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More than 450,000 Australians currently work in aged care and strengthening this vital workforce is essential to providing Australia's growing ageing population with high-quality care.
To help better understand and address the education and training required to meet the industry's skill shortages, the aged care sector was selected as the focus for the TAFE Centre of Excellence Health Care and Support's inaugural round of Applied Research Grants.
The competitive grants attracted 20 proposals from a diverse mix of universities, vocational education and training providers, industry, and not-for-profit organisations.
In total, five applicants were awarded almost $1.4 million, with the applied research projects to be carried out over 12 months or less.
Successful round one applicants
Ageing Australia
Ageing Australia has been awarded $400,000 to pilot community-embedded learning hubs to improve aged care training access for underrepresented groups in regional Queensland.
Australian Catholic University
Australian Catholic University will receive $239,864 to deliver flexible, additional training for new aged care workers, aimed at improving care quality, worker retention and resilience, and informing national workforce strategies.
Comlink Australia
Comlink Australia has been awarded $135,050 to support a face-to-face and telehealth pilot to provide care, streamline service coordination, assess client outcomes, and enhance workforce skill development to enhance community-based aged care nursing.
University of Southern Queensland
The University of Southern Queensland will receive $289,932.42 to co-design training and an online platform with aged care providers, aimed at enhancing psychosocial safety and resilience among aged care professionals.
Veri Health Media
Veri Health Media has been awarded $325,000 to produce culturally safe, inclusive videos and podcasts addressing burnout, digital illiteracy, and underrepresentation, with resources to be trialled in aged care and VET settings in regional Queensland.
The funding will drive the development of innovative training that tackles industry challenges, supporting the Centre to share best practice teaching and learning with TAFEs nationwide, strengthening the vocational education and training system for the benefit of all Australians.
Further rounds of Applied Research Grants through the Centre will be offered over the coming years, with round two opening in January 2026.
The $35 million TAFE Centre of Excellence Health Care and Support, led by TAFE Queensland, is a joint initiative between the Australian and Queensland Governments to 2028.