St Agnes’ Catholic Parish has become an approved employer for the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, which is a is a temporary migration initiative offered by the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT) that allows eligible Australian businesses to hire workers from 9 Pacific islands and Timor-Leste when there are not enough local workers available.

The Parish has established a bilateral partnership with the Pacific Labour Facility, Dept Of Labour (PALM scheme), Australian Pacific Training Coalition and is partnering with the Pacific island of Vanuatu to train Care Support Workers to help overcome a nationwide shortage of skilled workers in residential aged care.
This resulted a small team from the Parish (Natasha Murphy, Natalie Henderson and Colleen Banks) conducting a training and recruitment drive in Vanuatu in June 2023.

Natasha Murphy in her dual roles as manager of the Parish’s Registered Training Organisation, the John Henry Institute (JHI), and Learning and Development Manager for St Agnes’ Catholic Parish partnered with representatives from the Vanuatu Department of Labour, a local training provider, the Australia Pacific Training Coalition and an in-country Health Trainer to deliver content in a skill set of three units from Certificate III in Individual Support.

The training ran over nine days (19 -18 June 2023) with 36 students participating in highly visual and practical learning for concepts including, how to support individuals in aged care, elements of WHS, completion of a First Aid certificate and the general professional skills required for supporting residents in aged care.

Under Natasha’s expert guidance, the students were immersed in learning and thoroughly enjoyed this unique training, which is not currently offered in Vanuatu.

Tina, one of the participants commented, “Many of us care for elderly family in our villages and now we see there are better ways to provide this care”.

Many students also expressed wonder and interest in how to support positive infection control and how to ensure safety, dignity and quality of life for residents.

Following the completion of this ‘in country’ training, fifteen (15) students were chosen to mobilise to Port Macquarie and offered contracts to work in the Parish’s residential aged care services. These workers will be prepared for mobilisation to St Agnes’ Catholic Parish, where they will be accommodated and undertake a “Induction and Ready for Work Program” to be provided by JHI.

Following this the PALM workers will commence in Residential Aged Care Services where they will have a buddy system for support. They will also continue to undertake the remaining training and assessment required to complete Certificate III in Individual Support by the end of 2023.

We look forward to welcoming our new Ni-Vanuatu colleagues as they join the St Agnes Catholic
Parish community.