La Trobe University has received a $3.77 million funding injection to provide critical skills training for nurses working in Victorian residential aged care homes, recognising the University's leadership in transforming health and care.
A series of free three-day workshops will be run by La Trobe's Australian Centre for Evidence-Based Aged Care (ACEBAC) to upskill nurses in conducting comprehensive health assessments of older people. These assessments help support improved healthcare through early intervention, reducing hospital admissions and facilitating hospital discharges.
The Commonwealth Government grant, managed by the Victorian Department of Health, is part of its Strengthening Medicare – Supporting Older Australians package of initiatives. The new funding will support 140 workshops over three years, reaching up to 2800 aged care nurses. It will be rolled out across the state from August 2025.
La Trobe Vice-Chancellor Professor Theo Farrell said the funding would add to the University's $170 million investment across health teaching, research and innovation to help address Victoria's health workforce crisis.
"Government support is crucial to meet the growing needs of our aged care workforce and this helps solidify our position as the partner of choice for health professional clinical education," Professor Farrell said.
"We welcome the support from the Commonwealth and Victorian Government; this funding will allow us to train Victorian nurses working in aged care to ensure they use best practice research.
"La Trobe is heavily investing in education, infrastructure and partnerships to ensure we are a leading player in developing Victoria's future health workforce through building state-of-the art facilities and additional training capacity to deliver skilled clinicians to where they are needed most."
ACEBAC Director Professor Deirdre Fetherstonhaugh, said the funding was the fifth time La Trobe had successfully won government support for the health assessment program, which had delivered 190 workshops to nurses providing care to older people and supported the development of evidence-based resources since 2011.
"Comprehensive health assessment training significantly improves both confidence and knowledge among nurses caring for older people. This enhanced knowledge allows them to make more accurate assessments and informed decisions, ultimately improving resident outcomes," Professor Fetherstonhaugh said.
"This ensures our nurses are well-equipped and supported to meet the growing demands of Victoria's aged care sector."
The Commonwealth and Victorian governments are working together to improve the care of older people by avoiding unnecessary hospital presentations and reducing delays in hospital discharges.
The funding is part of a $144.2 million Commonwealth investment over four years in Victoria, which will deliver nine initiatives to improve the health and care of older people. These initiatives will focus on intervening early, reducing the need for emergency department presentations and hospital admissions where it is safe and appropriate, and addressing discharge delays.
