17 May 2022

The Y today welcomed a commitment from the ALP that if elected they would partner with us to establish Y Care Careers with an investment of $15.2 million.

This funding will support the infrastructure to create a source of young care workers to meet the needs of the child care, disability and aged care sectors.  This initiative will offer support and training to 15,000 young people over 5 years into care careers.

It has been well documented that Australia is facing a national shortage of workers in the care sector with some estimating that the Australian care workforce will need to increase by up to 1 million more workers over the next 10 years.

The current training and education system simply doesn’t adequately introduce or support young Australians into care careers.

The need for care workers is particularly acute in regional and rural areas. These are also typically areas of higher youth unemployment and under-employment.

With young people and our partners, we have modelled, designed and developed the Y Care Careers to ensure young Australians – especially those who are unemployed or underemployed – are engaged and supported into care careers.

Through our market research we know that young people are very interested in care careers but many are unsure of entry points, options and support available. We also know that older Australians would be supportive of having young people caring for them, especially those wishing to stay in their own home but needing assistance with personal care, physical activity and technology use.

Consultation with aged care and child care providers has confirmed the need for better training and support for young people to be introduced and retained in the care sector.

Quotes attributable to Tal Karp, CEO of the Y:

“The Y has been providing services to young people and communities across Australia for over 170 years. Our research and experience on the ground has shown a clear connection between areas with the greatest demand for care workers and high levels of youth unemployment and underemployment.

“It is clear that we need a new, innovative, long-term solution to establish a pipeline of young care workers to address these critical issues.

“Y Care Careers has been designed to ensure Australia has a pipeline of care workers, in aged, disability and child-care services.

“Y Care Careers will recruit, train and support tens of thousands of young people as they build long-term, purpose-driven careers in the care sector. 

“The Y currently employs 12,000 staff of which two thirds are young people.

“As one of our nation’s largest employers of young people, a not-for-profit organisation with an Australia-wide reach across 650+ sites, the Y is well positioned to drive systemic change – in support of our young people, and our care sector.”

For media enquiries, contact Dianne McDonald e: dianne.mcdonald@the-y.org.au M: 0412 858 556