We must strengthen the capability of our workforces to do our best work. We must remove barriers to attracting a rich diversity of people to work for the department. As an employer, this means:
- empowering our staff by widening and deepening their expertise and skills
- supporting them to move between roles and sectors when organisational and community needs evolve
- enabling them to maintain their health and wellbeing on the job.
Also, to support the workforces employed by the agencies we fund, we will continue working closely with our sector partners on strategies to enable fulfilling and sustained careers in the community services.
Over the next four years, we will implement our Workforce strategy 2023–27. This will create sustainable growth in our departmental and funded workforces by increasing the supply of new workers, improving retention and wellbeing, and enabling workforce capability and productivity.
In partnership with community sector partners, we will deliver initiatives across our department and the funded sector, including by:
- delivering priority workforce programs that address critical workforce challenges such as Switch to Social Work, Community Services Scholarships and Family Violence Graduate and Traineeship programs
- working with the Aboriginal Workforce Fund Steering Committee to support Aboriginal organisations
- growing specialist and whole-of-system family violence capability through the Family violence rolling action plan 2023–26
- creating the Community and Social Services Graduate Program as an attractive, structured and supported early career program for social services workforces
- implementing the Community Services Fair Jobs Code and supporting community services to promote safe, secure and rewarding jobs
- promoting community services careers through the Jobs that Matter campaign and targeted campaigns for key sub-sectors.
To elevate lived experience expertise, strengthen the capability and diversity of our staff and promote cultural and psychological safety in the workplace, we will also:
- take action to promote diversity, inclusion and belonging in our workforces, including through:
- the Aboriginal workforce strategy 2021–27
- the Diversity and inclusion framework 2022–27
- the Gender equality action plan 2022–25
- a disability action plan
- the Public sector veteran employment strategy
- develop a health, safety and wellbeing strategy to:
- promote mentally healthy and safe workplaces
- comply with occupational health and safety legislation
- support injury prevention
- promote positive returns to work
- develop strategies to support and retain our department' frontline workforces through professional development, wellbeing services and leadership development, including:
- new starter induction programs for staff working in child protection, housing and disability services
- practice development programs targeted to classification and role, career development and practice leadership programs
- wellbeing services, including supports for strengthening workplace culture.