2013 Environmental Scan - Community Services & Health Industry ...

KEY INSIGHTS
KEY WORKFORCE
CHALLENGES
In 2013, the health and community
services workforce will need to respond to
three significant challenges:
1. High demand for care from the
community, driven by growing
expectations, increasing comorbidity,
the contribution of technology and
an ageing population (AIHW 2012b;
ACOSS 2012).
2. Ambitious government reforms to move
the industry towards a client-led model
of funding and care, beginning with the
Aged Care Reform Package (DoHA
2012a) and the National Disability
Insurance Scheme (COAG 2012a).
3. Reduced growth in expenditure by
Australian and State governments
(DoHA 2012; FaHCSIA 2012).
KEY INDUSTRY
PRIORITIES
The following industry challenges and skills
have been identified in this Environmental
Scan (EScan) as the top priorities for the
Community Services and Health industry
in 2013 and over the next five years:
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Workers and managers within the
industry need to develop new skills
to adapt to the client-led model of
care, particularly within autonomous
care environments. Critical skills
that training packages will need
to incorporate include:
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Service coordination
––
Financial management
––
Goal-based planning (KPMG 2012;
Chenoweth and Clements 2009).
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More sustainable workforce development
models that make more efficient use of
Higher Education (HE) and Vocational
Education and Training (VET) based
roles, and which provide more fluid
pathways for workers to move between
sectors and from VET-based to higher
education-based roles and vice versa
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Creating a common pathway of
competencies, so that workers at all
levels and across the industry (but
particularly in aligned sectors, for
example mental health, aged care
and disability services) can respond
appropriately to comorbidity and
complex care needs (DoHA 2012a;
NMHCCF 2012). Common pathways,
which have the potential to increase the
retention of skilled workers, may assist
career planning and development with
the industry, provided cultural issues
and hierarchies, are considered
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Improving and supporting management
and leadership capacity in a rapidly
changing workforce development
environment. This will create the drive
for future workforce development and
job redesign.
BROADER INDUSTRY
TRENDS
The introduction of a demand-led system
has the potential to increase the supply
of VET-trained workers in health and
community services. However, there are
concerns within industry about the quality
and regulation of training in a demandled
system. The Community Services &
Health Industry Skills Council (CS&HISC)
also awaits the implementation of further
planned reforms, that enable reporting
on the total VET activity in Australia not
only delivery through Government-funded
institutions and places. Reporting of this
data will improve assessment of the impact
of CS&HISC Training Packages.
Responding to the industry’s skills needs
in a timely manner will require adaptations
to the existing Training Packages, and an
improvement in ‘speed to market’, with
a greater emphasis and sophistication
in workforce development – evaluation
of successful approaches – coordinated
planning and strategy – adoption of a
systems approach. Action will need to be
oriented around the following approaches:
The priority areas for CS&HISC in 2013
have been reinforced by the Standing
Council on Tertiary Education Skills
& Employment (SCOTESE) and its
endorsement of the new Training Package
standards and its reaffirmation of VET
as competency based and not capability
based tertiary education.
CS&HISC will be driving discussion and
action on increasing the ‘speed to market’
for Training Package revisions to meet
the increasing demand for new skills,
qualifications and roles; and monitoring
the quality assurance regime (particularly
ensuring workplace content and the
regulation of assessment). This latter
priority is also driven by jurisdictions
moving to a demand-led system for VET.
The 2013 EScan findings build on themes
identified in previous EScans, such as
the growing emphasis on primary health,
person-centred service work models
and the need for greater investment in
workforce planning and development.
The issues identified in this EScan have
significant implications for the Community
Services and Health industry.
As the major industry body,
we will continue to consult
and engage with industry
stakeholders and policy
makers to ensure that
Australia has the workforce
it deserves, to best meet
the challenges of a growing
population which demand
affordable, accessible high
quality care
THE CARE INDUSTRY – A TIME FOR ACTION
The introduction of a demand-led system has the potential
to increase the supply of VET-trained workers in Community
Services and Health
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In the short term, further action to
support industry provided clinical and
work placements for VET students.
This is already an under-funded and
under-supported activity and the
transition to demand-led funding
for VET students has the potential
to overwhelm existing capacity
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Over the medium term, more
sustainable models of quality care are
required that alleviate the pressure
on professional roles, particularly
Registered Nurses, giving greater
prominence to existing and new
VET-based roles.
CS&HISC is the recognised national
advisory body on skills and workforce
development.
As the major industry body, we will
continue to consult and engage with
industry stakeholders and policy makers
to ensure that Australia has the workforce
it deserves, to best meet the challenges
of a growing population which demand
affordable, accessible high quality care.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN 2013 : KEY INSIGHTS
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