Better Caring has entered into a partnership with a Melbourne-based RTO to provide students with on-the-job experience while completing their studies, with a focus on giving young people who need social and domestic assistance greater options for support.
Selmar Institute of Education announced the partnership on its website last week, saying students will have the opportunity to connect directly with people in their community looking for support and to start building their careers.
A spokesperson for Better Caring said the company works with a number of training providers to offer development opportunities to independent care and support workers.
“The partnership [with Selmar] allows us to add value for workers on the platform, encourages those workers to enhance their skills and training so that they can offer a wider range of services to our clients, and it exposes the Better Caring model to a pool of emerging professionals who are often in great demand with clients on the platform,” she said.
“We receive a lot of requests for students on the platform – often, these are from parents of young adults or younger clients themselves requiring social support.”
“They’re not necessarily looking for qualifications – but for someone who is of a similar age, who they can connect with on a personal level.”
“We’ve had clients with teenage kids tell us that their kids don’t want someone taking them out who reminds them of their mum or dad. They’re looking for someone they can relate to.”
“Workers offering social and domestic assistance are not required to have specific qualifications – although every worker on the platform undergoes a strict onboarding process which includes police and working with children checks as well as reference checks.”
“We work with providers who offer nationally recognised qualifications, and chose to work with Selmar as one of Australia’s leading RTOs with a presence in key locations for us across Queensland, Victoria and NSW,” she said.
“Over the next year, Selmar will be offering subsidised qualifications in some states in individual support, home and community care and disability and ageing support.”
While other providers are entering into arrangements or acquisitions with RTOs to make a push for the overseas training market, Better Caring’s spokesperson said they are focusing more on rural and remote communities in Australia.
“The marketplace model is one that’s certainly gaining traction in other countries.”
“We’re focused on strengthening our offer in our key markets domestically, as well as working to build connections in regional and remote locations where we know there is a need for care and support workers.”
“In these locations, we’re seeing great success with clients building teams of support from within their communities, and managing them via the platform. We see this as the future of community care in Australia.”
“We do know that workers on our platform value the opportunity to meet face to face and network with their peers, and working with Selmar provides a great avenue to do this,” she said.
