Certificate III in Aged Care is the nationally recognised qualification you need to work in aged care. Making a living by helping the elderly and assisting nurses can be a highly rewarding career and there’s a great demand for Aged Care workers all over Australia so you’ll have the flexibility to work in aged care homes all over the country. Completing your Certificate III is not a legal requirement to work in Aged Care however nearly all employers will require you to have either completed it or be studying towards it. This means you can actually apply for jobs as soon as you enrol because you can tell your employer that you’re studying it and this may be sufficient for them.
Because of the extreme shortage of Aged Care Workers, there is a fairly good chance you will be able to do your Certificate III in Aged Care either for free or for a small enrolment fee. This is because this aged care course falls under the Productivity Placement Program and other government funded programs.
The Certificate III in Aged Care is also a Centrelink Approved course which means that while you’re studying, you may be eligible to receive one of several study payments from Centrelink to help support you while you obtain your aged care qualification. Some of these Centrelink benefits are listed below.
One good thing is, you can study your Certificate III in Aged Care online or by correspondence (with distance education). By studying online or by correspondence, you have total flexibility in terms of being able to start your course immediately and, being able to study from home at your own pace with the constant support of a tutor who you can contact whenever you need help with your studies.
Upon completing your Cert III in Aged Care, you may wish to go on and study the Certificate IV in Community Services or, the Certificate IV in Nursing (Enrolled / Division 2 Nursing).