Fee-free workforce solutions for aged care
Build a stable, compliant team of support workers — with fee-free workforce solutions
Skills & Employment Australia is a fee-free social enterprise connecting regional aged care providers with skilled, work-ready support workers — strengthening your workforce while reducing recruitment pressure and cost.
- Qualified, experienced candidates recruited from the Philippines
- Trained in partnership with Contour, our accredited training partner
- Sponsored under the ACILA — with no fees and no obligation to employ
Who we are
Built to solve the aged care workforce shortage — not to profit from it
Australia's aged care sector faces mandatory care-minute targets, rising acuity and a deepening shortage of qualified carers — pressures felt most acutely by regional providers. Agency staffing fills the gap at premium rates; direct recruitment drains management time and delivers inconsistent results.
Skills & Employment Australia is a fee-free social enterprise that takes a different approach. We identify and recruit qualified, experienced care candidates from the Philippines for full-time Support Worker roles through the Aged Care Industry Labour Agreement (ACILA), support them through their Certificate III in Individual Support in partnership with Contour, our accredited training partner, and connect them with the regional facilities that need them — charging providers nothing at any stage.
Because we are funded through our training and social-impact model rather than placement margins, our incentives align with yours: long-term workforce stability, not transaction volume.
Why facilities partner with us
Four commitments to every partner facility
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Fee-free, always
No recruitment fees, no placement fees, no ongoing agency margins. As a social enterprise, we charge providers nothing at any stage — the savings stay in your care budget.
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Regulatory compliance
Candidates arrive with nationally recognised qualifications, verified screening and documentation aligned to the Aged Care Quality Standards — including support for ACILA labour agreement pathways where sponsorship applies.
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Workforce stability
Our carers train specifically for aged care careers and are supported after placement. That translates into lower turnover, fewer roster gaps and less reliance on premium-rate agency cover.
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Risk mitigation
Candidates train and complete their 120-hour placement inside your facility, so you assess their skills, reliability and professionalism firsthand — with no obligation to employ or sponsor afterwards.
Our approach
From recruitment to retention, in four stages
A managed pipeline that delivers carers who are credentialed, floor-ready and committed to the sector.
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Recruit & screen
We source qualified, experienced care candidates from the Philippines, verify eligibility and screening checks, and select for the values aged care demands — empathy, reliability and respect.
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Train & credential
Candidates complete the nationally recognised Certificate III in Individual Support in partnership with Contour, our accredited training partner — covering theory, documentation and the technology used on the floor.
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Complete 120 hours in your facility
Candidates undertake their required 120 hours of practical work placement inside your workplace — practising hoist transfers, mobility support, personal care and first aid alongside your team.
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Employ on your terms
There is no obligation to employ or sponsor. When a suitable role or ACILA sponsorship opportunity arises, you select from candidates you already know and trust — and we support onboarding.
The in-facility placement advantage
Assess candidates in your own workplace — before you make any commitment
Because candidates complete their Certificate III in Individual Support and their 120 hours of practical work placement within your facility, you observe them in a real working environment — not an interview room.
There is no obligation to employ or sponsor a candidate following the placement. Instead, you build a pool of candidates who have already been trained and assessed within your facility, so when a suitable employment or sponsorship opportunity becomes available, you select from people you know and trust.
Recent example
Three candidates recently completed their 120-hour work placement at a regional NSW aged care provider — giving the organisation the opportunity to assess their suitability firsthand before considering sponsorship under the ACILA. See the example case study.
What you can assess during placement
- Practical care skills on the floor
- Reliability and punctuality
- Communication with residents and families
- Attitude and professionalism
- Ability to work effectively with residents and the care team
Strategic roster & compliance considerations
The right people in the right roles — while meeting your care-minute targets
A sustainable aged care workforce requires an appropriate balance of Registered Nurses, Enrolled Nurses and direct-care workers, while ensuring the provider meets its applicable care-minute and staffing requirements.
