The sector’s workers have extra cause to celebrate this Aged Care Employee Day following the government’s announcement it will be investing almost $31 million more into the regional and rural aged care workforce.
The investment aims to encourage an extra 6,000 skilled workers to provide care in regional and rural areas, and to support the existing workforce. Most of the funding will go towards attracting personal care workers for home care.
The existing Regional, Rural and Remote Home Care Workforce Support Program will receive just over $20 million to provide support services and initiatives for providers to attract, train and retain home care workers. It is hoped this will support up to 4,000 additional personal care workers in the home care sector and provide an opportunity for others to progress.
This will see close to $40 million in total invested in the program, after $20 million was set aside in the 2024-25 budget to be delivered over 2024-25 to 2026-27.
North and West Remote Health – a provider of the Home Care Workforce Support Program which ceased operating on 30 June 2024 and was replaced by the Regional, Rural and Remote Home Care Workforce Support Program – services over 50 communities in rural, regional and remote Queensland.
The provider said programs such as this had a significant impact on the local community and enabled them to address skills gaps in regions where there aren’t many aged care service providers.
The Aged Care Transition to Practice Program will receive $10 million to increase nursing capability and equip 2,125 registered and enrolled nurses with the skills to provide specialised high-quality care.
Graduate enrolled nurse Edna Odhiambo from Whiddon’s Kelso Residential Care facility in Bathurst completed the transition-to-practice program in February and hopes to remain in the aged care sector as a registered nurse.
“The transition to practice program significantly enhanced my clinical skills, theoretical knowledge and professional confidence. We were very lucky to have the best health practitioners, nurse educators and leaders advocating for us to be the best aged care nurses we can be,” she said.
“Completing this program is an achievement I am proud of. It felt good to put into practice what I have learned and be able to make a real and positive impact on people’s lives every day.”
Minister for Aged Care and Seniors Sam Rae said the government valued the critical role workers had in the aged care sector and wanted them to be able to deliver high-quality care across all parts of the country.
“We want dedicated, passionate people to join the sector, to stay and help deliver the care our loved ones deserve regardless of where they live. This announcement will make that more achievable for thousands of workers,” he said.
“Our investment in regional and rural aged care workers means that more older Australians will get the support they need, when and where they need it.”
This article was originally published in Community Care Review.
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