New website to help attract and retain staff in community sector
Published Tuesday, 24 October, 2006 at 08:32 AM
Minister for Child Safety
The Honourable Desley Boyle
Child Safety Minister Desley Boyle has launched a new website aimed at attracting and retaining staff in the community services sector.
“The Community Workforce Village website is the first of its kind in Australia,” Ms Boyle said.
“It brings together a range of useful information and provides the community services sector with a forum for sharing resources and best practices to attract and retain staff.”
At the website’s Queensland launch, Ms Boyle said an increasing demand for community services over the past decade was contributing to a staff shortage.
“Both government and non-government community service organisations have reported a significant increase in demand driven by a range of factors including population growth, economic and social pressures and changing community expectations,” she said.
“The new Department of Child Safety has increased staff by more than 75 per cent to 2170 since 2004. Each year it receives about 40,000 calls from children who have been or are at risk of being neglected or abused.
“The work the Department does protecting children is so vital, it is important that we attract good-quality staff and encourage them to stay.”
Ms Boyle said the Community Workforce Village website was expected to be most useful for government and non-government organisations in the community services sector right across Australia.
“There are links to research, statistics, recruitment sites and scholarship information,” she said.
“There’s also a discussion forum for people to share ideas on key issues such as attracting staff to rural and remote areas, preventing a high turnover and the aging workforce.”
The Community Workforce Village was developed by the Community and Disability Services Ministerial Advisory Council through its Structural Issues in the Workforce Sub-Committee. The project was led by the Queensland Department of Child Safety.
The website will be launched nationally on November 23 in Sydney, and can be viewed at www.communityworkforcevillage.org.
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Media contact: 3224 7477
“The Community Workforce Village website is the first of its kind in Australia,” Ms Boyle said.
“It brings together a range of useful information and provides the community services sector with a forum for sharing resources and best practices to attract and retain staff.”
At the website’s Queensland launch, Ms Boyle said an increasing demand for community services over the past decade was contributing to a staff shortage.
“Both government and non-government community service organisations have reported a significant increase in demand driven by a range of factors including population growth, economic and social pressures and changing community expectations,” she said.
“The new Department of Child Safety has increased staff by more than 75 per cent to 2170 since 2004. Each year it receives about 40,000 calls from children who have been or are at risk of being neglected or abused.
“The work the Department does protecting children is so vital, it is important that we attract good-quality staff and encourage them to stay.”
Ms Boyle said the Community Workforce Village website was expected to be most useful for government and non-government organisations in the community services sector right across Australia.
“There are links to research, statistics, recruitment sites and scholarship information,” she said.
“There’s also a discussion forum for people to share ideas on key issues such as attracting staff to rural and remote areas, preventing a high turnover and the aging workforce.”
The Community Workforce Village was developed by the Community and Disability Services Ministerial Advisory Council through its Structural Issues in the Workforce Sub-Committee. The project was led by the Queensland Department of Child Safety.
The website will be launched nationally on November 23 in Sydney, and can be viewed at www.communityworkforcevillage.org.
Ends
Media contact: 3224 7477