The challenges posed by Western Australia’s vast distances and a shortage of traineeships emerged as key issues during HumanAbility’s Western Australia Roadshow in August.
At the Perth Forum, HumanAbility CEO Emma King OAM and the team heard from stakeholders about the difficulties facing the care and support sectors in attracting and retaining workers.
‘In Western Australia, we're facing the need for 12,000 new care workers by 2026,’ said Louise Hillman, NDS.
Contributing factors include a lack of paid placements and competition from higher-paying jobs in the mining industry.
‘One of the issues that we discussed today that would be really good to see addressed is around placement poverty,’ said Chris Twomey, WACOSS.
‘Having some traineeships in place so that someone can keep working and study at same time would be really fantastic.’
In Karratha, the team participated in the Developing Northern Australia Conference alongside Skills Insight, Future Skills Organisation, and Public Skills Australia.
Discussions here focused on region-specific skills and training issues, highlighting the need for tailored approaches to workforce development.
One of the recurring issues raised was the extensive travel required by service providers to meet demand, with trips often spanning three to five hours from their base.
Meetings with WA’s largest in-home disability care provider, Activ Foundation also noted these challenges as well as the difficulty in delivering timely care across such a vast landscape.
Throughout the roadshow, the HumanAbility team visited several key organisations, including Community Skills WA, Pilbara Therapy Services, Yaandina Community Services and One Tree Early Learning.
These visits offered valuable insights into innovative local solutions, revealing the importance of wraparound services and flexible delivery options for care and support students - many of whom are also service users.
Emma King also met with an advisor to WA’s Training and Workforce Development Minister to discuss workforce priorities and critical issues affecting the care and support sectors in the region.
‘It’s so critical that we work together and highlight the needs of the industries that HumanAbility represents and look at how we can have maximum impact and influence,’ said Emma King, HumanAbility chief executive.
