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Saturday, February 8, 2025

Developing the home care workforce we need in Queensland

SPONSORED CONTENT FOR COTA QUEENSLAND

By Dr Andrea Petriwskyj, COTA Queensland Project lead, Engagement and Education.

A sustainable, well-functioning care sector plays an important role in wellbeing as we age and ensuring our lives can beĀ filled with possibility and opportunity.

We know that many more people are needed in the home care workforce to meet the needs of Australians. We have been contracted by the Australian Government to lead a consortium in Queensland, with our partners Skills Hubs and Skills Generation, to train and recruit these people through the national Home Care Workforce Support Program.

The headline task for the program is to get significant numbers of new personal care workers into the Home Care workforce and weā€™re making good progress on our goal.ā€ÆĀ 

COTA Queenslandā€™s role in this program is focused on helping to ensure this workforce is equipped and supported to deliver the consistently high quality, responsive, person-centred support consumers deserve.Ā Ā 

They have been exploring with a range of stakeholders what makes good home care, what supports high-quality person-centred care, and what will be needed to attract and to support the huge increases in staff that will be needed.

As well as gathering the latest research on attraction and retention in the workforce, we have been talking with home care providers, consumers and care partners, advocates, and researchers about workforce development, ageism, consumer voices and rights, lived experiences of providing and receiving care, care quality, and staff skills and training.

COTA Queensland is looking to hear from Queenslanders who are:

  • receiving, or have previously received, aged care services in your home or
  • family members or care partner for someone using home care services.ā€Æā€ÆĀ 

Youā€™re invited to join in the conversation now through COTA Queenslandā€™s Engagement Hub.ā€Æ

In the coming weeks they will be opening the Hub to aged care service providers and staff, and youā€™re encouraged to follow the project for updates and opportunities to contribute. Ā 
COTA Queensland is delivering the Queensland component of this national program.

If you are a home care service provider who is looking for support to recruit personal care staff and you want to be put in touch with the program in your State or Territory, you can find information on the Australian Governmentā€™s website here.

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