- 215 min
- Average care minutes per resident per day under the national framework
- 44 min
- Of which registered nurse care per resident per day
- 10%
- RN flexibility provision — met through eligible Enrolled Nurse care
The applicable care-minute target for each residential service should be assessed against its resident profile and current regulatory requirements. Within that framework, the workforce model can be structured to optimise the mix of clinical and direct-care staff:
| Staff role | Primary function |
|---|---|
| Registered Nurse (RN) | Clinical assessment, clinical care and governance |
| Enrolled Nurse (EN) | Nursing care within scope of practice |
| Support Worker / Personal Care Worker | Direct personal care and resident support |
| ACILA Sponsored Worker | Additional permanent direct-care capacity |
The objective is to ensure appropriately qualified staff are allocated to the right functions, while maintaining compliance with applicable care-minute requirements and supporting a sustainable, cost-effective workforce. The precise roster allocation should be determined using each provider's resident profile, care requirements, existing staffing structure and applicable care-minute targets.
Financial impact & return on investment
A cost model you can verify against your own numbers
The proposed workforce model has the potential to generate savings by increasing the availability of permanent direct-care workers and reducing reliance on agency staffing, overtime, casual staffing and repeated recruitment.
Calculate it with your actual costs
The financial benefit varies between providers, so it should be calculated using your organisation's actual figures:
- RN, EN and support-worker wage rates
- Agency staffing expenditure
- Overtime costs
- Casual staffing costs
- Recruitment and advertising costs
- Staff turnover and replacement costs
This ensures the projected benefit reflects your provider's real workforce costs — not assumptions or figures from another organisation.
Employer-side ACILA costs
Indicative statutory costs for a two-year nomination
- Nomination fee
- $330
- SAF levy
- $2,400
- Total employer-side statutory cost
- $2,730
- Skills & Employment Australia recruitment / placement fee
- $0
The employee is responsible for their own visa application costs and associated personal visa expenses.
Potential return on investment
Current workforce and recruitment costs
less
Cost of permanent ACILA workforce + employer statutory costs
equals
Potential net workforce saving
Example case study — regional NSW
How one regional home put $26,000 back into its care budget
A 25-bed regional NSW aged care home faced the pressures familiar to every regional provider: high local turnover, expensive agency cover and tight casemix funding. Here's what the fee-free model delivered.
- $26,080
- Net workforce saving over a two-year roster period
- $0
- Recruitment, vetting and placement fees — handled entirely by Skills & Employment Australia
- 2 years
- Tenure commitment from the sponsored worker, stabilising the roster and limiting turnover
How it worked
Three candidates completed their Certificate III in Individual Support and undertook their 120 hours of practical placement at the facility itself. The provider observed their skills, reliability, communication and rapport with residents firsthand — so when it came to sponsorship under the ACILA, it was choosing from candidates it already knew and trusted, not resumes.
Because the facility already held an active Standard Business Sponsorship, the only upfront outlay was $2,730 in statutory fees. The roster was restructured using the 10% nursing flexibility provision — keeping the full 215 care minutes per resident per day and protecting the facility's My Aged Care Star Rating.
- Candidates trained and assessed on-site before any commitment
- Mandatory two-year tenure locked in workforce stability
- RN hours preserved for clinical oversight — no substitution risk
- 215-minute compliance baseline fully maintained
The numbers
From the provider's board-approved business case
- Enrolled Nurse average rate
- $43.05/hr
- Support Worker average rate
- $35.76/hr
- Hourly wage variance saving
- $7.29/hr
- Gross saving (38 hrs/week, 2 years)
- $28,810
- Upfront statutory outlay (nomination + SAF levy)
- −$2,730
- Net institutional saving
- $26,080
Example figures specific to this provider's wage rates, roster and existing sponsorship status. Your saving should be calculated from your own workforce costs — that's exactly what a consultation maps out.
Training that transfers to the floor
Trained on real equipment, in real scenarios
Our candidates practise on the same hoists, slings, mobility aids and clinical routines they will use in your facility from day one.
The outcome
Carers who stay. Rosters that hold. Budgets that stretch further.
Facilities that partner with us replace unpredictable agency spend with a pipeline of employees who chose aged care as a career — and were prepared for it properly.
“Every dollar a facility doesn't spend on recruitment fees and agency margins is a dollar available for care. That is the entire point of our model.”
— Skills & Employment Australia
- Reduced agency reliance and premium-rate cover
- Candidates observed and assessed in your facility before any hiring decision
- Compliance documentation ready for audit
- Post-placement support that protects retention
Talk to us about your workforce plan
A 30-minute consultation is enough to map your roster gaps, compliance requirements and timeline — and show you exactly how the fee-free model works for your facility.
- Mobile+61 457 645 997
- Emailmaria@skillsemployment.com.au
- OfficeLevel 7, 99 York St, Sydney NSW 2000