The Andrews Labor Government will provide up to $8 million for vocational training for all Victorian residential care workers, as Victoria moves towards mandatory qualifications for all residential care workers.
The training scheme will accelerate the upskilling of the workforce that provides essential care and support services to extremely vulnerable children and young people.
This funding comes on top of the $168 million Victorian Budget 2016/17 investment in the Roadmap for Reform, an overhaul of the child protection system to shift the focus from crisis response to prevention and early intervention.
The Roadmap aligns with the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Family Violence.
The Budget will provide also $35.9 million over two years to transform residential care to a clinical treatment model that better supports young people who have experienced abuse, neglect and family violence.
Victorian TAFE Institutes will work with the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare to align the training needs of residential care organisations with the growing needs of the sector.
Funding will enable residential care workers with no relevant formal qualifications and workers who need top-up training to update their qualifications.
Residential care staff are expected to be able to begin undertaking vocational training in the second half of 2016 drawing on their entitlements to funded places under the Victorian Training Guarantee.
By the end of 2017 all residential care workers will be required to have a minimum relevant qualification.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Families and Children Jenny Mikakos
“The Andrews Labor Government is transforming residential care from a place of last resort to a program of intensive treatment, providing stability for the young people who most need it.”
“This training will go a long way to ensuring that residential care is an intervention, not a destination for vulnerable young people.”
Quotes attributable to Minister for Training and Skills Steve Herbert
“This is essential training for the approximately one third of residential care workers who do not have a relevant qualification, despite working with some of our most challenging and vulnerable young people.”
“In the Education State we are providing residential care workers with training for the skills they need to support the kids in their care.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020