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Care Work

Whether you're supporting residents in aged care homes or helping clients in their own homes, Aged Care Work offers long-term job security, career progression, and the chance to make a real difference.

What are the benefits of working in aged care?

Regardless of whether you are interested in Residential Aged Care or Home Care, there’s never been a better time to start a career in aged care. With this growth comes the need for more committed, compassionate individuals to take on the job of caring for the elderly, and in return, reap the benefits of deeply rewarding work, career progression opportunities, and the chance to make a genuine difference in people’s lives.

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Work life balance

At BaptistCare we value family and believe that work-life balance is important, we offer flexible week days, weekend and permanent part-time roles. You will have the flexibility to spend time with your family and take care of them, while you make a difference caring for older people in your local community.

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When you work with BaptistCare Home Care we offer:

We offer a comprehensive orientation program including buddy shifts.
You’ll have direct access to a dedicated supervisor to support you.
You’ll be provided with a company mobile phone to access emails, rosters and client care plans.
Access to a dedicated learning and development team to support your ongoing professional development and career pathways.
Increase your take-home pay with salary packaging.
Paid travel time and mileage between clients.

What qualifications do I need?

In Australia, there are two main types of aged care services – Residential Aged Care and Home Care services. Your pathway into aged care work might look different depending on which one you choose to pursue.

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Residential Aged Care qualifications

Carers in Residential Aged Care support people who live in an aged care facility, sometimes referred to as a nursing home. Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, they take care of elderly residents who commonly have higher care needs than those living at home, for example, those living with advanced dementia.

If you choose to work in residential care, you’ll need a minimum of a Certificate III in Individual Support or equivalent
Some providers (such as BaptistCare) offer paid traineeships to support you in obtaining this qualification.

Home Care qualification

Home care workers look after older people in and around their own homes. They provide one-on-one personal care like washing, dressing, and toileting, or domestic duties like preparing and serving a meal, cleaning, or doing the laundry. Home care workers also often transport their clients to and from appointments.

Many home care service providers, such as BaptistCare at home, do not require their employees to hold a formal qualification for most Care Worker roles, and instead provide all the training they need.
BaptistCare Staff are strongly encouraged to stay up to date with all vaccinations including COVID-19 to aid protection against severe illness for themselves, the people they care for and their colleagues.
You will need your own insured vehicle, a valid driver’s licence, and a willingness to learn.
Home care positions are often recruited with a focus on prior relevant experience and transferrable skills.
As you grow and develop throughout your career, you can gain further qualifications in aged care such as a Certificate IV and diplomas, or you might prefer to move into a specialised clinical field.

Can I learn on the job?

If you’re keen to get started but aren’t yet qualified, you can begin your career as a trainee, working towards gaining your Certificate III in Individual Support through a fully funded government traineeship program.

BaptistCare proudly delivers such a program in partnership with TAFE NSW.

The traineeship program provides eligible applicants with a supported online course, complemented by fully supervised on-the-job training. You can find out more by making an enquiry at the bottom of this page.

What kind of person is suited to working in aged care?

To work with older adults, you must be kind, compassionate, and have a genuine, caring interest in your clients. The best aged care workers usually display some of the following characteristics and competencies:

Patience and respect

Most older people live at a slower pace, often with reduced physical mobility, hearing loss, or a memory that’s not quite as sharp as it used to be. Aged care workers are respectful and patient, taking time to listen carefully and repeat themselves when needed.

Empathy and a positive attitude

Practicing empathy is also a crucial skill for care workers. Elderly clients might be lonely or in pain, and their care worker could be the only person they have meaningful interaction with all week. In this way, care workers need to have a positive, cheerful temperament that can help boost their clients’ wellbeing.

Resilience

Resilience is key when it comes to working in aged care. Like many roles across the healthcare industries, aged care workers can be faced with confronting situations while caring for their clients – this is part of the job. The role of the care worker is to continue to bring new positivity and perspectives into their client’s life, even under challenging circumstances, supporting them to live a meaningful and independent life.

Transferrable skills

If you’ve provided care for someone previously, whether in your personal or professional life, chances are you have highly transferrable skills that will stand you in good stead for aged care.

Aged Care providers often consider a person’s skills holistically, looking at their overall life experiences and personal motivations for moving into aged care.

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Meet the team

At BaptistCare, our people are the heart of everything we do. Read their inspiring stories to discover what it’s like to be part of a team that’s making a real difference.

Jen’s Story

Meet Jen, a Care Worker with our BaptistCare at home Central Coast team. She has proudly worked for BaptistCare for an incredible 26 years in both residential services and home care.

Jen’s love of working with seniors started when she was a hairdresser. She enjoyed working with her senior clients, listening to their stories, diving into their history, gleaning their wisdom, looking at their family photos and learning about their lives. It wasn’t long before she realised she wanted to work more closely with seniors. So, she joined BaptistCare and has never looked back!

Dropping shift work when she moved into aged care, Susan now works the same hours each day, arriving home to her family happy, relaxed, and fulfilled.

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Kathryn’s Story

With a career spanning nearly two decades at BaptistCare, Kathryn is a wonderful example of dedication, resilience, and enthusiasm for aged care.

At the time, BaptistCare was known as Baptist Community Services, and Kathryn felt it was the right place for a fresh career path. “I wanted to join because the mission and values were so much in line with mine,” she says.

“I’ve been lucky to grow within the team. I started as a Care Worker, then became a Care Facilitator and now I am a Care Team Supervisor. I love the variety, the challenges, and most of all, watching our care workers grow both personally and professionally.”

Rosy’s Story

“When I first joined the Maranoa team, I requested to work in the dementia wing,” says Rosy. “Many people were surprised as this work can be challenging, but I find it special and deeply rewarding.”

“I just love bringing a smile to their faces,” says Rosy. Rosy says building strong relationships with the residents and their families is a privilege, and makes the role particularly fulfilling.

“It brings me joy to bring them joy,” she says. “When it’s my day off, I miss going to work – I love being with my residents and caring for them.”

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Adam's Story

Adam is a Care Worker for BaptistCare at home and has spent over ten years supporting local older people to stay connected to their community through BaptistCare’s social club activities.

Adam says that his first role was ‘just’ a driving job, but it wasn’t long before he became involved in the caring side of things.

“I just started building these connections to our clients and I wanted to do more for them,” he explains.

“It’s the clients that have kept me here all these years – they are amazing.”

Josh’s Story

From business banker to aged care worker: Why Josh made this life-changing career move.

Josh had always thought he’d be a banking ‘lifer,’ working his entire career in the sector until he retired. So it was a surprise when he woke up one morning at the age of forty-five and told his wife he couldn’t face another day in business banking.

“Aged care had always appealed to me,” says Josh. “So many older people in our communities are lonely and isolated, and I saw the tangible difference that some additional support could make. I was keen to contribute to that.”

Josh’s first job after he qualified was as a care worker in a residential care home.