Closing the gap in aged care
Eight Indigenous Blue Care employees will begin their nursing studies at TAFE next week, as part of the organisation’s newly launched scholarship program.
Above: Blue Care personal carer, Melanie Pope, attends to a Elizabeth (Betty) Gooda, an elder from Eidsvold.
By Yasmin Noone
A new Indigenous nursing scholarship has just been launched by community health and residential aged care provider, Blue Care, to help build the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff in the sector.
Eight scholarships have been handed out to Indigenous Blue Care employees throughout Queensland, all of whom will start their Diploma of Nursing studies at TAFE next week.
Blue Care Indigenous coordinator, Norelle Watson, said that it was the first time the organisation has rolled out this sort of initiative.
“The scholarship program aims to close the gap [in health] but also the socio economic disadvantage that our people face,” Ms Watson said.
“Ordinarily, these people would not have had an opportunity to access or to be enrolled in these courses. So Blue Care saw this as part of a long-term career advancement for Indigenous employees throughout the organisation.
“And at the end of the day, we will have better skilled staff and Indigenous employees will be able to provide nursing and health care to their own people.”
The TAFE students will also receive ongoing encouragement and support to complete their course and to further their qualifications with a bachelor degree.
“It’s also about people from different cultures, all learning from each other and working together. It’s about inclusiveness in the industry, across all cultures. It’s a very effective, practical form of reconciliation.”
All of the scholarship recipients already hold a Certificate lll in Aged Care, just like Blue Care Mundubbera Community Care personal carer, Melanie Pope.
Beginning at Mundubbera Community Care as a trainee, Ms Pope said Blue Care’s support has given her the confidence to advance her career to gain further skills and qualifications.
“Through this program I am able to take the next step towards achieving my long-term goal of becoming a registered nurse,” Ms Pope said.
The new scheme is an extension of the organisation’s Indigenous Employment Program, which aims to offer Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees training, mentoring and development opportunities.
Blue Care has established cross-cultural training programs, mentoring, scholarships and career paths for more than 130 trainees and aims to recruit a further 130 Indigenous trainees and 35 part-time Indigenous employees, during the next two years.
The organisation currently employs more than 180 Indigenous staff in diverse areas of care, including nursing, allied health, respite care, disability support and personal care.
Training boost for Indigenous aged care workers
Indigenous people living in rural and remote areas will also receive aged care training in their own communities under a Commonwealth plan to bring employment opportunities to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
The federal government has announced that four registered training organisations have been engaged to provide on-site aged care training to more than 60 communities in Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia.
“The project will provide important and relevant training to Indigenous people in their own communities, and this will assist the ageing Indigenous population to receive culturally appropriate care,” Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler said.
“The project is part of the National Jobs Creation Package funded under the Council of Australian Governments’ National Partnerships on Indigenous Economic Participation.
“It includes a $172.7 million commitment over five years commencing 2008-09 to provide employment and training opportunities to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in areas of government service delivery.”
Mr Butler added that the training aims to increase employment and development opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, in line with the Government’s commitment to halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a decade.
