National Skills Week highlights the value of Australia’s care economy

The caring professions, which include vocations in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector, will drive the nation’s jobs growth over the next decade – making the need for effective Vocational Education and Training (VET) essential to create a future job-ready workforce, the Human Services Skills Organisation (HSSO) has said.

In fact, Australia needs to find and train more than 250,000 people by 2025 to meet the escalating demand in sectors such as aged care, ECEC, disability, and veteran services, with the impact of shortages already being acutely felt in the ECEC sector. 

“Attracting and skilling workers in this sector is vital to meet the enormous jobs demand ahead,” HSSO CEO Jodi Schmidt said, outlining the ‘why’ behind the organisation’s sponsorship of National Skills Week, which ran from August 22 to 28.

One of the central aims of National Skills Week was to encourage Australians to discover careers, pathways and opportunities in vocational education they may not have considered as well as learn about emerging industries and technology. 

HSSO participated in a number of podcasts on topics such as defining human services, recruiting younger people into Australia’s most valuable professions and recognition of prior learning, as well as participating in the week’s “Skills and Thrills” webinar.

“We need to increase the recognition and value attributed to our sector. National Skills Week is a great platform to do this,” Ms Schmidt continued. 

Human Services is a rapidly growing group of sectors whereby humans are needed to provide care for other humans. The sector has nearly double the projected growth rate of any other industry in the Australian economy, employing more than 1.9 million people.

Ms Schmidt said the HSSO will continue to work with the industries it represents, and the employers and Registered Training Organisation’s within them, to find solutions to meet Australia’s future workforce needs.

“With human services roles becoming more demanding, changing skills needs and a focus on the quality of care provided, the need for vocational education, and the skilled workers it produces, has never been greater,” she concluded.

For more information about the roles and opportunities in the ECEC sector, please visit the Big Roles in Little Lives website.