VET News

Now That's a Plan!

The NDIS National Workforce Plan: 2021-2025 (the Plan), focuses on building a responsive and capable workforce that supports NDIS participants to meet their needs and achieve their goals.  

The Plan outlines the Australian Government’s commitment to work with NDIS participants, industry and other stakeholders to grow a responsive and capable workforce for the NDIS. The aim is to ensure the care and support market and workforce are able to support participants to meet their needs and achieve their goals.

The care and support sector is one of Australia’s largest and fastest growing sectors. This growth is being driven by rapid expansion of the number of NDIS participants and an increasing number of older Australians and veterans within our community accessing care and support.

The Plan is designed to attract workers with suitable skills, values and attributes, while also improving existing workers’ access to training and development opportunities. The Plan will generate benefits for participants, workers, providers, and the broader Australian economy:

• participants will have access to higher quality supports and improved continuity of supports
• workers will benefit from improved training and access to professional development opportunities
• providers will benefit from better regulation across the sector and more market demand information to drive innovation

The 16 initiatives in the Plan will enable workforce growth in the NDIS, and support complementary workforce measures in aged care and support services for veterans.

Priority 1: Improve community understanding of the benefits of working in the care and support sector and strengthen entry pathways for suitable workers to enter the sector

1.  Promote opportunities in the care and support sector
2. Develop a simple and accessible online tool for job seekers to self-assess their suitability for new roles based on values, attributes, skills and experience
3. Improve effectiveness of jobs boards to match job seekers to vacancies in the sector
4. Leverage employment programs to ensure suitable job seekers can find work in the sector
5. Better connect NDIS and care and support providers to employment and training providers and workers

Priority 2: Train and support the NDIS workforce

1. Develop micro-credentials and update nationally recognised training to improve the quality of supports and enhance career pathways
2. Support the sector to develop a Care and Support Worker Professional Network
3. Work with the sector to establish a skills passport
4. Support the sector to grow the number of traineeships and student placements, working closely with education institutions and professional bodies

Priority 3: Reduce red tape, facilitate new service models and innovation, and provide more market information about business opportunities in the care and support sector

1. Improve alignment of provider regulation and worker screening across the care and support sector
2. Continue to improve NDIS pricing approaches to ensure effective operation of the market, including in thin markets
3. Provide market demand information across the care and support sector to help identify new business opportunities
4. Support participants to find more of the services and supports they need online
5. Explore options to support allied health professionals to work alongside allied health assistants and support workers to increase capacity to respond to participants' needs
6. Enable allied health professionals in rural and remote areas to access professional support via telehealth
7. Help build the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled sector to enhance culturally safe NDIS services

Access the full NDIS National Workforce Plan: 2021-2025 here

Date posted Jun 24, 2021