Aged care workers given training boost

Australian Medical Association Western Australia (AMAWA) has been selected as a preferred training provider by Aged and Community Services (WA), in a move which claims to reflect a “major step forward” in the drive to improve the quality of training of aged and community care workers in the state.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which formally confirms the arrangement, was signed last week at AMA(WA) Nedlands’s headquarters, between Health Training Australia (HTA) and ACSWA.

HTA, a part of the AMA(WA), has been a Registered Training Organisation for many years and claims to provide high quality training solutions to aged care and community service providers.

ACSWA is a leading representative body for the aged care sector in Western Australia and has taken a significant stand in recent years to reform the sector, especially to increase the skills of those employed in the aged care and community service areas.

AMA (WA) president, Associate Professor David Mountain, said it was important the MOU was signed the very week that aged care had taken a new prominence in Australia following the release of the Productivity Commission report into aged care, which recommended major reform to the sector.

“How any nation treats its ageing population and provides for their needs is an accurate reflection of the quality of that society,” Professor Mountain said.

He said with much of the world facing a “dramatically ageing population”, training and services for those who are ageing were increasingly becoming key issues.

“It is vital those who work in aged care and community service are properly trained and properly skilled, and this MOU will go a long way to ensuring workers in our state are ready to care for older members of our community,” Professor Mountain claimed.

Stephen Kobelke, chief executive of ACSWA, told DPS eNews WA’s aged and community care sector was committed to delivering high-quality education, training and information services to assist in maintaining a “sustainable and capable local workforce”.

The alliance is said to enhance opportunities for further training and education for the staff of ACSWA’s member organisations.

Mr Kobelke said a workforce strategy for the industry was vital, but believes Western Australia’s job force will “come back”.

“We are particularly pleased that this partnership will enable both organisations to combine resources and leverage strengths, resources and knowledge to ensure the best possible training opportunities are offered for the aged and community care sector,” Mr Kobelke said.

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