In Victoria and Tasmania, Ageing Australia will be delivering the program in select regions and in the Northern Territory, CREST NT Ltd is the successful funded organisation.

Taking a place-based and community-led approach, Skills Generation and Skills Hubs have partnered with the Australian Catholic University in the Program delivery to connect across communities, providers and the regional, rural and remote aged care workforce landscape to build on sustainable solutions to enable people to age well, in place. A staged rollout of the program will take place, with consultation and collaboration already underway, a link to get involved is below

In announcing the new Program last week, Minister Rae highlighted importance of supporting providers and communities to unlock future quality workforce.

“Our Government values the critical role workers play in the aged care sector and we want them to be able to deliver high-quality care in every part of the country,” he said.

“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.

“Every older Australian deserves access to high-quality aged care, regardless of where they live or the type of care they need.

"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."

Skills Generation Rural and Remote Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Rose Harris, said this successful funding announcement heralds a significant and important step forward, unlocking the often overlooked capacity that sits within regional, rural and remote communities, and representing a positive shift toward the ‘grow your own’ solution to workforce shortages in this sector.

“We have led a sustained advocacy approach since the delivery of the previous Home Care Workforce Support Program as we identified and heard loud and clear the need for a dedicated approach to aged care workforce in the regions,” she said.

“We will undertake this project in a dedicated community-led way to understand the best ways it can connect to community need to strengthen the care and support that is central to the fabric of these regions.”

“Skilling, empowering and supporting locals to take up roles in the aged care sector and assisting local employers to build their own capacity to support and retain these valuable workforces will all be a part of this exciting program,” Rose said.

The full press release from Minister Rae can be read here.

Full details on the Program are available on the Department’s website here.

To register your interest in the Program, please follow this link and the Skills Generation and Skills Hubs delivery team looks forward to speaking with you.