Find a career that will help you have a positive impact by studying a hands-on aged care, youth work, or disability course at RMIT.
Care and support roles in Australia are always in-demand, take aged care for example which is expected to rise 28% over the next 5 years1 meaning thousands of new roles for those wanting to leave a positive impact.
RMIT offers aged care, youth work and disability courses that give you the skills to make a positive impact on what’s next. Many of these courses are available through vocational study, also known as TAFE courses – some of which are subsidised by the Australian Government’s Free TAFE program.
Work in aged or disability care
A Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing and Disability) can give you the skills to better lives in the aged care and disability care sectors.
The Certificate III in Individual Support (Disability) is one of RMIT’s Free TAFE options, which means you can study the course and not have to worry about course fees.
Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing) student Shari Mackay began her studies with the goal of gaining the hands-on skills that would allow her to assist her husband, who has Primary Progressive MS, and eventually land an aged care job.
“Being able to care for someone in the smallest way is so significant. I hope to rejoin the workforce and work in an aged care facility as a personal care assistant,” she said.
“The teachers at RMIT focus on not just the practical side of being a caregiver, but also on the human side. It is a privilege to be able to assist someone who is at a later stage in their life. You can make such a difference.”
Depending on the course, these certificates give you the skills to work in several individual care roles, such as:
- Disability support officer
- Aged care worker
- Personal care assistant
- Home care worker
- School support officer (disability)
- Family support worker
Support the community and improve lives
A Diploma of Community Services teaches you how to make an impact through broad community service, such as providing support, advocacy or interventions to individual clients, groups and communities. Public service jobs such as Community Workers not only have an increasing job growth margin of 21.9%, but Seek also shows job satisfaction is particularly high in these roles2. This course is also part of the RMIT Free TAFE program, so now is the perfect time to upskill.
This can set you up to drive positive change in roles like:
- Case worker
- Health education officer
- Community worker
- Outreach officer
- Community support worker
- Support worker
- Domestic violence worker
Across the course, you will learn the skills to change lives and communities for the better, and it covers such a broad spectrum of skills that you can tailor your career to the specific field you are interested in. For example, you may be particularly passionate about social justice and upskilling for a career that will allow you to help others.
Help young minds flourish
The Certificate IV in Disability Support is a course that gives students with entry-level support skills, a more specialised toolset for a career working in the disability services sector.
Disability workers are currently in-demand with over 7000 job opportunities in Australia, with the number of roles expected to increase by another 28% in the coming years3.
This certificate could allow you to be part of this wave by expanding your carer skills and enabling you to assist disadvantaged groups and communities. You’ll gain the practical knowledge needed to adapt to several work environments, for example, a home setting, a community centre, or education institutions.
Expand your skills to help disadvantaged communities
Hussein Khoder is currently studying the Diploma of Youth Work at RMIT, but his journey began with the Certificate IV in Youth Work.
As Hussein has discovered, these courses are a great opportunity to find other students who are looking to make a positive impact.
“Meeting all the like-minded classmates has made study so worth it and placement has been a huge highlight,” said Hussein describing his studies. “You can only learn so much in class but getting out in the real work and getting hands on experiences is great to prepare me for what is to come when I start working.”
If you have a passion for assisting young minds and disadvantaged youths, the Certificate IV in Youth Work gives you the tools to create a career in youth work. It’s even part of the RMIT Free TAFE program!
This course gives you the skills and knowledge to work across several roles, such as:
- Community development worker (youth)
- Indigenous youth worker
- Recreational youth activities worker
- Residential care worker
- Youth mental health worker
- Juvenile justice worker
No matter what sector or community your passions lie with, building a career that allows you to better lives and leave a positive impact is always a worthy cause.
The vocational youth work options listed in this article are all pathways into the Bachelor of Youth Work and Youth Studies.
This undergraduate option provides even more tools to assist those in need, exploring not just the practical side of care, but also the theoretical basis of social issues affecting at-risk youth, such as homelessness, radicalisation, poverty and mental health. The degree gives you further chances to build industry connections in the youth work sector, get hands-on experience in the real-world and connect with young people in need.
Youth workers with this qualification are employed in areas such as:
- local government
- health services
- youth refuges and housing programs
- alcohol and other drug agencies
- major welfare services
- youth justice settings
- school support programs
- educational institutions
1SEEK, ‘Career Advice Aged Care Worker’. Accessed 30/10/23, https://www.seek.com.au/career-advice/role/aged-care-worker .
2SEEK, ‘Career Advice Community Worker’. Accessed 30/10/23, https://www.seek.com.au/career-advice/role/community-worker .
3SEEK, ‘Career Advice Disability Support Worker’. Accessed 30/10/23, https://www.seek.com.au/career-advice/role/disability-support-worker .
Story: Jacob Johnston
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