Locals a focus in jobs call by NDIS

MORE than 100 new staff per month could be needed to meet demand from the rollout of the National Insurance Disability Scheme in the Far North.

The NDIS will start from July next year and initial estimates show up to 1600 new roles will need to be filled.

But recruiting for the positions will not begin until next year. Centacare Cairns executive director Anita Veivers said many jobseekers were still unaware of the opportunities.

She said most organisations were busy identifying likely positions required and upskilling existing staff. Centacare had established a program to encourage local people to consider work in the disability sector.

Documents for the CentaOne program have identified a need for a “new, place-based workforce that currently does not exist” in rural and regional areas.

Ms Veivers said one of the current priorities was to raise awareness.

“The difficulty we have is that the jobs aren’t available until the scheme starts in July 2018 and it’s quite hard to get people excited about new opportunities when we are still some way out.”

But ARC Disability Services chief executive Ben Keast said he was receiving large numbers of applications and the challenge was in balancing projected demand with current applications.

“Organisations are starting to look forward as the anticipation is recruitment will be a challenge due to the anticipated number of staff required within the industry,” he said.

TAFE Queensland North has also experienced a 22 per cent increase in training for courses linked to the NDIS.

General manager Joann Pyne said TAFE North had a page on its website specifically for NDIS-related courses.

“The health sector is very popular with students and is a particularly important area in preparing job-seekers for the opportunities that will come online with the NDIS,” she said.

Herron Todd White research director Rick Carr said the best avenue was to train locals rather than relying on people coming from outside.

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