Australia’s aged care workforce is operating under sustained pressure.
Workforce shortages, burnout, rising compliance demands and major system reform are converging at a time when expectations around quality, rights-based care and cultural safety are increasing. For providers and educators alike, the challenge is not just attracting workers into aged care, but supporting confidence, inclusion and leadership capability once they arrive.
These pressures are often amplified in regional communities, where access to professional development, leadership pathways and workforce support can be more limited.
Against this backdrop, the way aged care workers are trained and supported matters more than ever.
This month, TAFE Queensland announced the recipients of its Centres of Excellence Applied Research Grants, awarding more than $2.5 million to projects designed to strengthen vocational education and training in nationally critical sectors. From 36 applications across Australia, just 11 organisations were selected.
Veri Health was among the successful recipients, recognised for its industry-led approach to translating workforce challenges into practical, applied education and training insights.
An applied research approach grounded in workforce reality
The funded project is designed as applied research, focused on outcomes that can be directly integrated into vocational education and workplace learning environments.
Rather than traditional, static professional development models, the project uses leadership storytelling and digital media education to translate lived workforce experience into structured learning assets that align with how today’s aged care workforce actually learns.
“We’re incredibly proud to be selected as part of this grant program,” said Ellie Bakker, Research Project Lead at Veri Health.
“This project recognises the role Veri Health plays in translating complex workforce challenges into practical, industry-led insights that support education providers and aged care organisations.”
The research will explore how leadership storytelling, delivered through video and podcast-based learning formats, can strengthen workforce confidence, inclusion, wellbeing and leadership intent across aged care settings.
“Our focus is on translating real workforce stories into digital learning tools,” Bakker said. “Tools that build confidence, inclusion and leadership capability, and that reflect the realities of working in aged care today.”
Collaboration at the centre of the project
A defining feature of the project is its collaborative, place-based design.
Veri Health will work alongside an education partner, delivering the project across two TAFE campuses in regional Queensland, and in close collaboration with aged care industry partners to ensure the research reflects real workforce environments.
The project will also be guided by an expert advisory committee and supported by a First Nations consultant, embedding cultural safety, inclusion and Indigenous perspectives into the co-design of learning assets for aged care workers in regional communities.
“For us, involving First Nations expertise from the outset is essential to building learning resources that are culturally safe, relevant and genuinely useful for the aged care workforce,” Bakker said.
“That collaboration is critical to ensuring the research is grounded in real workplaces, culturally safe, and genuinely reflective of the communities and workers it is designed to support.”
The project sits under the TAFE Centre of Excellence Health Care and Support, a joint initiative between the Australian and Queensland Governments, established to ensure vocational education and training evolves in step with industry needs.
From insight to education and training impact
The applied research will produce co-designed digital learning assets, educator-ready toolkits and evaluation findings that can be embedded into aged care workplaces and VET classrooms.
The project will be piloted across two regional Queensland TAFE campuses and participating aged care organisations, allowing the research team to test how the learning assets perform in both education and frontline workforce settings.
All outputs are designed to be translatable into vocational education and training environments, including alignment with Certificate III and IV in Ageing Support, ensuring educators can integrate the resources without adding to teaching load.
“Aged care reform will only succeed if the workforce feels confident, supported and seen,” Bakker said.
“This project is about ensuring workforce voices help shape how training is delivered, not just respond to it.”
The takeaway
This grant reinforces the importance of industry-embedded, applied research in shaping the future of aged care education and workforce capability.
For Veri Health, the project reflects its commitment to empowering healthcare professionals through credible insight, practical tools and trusted storytelling that supports confidence, leadership and long-term sustainability across the sector.
By working at the intersection of industry, education and lived experience, and through intentional engagement with regional Queensland communities and First Nations expertise, Veri Health continues to build a platform that connects professionals, elevates workforce voices and supports better leadership across Australian healthcare.
This work contributes to Veri Health’s broader vision of a thriving healthcare system powered by confident, connected professionals, delivering better care through better leadership.
Understanding the policy changes shaping aged care
As workforce capability and training expectations evolve, aged care providers are also preparing for significant regulatory reform. These Veri Health explainers explore what’s changing and how providers can respond:
Clinical & consumer healthMarket intelligence & industry trendsPolicy reformsPolicy, compliance & governance
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