Current Work Programs
The SIW Sub-Committee was established to effectively support CDSMAC and through it, the Community and Disability Services Ministerial Council (CDSMC), in relation to workforce issues in the community services sector.
CDSMAC established the SIW Sub-Committee to develop and implement strategic and collaborative responses to attraction and retention priorities for the community services workforce. The Queensland Government, Department of Child Safety (DChS), is the lead agency for the SIW Sub-Committee.
Project overview
The community services Workforce Profile Project (WPP) is a major two-phase project which aims to achieve accurate national community services workforce and trend data to support the development of a profile of the community services workforce. The profile will include both government and non-government sectors and will build on community services workforce data sets currently collected. For the purposes of this project (and the work of the SIW Sub-Committee), the community services workforce is defined to include the following sectors: child protection, juvenile justice, disability, child care and general community services.
WPP outcomes to be achieved include:
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developing an accurate picture of the overall size, constitution and characteristics of the community services workforce, across government and non-government sectors;
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collection of accurate base data for the community services workforce, supporting a better understanding of current and future workforce policy and planning challenges;
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establishment of appropriate structures for ongoing data collection to monitor trends and aid workforce planning; and
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development and refinement of models for describing and predicting future community services workforce requirements.
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enhanced capacity for analysis of workforce and labour market trends and their impact on attraction and retention;
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more effective workforce planning within and across jurisdictions;
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improved ability to compare the community services workforce to other workforces and industries for policy and planning purposes;
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streamlined access to information on the potential pool of workers entering or aspiring to community services work;
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a coordinated, efficient and national approach to critical attraction and retention issues for this workforce; and
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enhanced awareness and sharing of information and resources across the government and non-government sectors for the community services workforce.
Further information will be available once outcomes of phase 1 are reported to CDSMAC in Novermber 2006 and funding for phase 2 implementation is secured.