Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Human Services Workforce Projects

There is a need to build the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and human services workforce especially in regional, rural and remote areas where there are substantial workforce shortages. In parallel there is a need to ensure that training and education in health and human services embeds Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural safety, so that all workers are better equipped to provide culturally safe care.

The HSSO has a mandate to address system-wide barriers and has identified opportunities to complement the strong capacity of peak organisations, including with community-controlled organisations, focussing on employment and training of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in mainstream health and human services.

These opportunities include addressing:

1. System-wide barriers impacting the health and human services sector by:

• Enabling and incentivising effective employer workforce planning strategies
• Simplifying and scaffolding the pathway to Certificate III and higher qualifications in health and human services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people nationally
• Simplifying Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) processes so that prior formal and informal education and training can be recognised and credentialled
• Simplifying and clarifying practice requirements and associated approval processes.

2. Sector barriers for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and mainstream health and human services employers by:

• Enabling health and human services employers to build culturally safe workplaces
• Assisting health and human services employers to recruit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff
• Enabling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff to complete qualifications relevant to their roles that meet skills shortages.

Initiated projects include:

Workforce Yarning Circle

Working in partnership with the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) to design and deliver a two-day Workforce Yarning Circle to gather Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs), Aboriginal community-controlled RTO’s and relevant government and sector stakeholder groups, to identify health and human services workforce challenges and opportunities to increase workforce capacity.

The Workforce Yarning Circle will be held in April 2023 and will deliver the following outcomes:

• Increased understanding of workforce barriers, challenges and opportunities in the ACCHO sector
• Increased understanding of gaps and resources within the ACCHO & training sectors through mapping
• Development of fit-for-purpose solutions, pathways and action plans for ACCHOs to pursue
• Amplification of positive stories and learnings from the ACCHO sector
• Development of a Community of Practice among ACCHO staff leading workforce and training in their organisations
• Increased connectivity between ACCHO staff and government and sector stakeholder representatives