Indigenous Employment Initiative 2020-21 to 2022-23 Supplementary

Overview

The Indigenous Employment Initiative (IEI) grant program is part of the Health Workforce Program, an Australian Government initiative administered by the Department of Health. The IEI program subsidises the employment costs of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people providing non-clinical aged care services to older Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. The grants will subsidise the employment of people in non-clinical aged care jobs, such as: aged care worker; personal care support workers; kitchen staff; night staff; social support workers; maintenance workers; drivers; and gardeners. Without these workers, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people may need to relocate to residential aged care, possibly away from their lands, community and family, to the likely detriment of their well-being, and at greater monetary and social cost. The IEI program also subsidises accredited training to ensure that Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people who are providing non-clinical aged care services to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people have the necessary skills. The IEI program is not intended to fund the total cost of an aged care provider’s Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander aged care workforce.