HumanAbility is proud to release Registering Care and Support Workers in Australia: International and Local Learnings, a new paper co-authored with international researcher and expert Professor Shereen Hussein.
Australia is considering introducing a national registration scheme for personal care and support workers in response to recommendations from two Royal Commissions. The evidence, both in Australia and overseas, shows that positive workforce registration and accreditation schemes have the potential to improve career pathways, safety and safeguards, and support better workforce data and clarity of roles. The challenge for Australia is to design a scheme that supports safety and professionalism while remaining practicable, inclusive and sustainable.
HumanAbility commissioned this work to bring a range of perspectives to the table and to explore practical solutions to the challenges ahead. The paper draws on registration schemes in Scotland, Canada (Ontario) and Japan, and pairs those international insights with Australian case studies spanning disability (Victoria), early childhood education and care, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners. Analysis includes how the introduction of minimum qualifications and Recognition of Prior Learning have been navigated in reforms closer to home.
What the evidence tells us
Internationally, the picture is nuanced. Scotland's statutory registration system has improved accountability and safeguarding, but qualification requirements that outpaced available training places and funding have created real barriers for workers. Ontario's voluntary registry increased workforce visibility but saw limited uptake, demonstrating that without mandatory participation or a tangible connection to improved pay and conditions, registration offers limited value to workers or employers. Japan's Certified Care Worker system, the world's oldest of its kind, has elevated professional identity and public confidence, but persistent issues of low pay and high turnover show that registration alone cannot resolve deeper structural challenges.
The domestic case studies offer a closer mirror for what is possible in Australia. Victoria's disability worker registration scheme, now five years old and regarded as a pilot for national implementation, demonstrates how phased, voluntary registration can build professional standards and public trust. The registration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners under AHPRA shows what a well-resourced transition looks like, including investment in Recognition of Prior Learning and mobile assessors sent into regional communities. And Australia's early childhood education and care sector demonstrates how connecting provider registration, funding eligibility, and mandatory minimum qualifications can drive significant improvement in workforce quality over time.
What this means for Australia
Drawing on both the international and domestic evidence, the paper identifies several design elements that stakeholders consistently highlight as essential to a scheme that works:
- phased implementation beginning with provisional registration for experienced but unqualified workers
- minimum qualification requirements with wrap-around supports
- Recognition of Prior Learning options that account for cultural knowledge and lived experience
- Continuing Professional Development obligations, resourced by providers
- Earn While You Learn pathways including paid traineeships
- equity provisions that address cost barriers, particularly for workers in regional, rural and remote areas and those from migrant backgrounds
Australia's tripartite skills system and Modern Awards framework position the aged care and disability sectors well to link improvements in safety and workforce quality to pay and career progression, a key structural distinction from the international examples in this paper.
As the Jobs and Skills Council for aged care, disability and community services, health, children's education and care, and sport and recreation, HumanAbility is well placed to support this transition. That includes through the review of relevant qualifications, research into Earn While You Learn pathways, and ongoing engagement with industry on what workforce registration needs to look like to genuinely work for workers, providers, and the people who rely on care and support.
We welcome your feedback and hope this paper contributes to a well-informed, balanced national conversation on a reform that will have real implications for workers, providers, and the people who rely on care and support services.
Read the paper