Hiring in the aged care sector

With an ageing population and increased life expectancy comes a growing demand for aged care services in Australia. The main users of aged care services - people aged over 85 - are expected to increase at least four-fold by 2047.

This will mean the aged care workforce must expand significantly to meet the increasing demand. According to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, the aged care workforce will need to triple by 2050. The increasingly complex care needs of the ageing population will also mean that those employed in the aged care sector will need to cover a broader range of skills and knowledge than ever before. And due to the nature of care, vulnerability of clients, and opportunity for exploitation or abuse, the level of quality control and verification must be of utmost importance to employers in the sector.

Current state of play

Longstanding issues in the aged care sector gave rise to the need for the Royal Commission in 2018, with staffing issues and unmet needs being two of the primary and most common concerns submitted.

One example of a staffing issue is that the bar for hiring aged care workers has been historically set quite low, with online certification and minimal practical experience with clients being sufficient for employment. Another is that turnover rates are quite high - between 20 and 50 percent are common - as those with more experience are often tempted away to other sectors that pay more or have a better quality work environment. Both factors have contributed to an inconsistent and unsatisfactory level of staffing in the industry.

However it’s not all doom and gloom - there are ways to resolve the issues uncovered by the Royal Commission moving forward, with implementation required in a timely manner as the ageing population continues to grow and increasing numbers of people require aged care support.

Future state

One way in which to protect clients and ensure safety when hiring in the aged care sector is to implement a tailored suite of background screening checks. Historically, prospective employees have been asked to produce a police check that may be up to three years old. This is problematic when hiring for staff that will look after society’s most vulnerable people - the police check may be out of date and not report issues that have occurred more recently, there is no check of the person’s identity, and there is no gauging of potential compatibility of the candidate’s values with the role and the values of the business.

One of the first steps to take is to introduce identity verification to your hiring processes - this will ensure that you are dealing with the right person and that all other checks and references (criminal background, police, employment, education, right to work, social media) all correspond to the person that you’re dealing with.

Increasing globalisation and reliance on technology has increased the rate of identity fraud, and it’s important to take this into consideration when hiring for roles that require a level of care and involves a factor of vulnerability on the part of those being cared for.

Conducting identity verification as a first step will mean that you can establish a level of trust as you go through the hiring process. You can then conduct your further checks and references with confidence, with the ultimate goal being to make sure you hire the right employees and that they are fit for the role. By hiring the right people, you can engender trust within the community and establish your business as a high-quality provider of aged care services.

Introducing InstaID+ - the quick and easy identity verification solution

National Crime Check has launched InstaID+, a new app to make identity verification quick and easy for all. InstaID+ uses the latest facial recognition technology to accurately analyse and match a prospective employee’s supplied selfie with their passport or driver’s licence photos.

The technology combines:

• Document analysis for applicant authenticity

• Document verification for applicant validity

• Biometric verification for applicant ownership

• Liveness detection for applicant ID

By simply sending a link to the prospective candidate, which can be accessed directly from their mobile phone, these checks can be completed quickly and easily with the candidate supplying some basic information and photo ID. The information is then matched to a range of reliable data sources that will be able to verify their identity.

This automated process and our reliable data sources mean you can be assured of the identity of the person and avoid any fraudulent individuals. We also offer full customer support to ensure that individuals are able to successfully navigate through the process and complete their checks as soon as possible. Results are then provided in real-time.

Find out more

With continued growth and increasing importance in the aged care sector, now’s the time to tighten up your hiring processes and ensure you hire the right people for your business. There are no setup or ongoing fees so InstaID+ is easy to implement in your processes.