Aged care needs workers

DESPITE the Clarence Valley’s unemployment rate being higher than both the state and national average, there are opportunities if you look in the right place.

DESPITE the Clarence Valley's unemployment rate being higher than both the state and national average, there are opportunities if you look in the right place.

Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations labour market branch manager Ivan Neville said the region needed to use an "untapped labour supply" to fill vacancies in the largest and fastest-growing industries - the biggest of which was health.

Mr Neville analysed the local market and presented his findings in Grafton earlier this month.

While there was a range of industries with hard-to-fill vacancies, he was most positive about aged care.

With an aging workforce, Mr Neville said this sector would struggle to employ enough people to cater for the region's aging population.

From highly skilled jobs which required degrees, such as registered nursing, to lower skilled jobs such as carers with certificate qualifications, this sector could present employment opportunities for older workers, long-term unemployed, youth, indigenous people and jobless families.

Dougherty Villas facility manager Charmaine Want sees opportunities within the aged care industry.

"We have recruited quite a few staff recently," she said.

Ms Want said the main areas difficult to fill were registered and enrolled nurses and carers with Certificate III and IV qualifications.

"We get a mix of the young ones who are starting off with Cert III and using aged care as a stepping stone to further their careers," she said.

"We also get people who have been at home and raised their children; and people who have helped nurse a family member and decided 'that's what I want to do'."

In the past it was difficult to find men to work in the industry but Ms Want said more were taking on jobs in aged care.

Because people had better in-home services, they were living independently for longer and coming into the facility older than in the past.

This meant there was a higher level of care needed and therefore more opportunities for people looking for stimulating careers as carers and nurses.

"It's giving them the opportunity to up skill," she said.

"There's lots of informal education opportunities, short education programs and we can put them in longer programs."

"I think it's the residents that give them job satisfaction when they are thanked by the residents for everything that they have done for them."

Originally published as Aged care needs workers