A practical pathway to a caring career

Love to work in aged care but don’t have the right qualifications? Let’s talk!

Our custom-designed Care Support Officer (CSO) program is a practical pathway into a career with us. It offers job seekers with an interest in aged care the opportunity to learn key skills through a four-week structured in-place learning program. Successful graduates can then enrol in a traineeship with us to achieve a Certificate III accreditation in Individual Support.

The best care we can give our residents is delivered by a competent and qualified team. That’s why we’re taking practical steps to attract, support and retain people with the right attributes and motivation to deliver high quality and person-centred care.

As I did my job, I fell in love with our residents so it’s not a ‘job’ for me anymore – it’s just taking care of the people I love. - Ritu

Care Support Officer program

Our CSO program is an ideal entry level pathway to work in aged care for people with no qualifications, or whose relevant qualifications are not recognised in Australia. Participants learn how they can support our residents with basic self-care tasks such as getting dressed, showering, or providing supporting at mealtimes.

We teach important principles relating to resident choice, privacy and dignity, and person-centred care. The program also covers key aspects of palliative care and supporting residents who are living with dementia.

Johny, General Manager at Tweed River Care Community, has been running the program in-place at Tweed River and has attracted job seekers from a variety of backgrounds.

“I recently attended a jobs fair on the Gold Coast and I met Saminda, an overseas trained nurse, recently arrived in Australia”, says Johny.

“He’d been working as a nurse in Sri Lanka in an emergency setting for 11 years but didn’t have the necessary qualifications to work as a nurse here in Australia.

“Someone like Saminda is the perfect candidate for our Care Support Officer program.”

Our Buddy system

During the program each participant is matched up with a workplace ‘buddy’. Their buddy is an existing team member who partners with them to provide a structured transition process that helps new team members learn about our residents, how we operate and ‘who’s who in the zoo’.

Johny says the buddy system gives new team members valuable support to successfully complete the program.

“Starting a new job can be exciting but also a little bit overwhelming. 

“Assigning a workplace buddy helps new team members transition into their new role, reducing stress or anxiety that comes with a new job.

“Our buddies help them become familiar with our work practices and, most importantly, our Opal HealthCare culture”, says Johny.

Our graduates

On completion of the first Care Support Officer program, 100 percent of participants graduated successfully. Many have now taken the next step to sign up for a Certificate III in Individual Support traineeship.

Saminda is one of those graduates.

“Tweed River Care Community has a very good team and they are so helpful,” Saminda says.

“I love working in aged care and now I am so confident and excited to be doing my Certificate III in aged care so I can become an Assistant in Nursing (AIN).”

What other team members say:

“I love it at Opal HealthCare. I heard about the CSO Program from a friend and I wanted to see how it worked. The team are great, and they helped us to improve in every aspect to become an AIN.” - Rituraj

“I used to look after my grandmother and developed a passion for aged care. The Care Support Officer program is so good. You get everything you need to work here and it’s a great place to work.” - Arianij

“I’d been working in retail but I wanted to get into nursing. I love being here doing nursing and caring for people.” - Faith

If this sounds like a program for you or someone you know, visit academy.opalhealthcare.com.au to find out more.