The Aged Services IRC has been established to respond to relevant recommendations in the Aged Care Workforce Strategy and to ensure that the national education and training system is able to deliver an agile workforce that can provide safe and quality care to older Australians in a variety of settings. This includes addressing the current and future competencies and skill requirements for new workers entering the sector and existing staff needing to upskill in both the vocational education and training (VET) and higher education sectors.
The Aged Services IRC is responsible for:
- reforming national training package qualifications and skill sets needed by the aged services industry
- examining new approaches to career structuring and progression in the sector, and the education pathways needed to support these
- scoping opportunities for collaboration across VET, higher education and a range of industry sectors to tackle the challenges of an ageing society
- working with other IRCs which have an interest in qualifications relevant to the aged services sector to ensure industry needs are considered and met.
The Aged Services IRC is supported by SkillsIQ (a Skills Service Organsiation). For more information about the IRC and how you can get involved, please contact SkillsIQ.
While it was not possible to include every nominee on the IRC, it is important to remember that SkillsIQ and the IRC will consult widely with all interested stakeholders and existing IRCs as appropriate to progress the work of the committee.
In addition, the Aged Services IRC will establish a number of ‘specific interest’ advisory committees to provide high-level strategic and policy advice to support the work of the IRC. See below for more information, including how to register your interest in participating in an advisory committee.
Further information about the role of IRCs and how they will operate can be found in the IRC Operating Framework..
You are also welcome to submit any questions to the AISC Secretariat at sectoralpolicy@education.gov.au.
The AISC has approved the following members for the Aged Services IRC:
| Representation Type | Organisation | Member | Home State |
| Skills and competencies / profession based organisations | Australian Association of Gerontology | Christine Stirling | TAS |
| Australian College of Nursing | Kyile Ward | ACT | |
| Royal Australian College of General Practitioners | Denise Ruth | VIC | |
| Allied Health Professionals Australia | Vacant | ||
| Occupational Therapy Australia | Carol Jewell | VIC | |
| Palliative Care Australia | Patsy Yates | Qld | |
| Dementia Australia | David Sykes | VIC | |
| Mental Health expertise | Vacant | ||
| Assistive Technology expertise | Robyn Chapman | NSW | |
| COTA Australia | Ian Yates | ACT | |
| Carers Australia | Vacant | ||
| Employer representatives and peak bodies | Leading Aged Services Australia (LASA) | Marcus Riley (Chair) | QLD |
| Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) | Mark Sewell | NSW | |
| Vacant | Vacant | ||
| Representative from Industry Accord on the remote aged care workforce | Chris Hall | WA | |
| Independent / aligned aged care services provider | Sonya Smart | VIC | |
| Employee representatives | Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) | Robert Bonner (Deputy Chair) | SA |
| United Workers Union | Vacant | ||
| Health Services Union (HSU) | Leigh Svendsen | VIC | |
| Education and training | Universities Australia | Rachel Yates | ACT |
| TAFE Directors Australia | Mish Eastman | VIC |