Australian Aged-Care employer, HealthX Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ms Carollyne Palling, is currently in the country to collaborate with the Fijian Government to increase the number of Certificate III qualified aged-care graduates available under the PALM scheme for the Australian aged-care sector and to increase labour mobility for Fiji.
Similarly, HealthX will further collaborate with Fiji’s educational and training institutions to identify sustainable training solutions of scale that generate positive social impacts for both Fijian and Australian communities.
In a courtesy visit yesterday (05/09/22), the Permanent Secretary for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations, Mr Osea Cawaru, welcomed CEO Palling and thanked her for reaching out to the Fijian Government on the need for HealthX in the aged-care industry.
CEO Palling added that HealthX has been looking at ways to increase the number of Pacific aged-care graduates under the PALM scheme and has worked with APTC on the aged-care pilot (Aged Care Plus).
“We also sincerely acknowledge the ongoing work of APTC to train aged-care graduates, however, we believe a solution of scale is required to meet the workforce demands of aged-care in Australia and to support the aim of the Pacific labour mobility.
The Permanent Secretary and the HealthX CEO held discussions on areas of collaboration and are also looking forward to working in partnership with the Fiji Higher Education Commission (FHEC); Fiji National University (FNU); Technical and Vocational Education and Training; and Pacific Technical and Further Education (TAFE) to deliver the aged-care program to meet Australia’s requirements at scale.
Mr Cawaru on behalf of the Fijian Government expressed his sincere appreciation to CEO Palling for the great opportunity for our Fijians. He looks forward to strengthening our partnership with HealthX and other institutions here in Fiji in meeting the Australian standards and requirements.