Workforce & Leadership Forum

Welcome to Country

Welcome and Introduction From the Chair

Government keynote: Shaping the workforce in the new Aged Care Era

• How is the Government supporting providers and workers through the new Aged Care Act and its workforce reforms?
• Gain insight into national initiatives designed to build workforce capacity, strengthen leadership accountability, and ensure sustainable care delivery across both residential and home care sectors.

Compliance in record time: How Uniting NSW & ACT shaved 9 days off their hiring time

• You can have the most efficient recruitment funnel in the sector and still lose good candidates before they ever start. The gap between offer acceptance and the first shift is a bottleneck most workforce strategies completely miss.
• Gain insight into how Uniting NSW identified critical gaps in their onboarding process and, in partnership with Zipline, transformed the candidate onboarding experience to improve their workforce outcomes.

Panel: Skills for a safe, skilled and person-centred workforce

• What training and practical skills will aged care workers need to deliver safe, confident, person-centred care in a rapidly evolving sector?
• Discover the balance between the requirement of workforce to be equipped with academic rigor along with practical, on-the-job learning, as well as use targeted micro-learning in dementia, medicines safety, wound care, falls prevention, and nutrition to expand workers knowledge and proficiency

Turning the new Aged Care Act into workforce strategies

• How can organisations turn the Act’s new governance, care-minute, and accountability requirements into practical workforce models that actually work on the ground?
• Gain insight into how to align structures, roles, capability frameworks, technology and reporting systems to build a workforce that delivers rights-based, person-centred care while meeting legislative expectations.

Interactive breakout sessions

• Join us for 4 small-group roundtables looking deep into the latest challenges and solutions. These small group sessions allow for more dynamic, engaging and discussion-based conversations and are always a highlight of the forum.
• Roundtable A – presented by Visual Care & PayCat
• The Real Cost of Getting SCHADS Wrong (and How to Stop)
• Workforce costs are the biggest line on most aged care P&Ls, and SCHADS sits at the heart of them. We'll share how one provider reduced overtime spend from $8,000 to $1,500 per pay period, and what it takes to make award interpretation a daily discipline rather than a payroll-time problem.
• Shiam Ahmed, Head of Product and Design, Visualcare
• Garth Belic, Founder & CEO, Pay Cat
• Roundtable B – presented by Zipline
• Are you ready? Workforce Compliance Benchmarks from the top aged care providers
• We've completed Workforce Readiness assessments with some of Australia's largest aged care providers and the results are revealing. In this session we'll share benchmarking data across five core pillars. You'll see where the sector is performing and where it's falling short. Then we'll open it up to the room, share what's working and tackle the hardest compliance challenges in aged care together.
• Nonny Evans, Chief Revenue Officer, Zipline
• Tanmay Bhola, Chief Product Officer, Zipline
• Roundtable C – presented by Lenexa
• What Are We Measuring Too Late? Moving from Reactive Reporting to Proactive Risk Prevention
• Will Yang, Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer, Lenexa
• Ajit Ravindran, Cofounder & Chief Executive Officer, Lenexa

Built to last: The global demographic math reshaping aged care — and how to get ahead of It

• Every developed economy ran out of local aged care workers before Australia did, and every one of them has spent the past decade rebuilding through structured migration pathways as part of a portfolio of solutions, from countries like the Philippines. By 2036, half of Australia's new aged care workforce will need to come from abroad
• Gain insights on the global view - the demographic math, the bilateral agreements already moving the supply, and why the providers planning now have a multi-year head-start

Panel: Under pressure and on the hook: who's carrying the weight of workforce compliance? (Oho Panel)

• As workforce compliance obligations continue to grow, how can providers keep pace with increasing expectations around workforce visibility, accountability, and risk management while operating under ongoing pressure?
• Explore the real regulatory, operational, financial, and human risks providers are navigating, and gain practical insights into how organisations are responding to growing workforce compliance challenges in aged care.

Panel: Delivering inclusive and culturally safe care for every older person

• How can aged care organisations translate the Aged Care Act’s commitments to equity and cultural safety into real, practical change, especially for First Nations Elders, LGBTQIA+ seniors, people from culturally diverse backgrounds, and those living in regional and remote communities?
• Gain insight into practical strategies, tools, and partnerships (i.e. First Nations Stakeholder Communications Toolkit) that supports culturally safe practice, improves access and ensures no older person is left behind

Moderator

Kim Whiteley

Chief Executive Officer, NATSIAAC

Anne Burgess

Chair, Aged Care Council of Elders

Maggie Balodis

Quality and Risk Advisor, Aboriginal Community Services

Keynote: Delivering culturally safe, rights-based care for First Nations Elders

• How can aged care organisations embed culturally safe practice that upholds the rights, dignity and cultural identity of First Nations Elders?
• Gain insight into First Nations leadership perspectives on cultural safety, community partnership, communication, and supporting Elders to age on Country with connection and belonging.

Kim Whiteley

Chief Executive Officer, NATSIAAC

International migration and workforce sustainability

• While international recruitment helps fill urgent workforce gaps, how can we make it a sustainable solution that doesn’t simply shift shortages from one country to another
• Gain insight into creating ethical, long-term strategies that balance skilled migration with strong domestic workforce development — ensuring global fairness while building stable, committed teams within Australia’s aged care sector

Creating learning cultures that rebuild connection and compassion

• How can aged care providers rebuild genuine emotional connection between staff and residents in a high-compliance environment?
• Gain insight into how continuous learning, emotional intelligence, mentorship, and recognition can transform workplace culture, reduce burnout, and create teams people genuinely want to be part of

Chairperson’s Closing Remarks