A new federal government has been elected in Australia. What could that mean for the social care sector?
If you’re a social worker, mental health practitioner or work in other community spaces, read on to discover what the Labor party promised to deliver this side of the election.
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Promises affecting education, training and working conditions for careers in social care
TAFE:
– 465,000 Fee Free TAFE places for industries hit hardest by the pandemic and currently seeing a critical skills gap – to meet current and future needs in the care economy, including jobs like child care, aged care, disability care, nursing and community services
– $50 million TAFE Technology Fund will improve IT facilities, workshops, laboratories and telehealth simulators across the country
Transferable skills:
– Labor will work closely with state and territory governments, industry groups and unions on opportunities that allow workers to transfer and build on their accredited micro-credential training
University:
– Future Made in Australia Skills Plan will also deliver up to 20,000 new university places to help fix areas of skills shortages and fill future skills needs by training Australians in jobs including nursing
Working conditions:
– Labor has promised a comprehensive mental health and burnout support scheme (National Nurse and Midwife Health Service) for nurses and midwives
Promises affecting family, domestic and sexual violence, Indigenous-specific and mental health support sectors
Family, domestic and sexual violence support:
– A new Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Commissioner
– 500 new community sector workers to support women in crisis
– $77m to help make sure all Australian school students can access high quality, age-appropriate consent and respectful relationships education
– Working with states and territories to strengthen and harmonise laws relating to sexual assault and consent
– Legislating 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave
Indigenous-specific:
– A separate national plan for First Nations people to end violence against women and family violence
– Support justice reinvestment in First Nations communities with a $79m investment to reduce incarceration rates, including early intervention to reduce family violence.
Mental health support:
– $31m for bulk-billed telehealth psychiatry consultations across regional and rural Australia.
Promises affecting the disability care sector
NDIS:
– Expert Review to guarantee NDIS plans aren’t unfairly reduced
– NDIS design, operation and sustainability reviewed. All data published
– Central coordination of disability, including non-NDIS participants too
– Additional funding matched for NDIS Appeals providers to cope with the high numbers of AAT cases
– Review NDIS pricing, markets and compliance, and develop a comprehensive NDIS workforce strategy
– Fix the planning pathway and appeals to make NDIS decision-making more efficient, fair, and investment-focused
– An additional $10 million to address systemic abuse, neglect, and exploitation, and support to navigate services.
NDIA:
– More people with disability on the NDIA executive and board
– Stop waste in the system by lifting the NDIA staffing cap, reducing service provider fraud, and spending on external lawyers and consultants
– Appoint a senior officer within the NDIA to tackle the barriers to service delivery in remote areas of Australia and other areas
Housing and infrastructure:
– Pause the current changes to Supported Independent Living (SIL) that are being progressed without proper consultation
– Investigate the $500 million Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) underspend to ensure people with disability can access appropriate housing
– Will chip in a third of the funding required to build a disability toilet for people with high support needs in each of the 400 LGAs currently without one
Education and employment:
– NDIS to report on outcomes like participants’ progress towards employment and education goals to promote accountability
Promises affecting the aged care sector
Staffing:
– Every aged care facility to have a registered, qualified nurse on-site 24/7
– Aged care residents to receive an average of 215 minutes of care per day – more shifts and job opportunities for care workers
– Aged care workers to receive a government-funded pay rise
Accountability:
– Residential care providers to publicly report details of how they’re spending money
– Limit the percentage of Home Care Package fees going to admin/management (as opposed to care)
Please note this research is not comprehensive. See linked sources for more information.
Be. Recruitment specialises in talent acquisition for the social care sector. If you’re looking to take the next step in your social care career, or would like to connect with quality candidates to fill your organisation’s vacancies, get in touch with us – we’d love to hear from you 🙂
Check out social care jobs available here.
