National Skills Trial

The National Skills Trial Program is facilitated by the Brotherhood of St Laurence.

The National Youth Employment Body and the Transition to Work National Community of Practice are supporting communities to design and implement a skills pathway for young people to enter the aged care and disability workforce, using a new Skill Set developed by the Human Services Skills Organisation.

The Entry into Care Roles Skill Set was developed in consultation with industry to rapidly upskill a ‘surge’ workforce to meet the needs of the aged care and disability support sector during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

The trial is exploring the implementation of a quality skills pathway that supports and enables young people to gain employment and qualified training in the aged-care and disability sector, and includes career exploration and pre-employment readiness to prepare young people to succeed in the world of work. The pathway is co-designed with local employers to meet their business needs and build a young workforce motivated by the diverse career pathways in the sector.

The Brotherhood of St Laurence aims to utilise this Skill Set to create and implement clear and rapid skills pathways for young people to enter the aged care and disability workforce. It is carrying out a trial of the Skill Set as part of a co-designed training pathway in selected regions across Australia.

The trials will be led and delivered through local National Youth Employment Body (NYEB) Community Investment Committees, which harness local expertise and investments to drive place-based solutions to address youth unemployment.

Each locally led Committee has identified the care sector as a local growth industry with employment opportunities and demand for a younger workforce.

The Skill Set was designed to enable career transition, with an expectation that learners will be building on existing skills. The trial will explore the utility of the Skill Set for young learners entering with different levels of existing skills and employment experience, and any additional requirements in preparing young people for work.