and onboarding process as part of the broader NaCWA initiative, including tracking the employment and retention outcomes for attendees.

What’s next?

• We’re continuing to develop a collaborative Skills Passport. The passport is a digital platform designed to securely store and manage verified qualifications in one central location, enabling care workers to easily access their competency data and share their skills and training with other potential employers. Our alliance partners will use the skills passport to post jobs and identify suitable candidates, significantly streamlining current recruitment processes. The passport is already being trialled with the training attendees.
• Deep dive care workforce research: qualitative deep dive interviews being undertaken by ACU researchers to provide us with a deep understanding of the needs and wants of care workers.

For more information about the National Care Workforce Alliance and its initiatives, please visit www.nacwa.com.au or speak with Professor Laurie Buys or Senior Lecturer Kieran Flannagan.