Charity aims to help women re-enter workforce

REGISTERED charity WomenCAN Australia, or WCA, has partnered with Jobs Victoria with the aim of creating two hundred aged care jobs for women in Bendigo, Mildura and surrounding districts.

As part of the ‘earn and learn’ program, participants could earn an income while training at a partnered aged care facility.

The program is funded by the State Government and is part of the Jobs Victoria’s Priority Workforce projects.

Its aim is to meet workforce shortages in key sectors in the state.

Costing $3.7 million, the project is seeking to provide 200 women looking for work with a job, paid training, and support as part of the program.

Operations manager of vocational training and employment at WCA, Tara Kirk, said the aged care sector was the perfect industry to help give women a new start.

“The aged care sector is screaming for people at the moment,” she said. “Because there is a big skills shortage, and we have an aging population.

“The model is they undertake Certificate III in Individual Support, which is an aged care qualification, which allows them to then become personal care workers.”

WCA aims to help women reconnect with the workforce by helping build confidence, connections and work capabilities after a long layoff.

Ms Kirk said WCA are still looking for eligible women to join the program.

“These women may not have had a connection to the workforce for a long, long time,” she said.

“They could have been having a family, it may have been domestic violence, childcare, struggles with numeracy and literacy even transport issues.

“There are a whole range of reasons women can’t get back into the workforce.”

Six women have recently begun training at Uniting AgeWell Strath-Haven earning an income on the job as they learn.