Mr SYMON (3:14 PM) —My question is to the Minister for Ageing. What action is the government taking to improve the quality of care for older Australians through investment in the aged-care workforce? How is it working to address workforce shortages?

Mrs ELLIOT (Minister for Ageing) —I thank the member for Deakin for his question and I know what a very strong interest he has when it comes to aged-care matters and our aged-care workforce. I also know how particularly pleased he was about the additional residential places and community care places and the capital grant that was allocated in the last aged-care approvals round for Deakin and his continuing interest in aged care. The Rudd government is building a modern aged-care system to help meet the challenges of our ageing population. We are investing in our aged-care workforce to increase skills and to build an aged-care workforce for the future. Our aged-care workers provide such an invaluable and important service right across our nation. In fact, I have had the opportunity to visit many nursing homes right across the country. We have nearly 3,000 nursing homes and I have been very privileged to meet many of the wonderful staff that work there. These people are truly inspirational when it comes to their dedication and their commitment to the work that they do within our nursing homes. I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the efforts of the more than 260,000 people who are currently employed within our aged-care sector and who are providing care to our older Australians, and I thank them for their continued commitment.

The provision of high-quality aged-care services relies on the presence of a skilled workforce. That is why the Rudd government is making substantial investments in training and skills development for our aged-care workers. To date the government has invested $127 million to provide additional training to more than 21,000 aged-care enrolled nurses and personal care workers. This is taking place through a mix of programs such as the Better Skills for Better Care Program that funds the training of residential aged-care workers, the Better Skills for Better Care Program for community care workers and the Aged Care Nursing Scholarship Scheme, as well as programs to provide incentives for nurses to return to aged care after an absence.

I was pleased to recently be at the TAFE at Ballina on the North Coast of New South Wales in the electorate of Page making an announcement. That announcement was for a $43.8 million package to train more than 8,000 aged and community care workers throughout the country. Through this package, more than 3,000 community care workers and more than 5,000 residential aged-care workers will receive training. Present on that day at Ballina TAFE was the UnitingCare Ageing North Coast Residential Group manager, Natalie Carter, and she said: ‘The residents we are getting in aged care are more complex, clinically complex, and higher skilled staff enables better care for those people.’ We are responding to that by this major investment in this training package. We are also investing in care specific training in areas such as dementia care, oral health and medication management as well.

Aged-care qualifications are also amongst the most popular qualifications sought through the government’s Skilling Australia for the Future program. As at July this year, nearly 12,000 people had enrolled in aged care qualifications under the Productivity Places Program. In fact, it is the second most popular qualification sought through the government’s massive investment in training places. These are practical and commonsense measures to help people gain skills and build a long-term career in the aged-care sector. The Rudd government is investing in the aged-care system today by providing more funding than any previous Australian government in our aged-care sector. We are working with aged-care providers to build a modern aged-care system to meet the challenges of the future.