Disability support worker course provides free worker’s clearance and a taste for working in the sector

Geraldton residents can test the waters of support work from next month during a free eight-week training program, educating more people in the disability sector. The National Disability Insurance Scheme has developed a training course combining nationally recognised units required for immediate work in the sector. Completing the course enables participants to apply for an NDIS worker’s clearance for employment with NDIS registered providers. NDIS job-matching service project manager Vickie Hablitz said Geraldton alone required an extra 400 disability support workers in the next four years to provide for one of the country’s largest growing employment sectors. “Over the next four to five years in Australia, we need approximately another 8000 to 10,000 support workers,” she said. The training course prepares participants with entry into care skill set units and is a first step to completing a Certificate III in Individual Support. Ms Hablitz said the course was an opportunity to work in the disability sector while enabling people to gain other qualifications. “Some people have never thought about it — working among people with a disability,” she said. Ms Hablitz said it could be difficult find employees with qualifications in the disability sector necessary for work with registered NDIS provider qualifications. The clearance is only applicable when someone has applied to work with a registered provider and in some instances, the waiting time for an NDIS clearance can be an issue for those requiring immediate employment. “That’s part of why we’ve developed the course. If someone is studying a disability-related course — and they are going to do a student placement — they need an NDIS worker’s clearance,” Ms Hablitz said. “It’s being able to apply for a job and supply your NDIS worker’s clearance, not apply for the job and then wait six weeks for the clearance to be approved.” Registered NDIS provider Atlas focuses on sport, leisure and community activity. Executive officer Zane D’Mello said finding employers in the Mid West was urgent because of the growing industry and COVID pressures. “If your worker is in quarantine — that’s seven days of no service — and some people who have disability need 24/7 care,” he said. Mr D’Mello said some people with a disability who were not in care were unable to proceed with daily tasks that everyday people took for granted. “Those people whose reliance on a carer is critical often need help to feed themselves, to shower, to use the toilet — some of those people are non-verbal,” he said. “Those whose disability aren’t so noticeable will miss out on community activity because there are no workers to assist them.” Induction enrolment is available from July 12 at ATC Work Smart Training Rooms on Flores Road.