About
The Home Care Workforce Support Program
The Home Care Workforce Support Program (HCWSP) was part of the initial response to the Final Report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety and provides targeted support to assist the aged care sector to increase the size of the care workforce.
The aims of the HCWSP were to:
- Raise awareness of career opportunities in the sector
- Skill and screen new workers
- Supporting access to Job Trainer aged care training places
- Better equip providers to attract, train and retain workers
The objectives of the national program were to:
Support the home care sector to attract, train and retain an additional 13,000 care workers to support growing demand for consumer access to home care.
Assist new care workers (e.g., students and new entrants) to receive the skills and training required to deliver quality aged care services.
Enhance the skills of the existing workforce to ensure better support for new care workers to the home care workforce to help improve retention.
Provide targeted support to aged care providers to promote consumer access to home care in rural and remote area.
Our focus was working alongside those in the sector to ensure this new home care workforce has the right skills and knowledge to deliver high quality, person-centred care, and that they are supported to deliver that care.
The Consortium
COTA Queensland, in collaboration with Skills Hubs and Skills Generation, attracted and recruited new personal care workers to the sector, supported new personal care workers to complete high-quality training and up-skill the existing workforce.
How will success be measured?
Success of the project was measured by the Key Performance Indicators of the number of care workers attracted, trained and supported in the home care sector, and the number of providers supported to grow their workforce. The Project was evaluated by Emeritus Professor, Julie Byles, from Newcastle University.
Stories
An important part of this program was bringing together stakeholders to understand what is needed to support change, and to create practical, impactful strategies.
We had a strong focus on the lived experiences of those providing and receiving care and support.
