Inclusion at Heart

19/10/2025

📣 Funding doesn’t match the need — and it’s showing in Australia’s workforce.

Jobs and Skills Australia’s 2025 Occupation Shortage List highlights some real mismatches between where the skill shortages are and where Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) are being offered.

Here’s a quick snapshot 👇
• Rehabilitation Counsellors – ongoing shortage, especially in disability, health and employment sectors
• Occupational Therapists – shortages, particularly regionally
• Psychologists – shortages across almost all practice areas
• Social Workers and Counsellors – not currently listed as in shortage

Yet, when it comes to university funding:
🎓 Social work programs regularly attract CSP funding and offer paid placements
🎓 Psychology, Counselling, and OT programs have limited CSPs
🎓 Rehabilitation Counselling — one of the areas with the highest unmet need — rarely receives any CSP funding and placements remain unpaid

It’s hard to build a sustainable allied health workforce when students entering high-demand professions face the highest financial barriers to qualify and complete their training.

This same issue is seen in the trades, where shortages persist but training pathways and placement support don’t always align with real-world needs.

💭 If funding and training incentives were better aligned with actual shortage data, we might see a more balanced and resilient workforce across key sectors like disability, health, education, and construction.

Discover our high-quality data sets, dashboards, and tools, to help better understand Australia’s skills and labour shortages.

18/10/2025

Many different low cost activities in the Coolum area

17/10/2025

Interesting place to work. Lots of different opportunities available

Live and work in Antarctica! Apply for a role in infrastructure, aviation, station support, trades or telecommunications. It’s not just a job, it’s the experience of a lifetime supporting Australia’s globally significant science program.

16/10/2025

📊 Shortages Ease but Gaps Persist – 2025 Occupation Shortage List

Jobs and Skills Australia has just released the 2025 Occupation Shortage List (OSL), showing that while Australia’s labour market pressures are easing, critical skill gaps remain.

✅ The good news:
• 29% of occupations are now in shortage (down from 33% in 2024 and 36% in 2023)
• More qualified applicants are entering the workforce
• Recruitment challenges are beginning to ease

⚠️ The challenges:
• Nearly half of trade roles and two in five professional occupations are still in shortage
• Health, education, and construction remain the most affected sectors
• Ongoing issues include limited qualified candidates, employability skill gaps, and retention difficulties

💡 Inclusion matters:
Occupations that are more inclusive of women, older workers, First Nations people and people with disability are far less likely to experience shortages — a strong reminder that diverse workplaces are more resilient and sustainable.

📘 Want to explore the data?
The full Occupation Shortage List, Key Findings Report, and Additional Insights are available through Jobs and Skills Australia.

These insights help guide how government, industry and training providers can shape targeted, inclusive solutions for a stronger Australian workforce.

Discover our high-quality data sets, dashboards, and tools, to help better understand Australia’s skills and labour shortages.

15/10/2025

Are you curious about career opportunities in manufacturing on the Sunshine Coast?

Don’t miss the Meet the Manufacturer: Sunshine Coast Manufacturing Career Pathways Forum!

This is a fantastic chance to:
✅ Explore real-world pathways into manufacturing
✅ Meet local industry leaders and manufacturers
✅ Get insights into the skills and qualifications in demand
✅ Network with potential employers and training organisations

If any of your family members, students, or members of your team would benefit from learning more about modern manufacturing careers, this event is for them.

Feel free to share this with anyone in your network who might find it valuable!

Join us this October for a dynamic forum connecting jobseekers, employers, and support services in the manufacturing sectors.

14/10/2025

Finally, some clarity! 🙌

The NDIS now clearly outlines how Rehabilitation Counsellors can support participants.

Rehabilitation Counsellors help people with disability, injuries or chronic illness work towards their education, employment, and community goals through assessment, counselling, case management, and service coordination.

It’s great to see our work recognised — we’re a small but mighty profession 💪

If you’d like to see how all therapy professions are defined under NDIS, you can download the official “OG Therapy Supports” document here:
👉 https://www.ndis.gov.au/our-guidelines

12/10/2025

🚨 Watch out for unqualified “wellbeing” businesses

There are more and more companies out there offering mental health and staff wellbeing services. They look amazing thanks to slick marketing or outsourced branding… but many have no actual qualifications to do this work.

Would you let an untrained person carry out a WHS or safety assessment at your workplace? Of course not. So why risk it when it comes to mental health and wellbeing?

💡 Do your research.
💡 Ask about qualifications and registrations.
💡 Make sure you’re paying for trained professionals who can actually deliver safe and effective support.

Your staff deserve the real deal — not risky shortcuts.

11/10/2025

Mark your diaries. Always an enjoyable outing

There'll be lights, sirens and action at Sunshine Coast stadium as the Emergency Services Expo returns for another year. 🚓

🗓️ Sunday 19 October

⏰ 10am to 2pm

🏟️ Sunshine Coast Stadium

With road crash and vertical rescue demonstrations, disaster information and plenty of emergency services on site to engage with, it's the perfect day out as disaster season gets closer. ⛈️

Sunshine Coast Council

10/10/2025

🌟 The real value of supporting local isn’t just about the products or services – it’s the people behind them.

I’ve often wondered why some of my friends pop into the same café every morning. For them, it’s not just about the coffee – it’s about the friendly faces, the small conversations, and that sense of connection.

For me, it’s my local petrol station. Sure, sometimes their prices are a little higher, but the staff always take the time to say hello, share a laugh, and even let me know about the best deals so I can save money with apps like 7-Eleven Fuel Lock or the new Linkt discounts. It’s only a quick 30-second chat, but it genuinely brightens my day.

It’s a good reminder that these little connections with local businesses matter – they give us more than a transaction, they give us community.

💬 Do you have a local business you love visiting, not just for what they sell but for how they make you feel?

09/10/2025

I’m really excited to be playing a small part behind the scenes, helping coordinate volunteers for the Australian Deaf Games, coming to the Sunshine Coast in June/July 2026.

It’s such a special opportunity for our region, and I hope you’ll come along as a spectator to cheer on the athletes and be part of this inclusive event. 👏

08/10/2025

💬 “What if this service was available across all of QLD?”

I often find myself thinking this — especially knowing how many of us wait years (sometimes decades) before receiving a diagnosis or adequate care. That’s why it matters so much when initiatives like this one launch: the free multidisciplinary service for endometriosis and pelvic pain in the Brisbane South region, through BSPHN and QENDO.

As someone who spent over 10 years waiting for a diagnosis — and has since navigated life with its ripple effects, secondary issues, and significant costs — I know firsthand how transformative earlier access to multidisciplinary care can be.

I see so many others with similar stories: delayed diagnosis, mismanagement, enormous emotional and financial burden.

👉 That’s why I’m calling for this kind of service across all of Queensland — not just in one region. Let’s push for:
• Early-diagnosis pathways
• Easier access to multidisciplinary teams (gynecology, pain management, mental health, physiotherapy, etc.)
• Subsidised or no-cost care so it’s not just for those who can afford it
• Awareness campaigns to shorten the “waiting time to believe”

🗣️ If you’ve had a similar journey — long wait, misdiagnoses, ongoing struggle — I’d love for you to share this service with your healthcare team to demand access for all. The more voices we have, the stronger our call for better, fairer care becomes.

Let’s demand better support. Let’s make this kind of holistic care the norm, not the exception.

QENDOCare is a free multidisciplinary health service that support general practitioners (GPs) to care for patients with endometriosis, adenomyosis and persistent pelvic pain symptoms.