Wendy Askew (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Senator Reynolds. Can the minister please update the Senate on the Morrison government's commitment to ensuring there is a strong, skilled and sustainable NDIS workforce?

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Government Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Askew for that question and for her support for people on the NDIS in Tasmania. The Australian government is committed to fully funding and delivering on the vision of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. That, of course, includes ensuring that there is a strong and sustainable workforce for many generations to come. Last week, I had the pleasure of launching the NDIS National Workforce Plan whilst visiting Autism WA in Perth. Autism WA is an extraordinary organisation that for over 50 years has been providing life-changing services and today provides services to more than 4,500 children and adults with autism. I was incredibly privileged to present long-service awards to Stacey, Ken and Darren. These three dedicated individuals so clearly love their jobs and are passionate about, and proud of, what they do each and every day. The values and the skills and the heart and the passion that these three bring to Autism WA is what we need in our workforce, and we need so many more of them. In fact, we need 83,000 more Staceys, Kens and Darrens. Today, 270,000 Australians work in supporting and caring for 450,000 NDIS participants. However, that is not enough. We need to recruit, over the next few years, another 83,000 workers into the support workforce. That's why I've launched the NDIS National Workforce Plan. It's a comprehensive and very practical blueprint for today and also well into the future. It's designed to attract workers with the values, the attributes and the heart we need, while improving existing workers' access to training and new development opportunities. But to do that we need all Australians—

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, Senator Reynolds! Senator Askew, a supplementary question?

Wendy Askew (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How will this plan benefit NDIS participants, workers and providers?

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Government Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you again for the question, Senator Askew. This workforce plan focuses on a range of very practical initiatives that the Australian government is implementing. But the government is not doing this alone. We're working in partnership right across the sector. The plan focuses on the following initiatives, which together will make a real difference. We're improving training and career opportunities for workers. We're strengthening entry pathways to the sector to provide school students, school leavers and jobseekers with improved access to entry-level careers, including supported traineeships and workforce placements. We're innovating by creating new and accessible tools so that jobseekers can self-assess their suitability for jobs across this sector. We're also upskilling the workforce with the development of micro-credentials, something which is long overdue in this sector. A skills passport will also speed up the recognition of training in the sector, and we're enhancing leadership opportunities for staff. (Time expired)

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Askew, a final supplementary question?

Wendy Askew (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Could the minister advise how this NDIS workforce plan also supports alignment across the care and support workforce?

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Government Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Indeed, I can. The initiatives in this workforce plan also support workforce growth in both the aged-care and veteran sectors. It simply makes sense for us to create a single care and support workforce for all Australians who need this assistance the most. The $12.3 million care and support workforce package in this year's budget is the first stage of regulatory alignment activities across the aged-care, disability and veteran-care sectors. We're establishing a single worker screening check, an alignment of standards and also an alignment of auditing processes and regulations. Pleasingly, for providers and their staff, this will significantly cut red tape and reduce the regulatory burden, particularly for providers who work across all three sectors. The Morrison government is utterly and completely committed to creating meaningful, sustainable and skilled careers in this critical sector— (Time expired)