The Australian Government funds and regulates the delivery of aged care services in Australia. The Government aims to ensure that affordable, accessible and quality aged care is available to all older Australians who need it. Services include care through aged care homes (residential care) and care for older people in their own home (aged care packages).
There is a diverse range of roles in the delivery of care to older people. Jobs range from nursing to administration to physiotherapy and lifestyle coordination.
Delivering care to older people, in whatever role you are in, can be very rewarding but it takes skill, knowledge and empathy to do the job well.
Most jobs in aged care require you to have a qualification, commonly at Certificate III level or higher. To find out more about the qualifications relevant to aged care services, click here.
The aged care industry in Australia has very high standards. For example, operators of aged care services funded by the Australian Government are required to ensure staff, volunteers and contractors who have, or are likely to have, unsupervised access to care recipients, undergo a national criminal history record check which must be renewed every three years. To read more about criminal history checks, click here.
Residential aged care homes must meet a set of accreditation standards, set by the Australian Government. Homes are assessed by specially qualified aged care assessors and the Aged Care Standards Accreditation Agency makes the decision about how long a home is accredited. Even after a home receives accreditation, the Agency continues to monitor homes to ensure residents continue to receive a high level of care and that all standards continue to be met. Homes must also show to the Agency that they regularly seek feedback from staff, residents and their families, and look at ways they can improve. To visit the Aged Care Standards Accreditation Agency website, click here.
The aged care and health sector is a growing industry that offers career opportunities and flexibility for casual and part-time employment. Other benefits may include tax-advantages such as salary packaging, on-site car parking, in-house professional development and peer support programs.
The Careers and Training section of this website provides more detail. To go there, highlight Careers and Training on the main menu and make a menu selection.
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ACST Members
ACST members deliver residential aged care, community aged care packages and own and manage retirement villages.
