The shorter-format hearing – to be held in Adelaide next Friday 21 February 2020 – will deliver some insight into the recommendations the Commissioners will make in their Final Report on the future of the aged care workforce.
Senior Counsel Assisting Peter Rozen QC (pictured above) is set to outline some of the recommendations that the Counsel Assisting team considers the Commissioners should put forward – based in part on responses to the Royal Commission’s call for ‘new thinking’ following last October’s workforce hearings in Melbourne.
The Commission had announced just before the Interim Report was released on 31 October that it was seeking written submissions on a range of workforce issues, including:
- Setting minimum staffing levels and skill mixes for aged care, including nurses, personal carers and allied health staff;
- Implementing a national register for personal care staff;
- Improving remuneration and working conditions for aged care staff to the level of their health and disability counterparts;
- Increasing the skills and training of all care staff, particularly around dementia;
- Ensuring providers have a culture of strong governance and workforce leadership; and
- And any changes required to ensure the Commonwealth fulfils its role to ‘steward’ the sector.
The hearing will also hear evidence from two witnesses on workforce issues – Professor Charlene Harrington and Dr Katherine Ravenswood – whose backgrounds also give a hint into where the Royal Commission may be heading.
See more here.
