The Victorian Government is set to boost training for aged care workers, with a major investment that they say will improve care for residents across the state.
Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers, Luke Donnellan today announced $1 million to strengthen aged care workforce skills across the entire sector.
“This investment will provide training to help our hardworking aged care staff provide better support to residents, especially people with dementia and those needing palliative care,” the Minister said.
The Government is funding La Trobe University’s Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care to develop training to build the capability of staff working across all of Victoria’s 780 aged care services.
The online training will focus on improving dementia care, oral hygiene and palliative care, areas identified in the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety Interim Report. The trainingis targeted at Personal Care Attendants, allied health staff and nurses in both public and non-government services.
In an Australian-first, Victoria has announced it will provide $40 million for a clinical placements training program to help the Commonwealth Government introduce minimum staff-to-resident ratios in private aged care – if the Commonwealth as the primary regulator and funder of the sector comes to the table.
According to a national survey by Dementia Australia, the quality of dementia care was one of the three biggest issues for those living with dementia. There are an estimated 436,366 Australians living with dementia with around half living in residential aged care facilities.
A greater focus on safety, quality and continuous improvement is one of the key themes outlined in Victoria’s submission to the Royal Commission. The submission identifies several opportunities for improvement nationally.
Victoria has the largest public residential aged care sector in Australia and was the first state with legislated staff-to-resident ratios in high care public sector residential aged care services. The Commonwealth Government is the regulator and primary funder of aged care in Australia. The Royal Commission’s final report is due in February 2021.
