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Workforce Planning and Development
What is the Aboriginal Health and Community Services Workforce Planning and Development Project?
The purpose of the project is to develop a workforce planning and development strategy for Aboriginal workers in the health and community services sectors in the Northern Territory. The vision is a strategy that meets current and determines future workforce planning and development needs in the short (1-3 years), medium (3-5 years) and long term (10 years) to improve service delivery and identify job opportunities for Aboriginal people in order to build a current and future sustainable workforce.
Who is involved in developing the strategy?
The key stakeholders are:
- Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT (AMSANT)
- NT Department of Health
- NT Department of Children and Families
- NT Department of Education and Training
- NT Department of Business and Employment
- Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
- Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing
- Commonwealth Department of Housing, Community Services, and Indigenous Affairs.
Key stakeholders will be members of a two-tiered structure including a steering committee and a working group.
Who is providing the funding for the project?
The project is jointly funded by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and the NT Department of Business and Employment.
What work will be undertaken and who will do the work?
Human Services Training Advisory Council has been contracted to undertake the development of the strategy. The work includes:
- evidence based research to identify current and future workforce demand and shortages in the Aboriginal health and community services sectors in the NT, with a specific focus on demand for, and shortages of, Aboriginal workers over short, medium and long term time frames
- prioritising the shortages through individual stakeholders, evidence based data and whole of working group processes
- develop a schedule of priority skills shortages and skills gaps (current and projected) to inform key stakeholders and education service providers
- develop a workforce planning and development strategy to meet current and projected service delivery requirements.
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workforce planning and development strategies for Aboriginal people in the health and community services sectors, including workforce attraction, retention and career develoment, taking into account regional, remote and urban settings
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included in the strategies will be a plan that addresses identified priority Aboriginal health and community services worker shortages and risk mitigation strategies
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identified priority skills shortages (current and projected) to inform education and training
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availability of the evidence base that underpins the strategy
- recommendations addressing:
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achievable and appropriate accredited workforce education and training
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best practice pathways to employment
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best practice attraction, retention and career development approaches to maintain and grow the Aboriginal health and community services workforce
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government funding model(s) for training, employment and workforce development
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models(s) that build the capacity of supervisors to support the Aboriginal workforce
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approaches to promote career and early development of a potential workforce.
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a plan to implement the proposed strategy for steering committee endorsement, taking into account relevant policies. This would include facilitated agreement on a mechanism that embeds a cross-sectoral stakeholder approach to implementing the strategic directions for the life of the strategy.
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increasing Indigenous economic participation in the health and community services workforce in all areas and at all levels
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delivering more culturally appropriate services directly resulting from increased participation of Indigenous people in the delivery of these services
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creating a policy space in which community and organisational development can occur and connect, and in which partnership between community and public sector can grow. This policy space is dynamic and is capable of responding to changing circumstances.
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Department of Business and Employment (DBE) and Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) are proposing to jointly fund an inter-agency, cross sector strategic Indigenous workforce planning and development initiative for the health and community services workforce in the NT. The initiative will be undertaken throughout 2011 and will address short, medium and long term aspects of workforce planning and development within the NT cross sector and interagency operating environment.
The overall objective of the Strategy for the Planning and Development of the NT Aboriginal and Community Services Health Workforce is to enhance health and wellbeing outcomes for Indigenous Northern Territorians by:
- increasing Indigenous economic participation in the health and community services workforce in all areas and at all levels
- delivery of more culturally appropriate services directly resulting from increased participation of Indigenous people in the delivery of these services.
This jointly funded initiative is aimed at supporting and strengthening outcomes of current and future work in this area. It proposes a collaborative and capacity building approach. The holistic and facilitated approach provided by this funding initiative has the potential to identify strategic synergies in the Northern Territory across government and non-government, and across the health and community services sectors.
Extensive work is currently underway nationally and in the Northern Territory aimed at enhancing health outcomes for Indigenous Territorians. Much of this work stems from the Closing the Gap framework and much of it focuses on increasing Indigenous social and economic participation, relieving the burden of ill health and ‘closing the gap’ between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the areas of health, socioeconomic and educational outcomes, and life expectancy.
Toward these outcomes, many organisations already have in place Indigenous employment and career development strategies and significant effort and resources are deployed to support these important initiatives. The benefits of increased Indigenous participation in the health and community services workforce in all areas and at all levels, are twofold in that they act as enablers for greater economic participation and they enhance health outcomes through culturally concordant delivery of services. (Improving the Transition into Health Careers for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander school students : A policy paper by the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA) for the Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) February 2010)
Progress to date includes the following:
- Consultants to undertake this project have been identified
- an engagement and communication strategy is being developed.
This engagement and communication strategy includes the distribution of a letter briefing CEs about the project, including its intended outcomes and general approach. CE’s have endorsed the initiative and are committed to resourcing it by nominating and supporting staff members to join a project Working Group.
- Nominated staff members have been selected. It is anticipated that nominated staff will have ‘hands-on’ involvement in this work and will participate in a Working Group which will identify, develop and implement workforce planning and development strategies. These strategies aim to increase Indigenous participation in the health and community services workforce in the Northern Territory over the next 10 years.
- Workshops to engage major stakeholders have been held on 23 February 2011 and 29 March 2011.
- Further workshops are scheduled for: 10 May, 7 June, 28 July, 30 August, 27 September, 25 October, 22 November, and 20 Decembe 2011.
It is recognised that currently all organisations relevant to this area of work have an interest in this outcome and most will already have initiatives and strategies underway.
It is anticipated that this initiative will provide a platform for cross agency and cross sector coordination of effort and sharing of information. This could lead to the associated synergies of a holistic approach to strategic workforce planning and development which currently does not happen in an environment where initiatives are undertaken in isolation.
This holistic approach to strategic workforce planning and development is in keeping with current and emerging international and national evidence based best practice models for strategic workforce planning and development and embraces the hub model of cross sector service delivery currently being implemented in the NT. For further information about this initiative contact judith.mckay@hstac.com.au
What are the timeframes for the project?
The project is due for completion in March 2012.
What are the expected outputs of the project?
The expected outputs include:
How will this strategy contribute to the delivery of health services to the people of the Northern Territory?
The overall objective of the Strategy for the Planning and Development of the NT Aboriginal Community Services and Health Workforce is to enhance the health and wellbeing outcomes for Indigenous Territorians by: