Monday 15 February 2010
AUSTRALIANS CONCERNED ABOUT ACCESS TO
CARE SERVICES - POLL
Three quarters of Australians are concerned about access to disability or community care
support, figures released today show.
The polling, conducted on behalf of National Disability Services, showed that 73 per cent
of Australians are worried that they, or one of their family members, would have difficulty
accessing the support of a paid care worker if required in the future.
Speaking ahead of a statewide meeting of over 300 sector stakeholders being held in
Sydney today, National Disability Services’ NSW State Manager, Patrick Maher, said a
growing demand for services will mean more workers are needed, posing a serious
challenge for the sector.
“The challenge is clear: we need to attract more skilled workers into the sector as
demand for services rises. In NSW, the new carecareers recruitment drive is already
building the workforce to help meet the community’s needs in years to come.
“The number of people accessing disability, community and home care services across
the state is set to rise substantially - from 282,000 in 2008-09 to an estimated 356,500 by
2014 - an increase of 26 per cent in just six years.
“The demand for disability and community care cervices is booming, we need to ensure
workforce numbers boom with it.”
National Disability Services, with the support of the NSW Government, recently launched
carecareers – a campaign aimed at attracting workers into disability and community care
services and dispelling myths about work in the sector.
Since the launch of the campaign, more than 1000 people have lodged their applications
for disability and community care jobs advertised through carecareers.
“carecareers is a great step by Government and the sector towards meeting the
challenges facing us, but the challenge of turning public interest into jobs ultimately still
rests with individual service providers, “ Mr Maher added.
“The fact that the NSW Government has put $4.3 million into carecareers shows how
critical an issue this is.
“Recruitment has in the past been thwarted by myths and misperceptions that work in the
sector is mundane with staff having to be ‘heroic’ or ‘angelic’. In order to attract talent,
carecareers dispels these myths so people see work in the sector as the rewarding career
option it is.”
637 637. National Disability Services NSW Conference is being held Monday 15
and Tuesday 16 February at The Menzies Sydney.
For further information contact Alana Mew, 0423 377 567
Note to editors: Omnibus poll was conducted on behalf of National Disability Services
(NSW) by Essential Research using data provided by Your Source. The omnibus was
conducted online over 2 weeks from the 12th to 24th of January. The survey obtained
2229 responses nationally, with a NSW sample of 710.
NEWS 
