In February, HumanAbility convened a roundtable of senior representatives from government, unions, employers, peak bodies and training providers to progress Recommendation 2.13 of the Strategic Review of the Australian Apprenticeship Incentive Scheme. Here's a summary of what we heard.
The roundtable, held on 23 February 2026 and attended by the Hon. Andrew Giles MP, Minister for Skills and Training, brought together stakeholders to examine the structural barriers to making traineeship models work in aged care and disability and what it would take to overcome them.
Participants broadly supported the six proposals outlined in HumanAbility's discussion paper, while emphasising that more work is needed to understand how each would operate in practice.
What the Conversation Told Us
Four overarching themes emerged across the day's discussion:
- The traditional apprenticeship model is not fit for care.
- Current structures, designed for trade-based industries, don't reflect the realities of aged care and disability work, including part-time and casual employment, individualised funding, and mobile workforces.
- rofessionalisation matters. Without a minimum qualification standard or a clear career pathway, the incentive to train is low.
- Traineeships need to be explicitly linked to workforce strategy, retention and professionalisation goals.
Six proposals had strong support but need more detail. Attendees were broadly supportive of proposals covering dedicated funding and incentives, tailored supervision frameworks, supervisor upskilling, hub-and-spoke workforce educator models, and specific structures for rural, regional and remote areas. Implementation detail is the next priority.
Several issues need to be addressed together. Traineeship strategies, trainee pay, supervisory workforce investment, career pathways, and hybrid or flexible learning models, particularly for workers in individualised or home-based settings.
What Comes Next
The outcomes of this roundtable will inform HumanAbility's ongoing work across Earn While You Learn research, disability and aged care deep dives, and qualification reviews as well as further discussions regarding registration and mandatory qualifications, and the need for improved pathways and professionalisation. We will continue to engage with industry stakeholders to ensure the right levers are being pulled as we develop final recommendations to be shared with the Minister for Skills and Training.
A full summary of the proposals and issues raised on the day is available to download below.
We thank all participants for their time and expertise.
