In this enjoyable episode Nicky chats with Amarni Harris, a young Personal Care Worker with Warrigal Care. With a workforce twice the size of the entire mining industry in Australia, aged care needs great people and faces an urgent need to grow the workforce to meet the increasing demand.
For anyone considering a career in aged care this episode demystifies the pathways to getting into the sector, from volunteering, to certificate courses, to tertiary qualifications and the great opportunities and huge diversity of roles that are available.
Amarni talks about what motivated her to take up a caring role in aged care explaining, “I wanted to contribute to the community and make a difference”. Now aged 19 and pursuing professional qualifications in Nursing Amarni reflects on the way her career choice has made such an impact on the trajectory of her life.
Amarni also describes what it is like to work with older people (telling Nicky “the first word that comes to mind is – Fun!”) and the amazing experiences she has had. “It’s truly opened up my eyes to the big world” says Amarni reflecting on her deepening understanding about the reality of aging that all those that have the privilege of growing old will face. Amarni even provides some great ideas for how the aged care sector can better appeal to younger workers like herself (listen up recruiters!).
Aged care providers, recruiters and policy makers will benefit from Amarni’s fresh eyes on the sector and her lived professional experience meaning this episode has something for everyone with an interest in aged care and the workforce challenges of staffing this essential service.
•CareForce: Aged Care careers here: https://www.careforcehub.com/
•Warrigal Care here: https://www.warrigal.com.au/

Acknowledgement of Country

Community Industry Group' podcast is recorded on beautiful Dharawal Country, and we acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, and their Elders.

We acknowledge and respect their continuing culture, the world’s oldest living culture, and the contribution they make to the life of this region and our country.

We acknowledge that we live and work on Aboriginal land and recognise the strength, resilience and capacity of Aboriginal people.

Music Credit:
"Jarvic 8" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/