industry & reform
Carina Robinson
CARINA ROBINSON , NSW TAFE PROGRAM LEAD FOR THE AGED CARE CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE During her decades-long career in aged care , Carina Robinson has worn many different hats .
The mother of two entered the sector as a university student , working as a casual outreach worker in a residential care facility in Canberra .
Since then , Carina has pursued a variety of roles ranging from disability and community services to leading one of the first pilots of consumer directed care in Australia .
“ You can ’ t tell me this industry is boring or two dimensional because it is so dynamic , and there are so many different types of work ,” she told Aged Care Insite .
“ I think it ’ s about a lot of the work involving business acumen skills , and whether you ’ re able to gain skills in finance and projects and compliance , and all of those areas .
“ My motivation to push myself into that space was in wanting to have more influence and have a different voice heard .”
Carina currently works as the program lead for one of NSW ’ s largest education training centres to help develop the future of the aged care workforce .
Most recently , she sat on a national technical advisory committee to inform the training design of the next generation of community services qualifications .
Helping to upskill and mentor the future workforce , she says , was something that came organically to her .
“ I ’ ve sought out opportunities to give back and contribute because I ’ ve always been so cognisant of the difference and the benefit that ’ s made to me over the years ,” she said .
“ I think I was also really fortunate to have some great mentors and supervisors who encouraged me to extend my skills and to seriously consider a longer term career in the sector .”
As a mother of two small children , Carina says she has been fortunate enough to have worked for employers who were supportive and gave her flexible hours .
When her first child was born she worked during the night while her husband stayed at home to juggle the difference in shifts .
With more mothers working full time in Australia than ever before , ensuring that women receive adequate support in the workplace will be critical to filling the gender imbalances in senior roles .
“ In direct care work , whether that be in some of the allied health or clinical professions , shift work is not the most conducive with early childhood care ,” says Carina .
“ That ’ s a real barrier and a challenge because we still have very traditional models of childcare .
“ I think that ’ s something that we are going to have to continue to work on in terms of what some more contemporary models might be to support women .”
In recent years , Carina says she has found herself attracted to positions that push for systemic contributions to the industry .
Her next endeavour will be presenting at an Asia Pacific economic corporation workshop in Taipei around national approaches to digital skilling .
According to Carina , fostering relationships with people and learning skills outside of clinical care has helped her to veer off a linear career path .
“ In terms of those higher-level positions and career development opportunities , I think we should prioritise being able to move across , backwards , sideways ,” she said .
“ It ’ s not necessarily always about moving into a more senior position , but maybe you want to step sideways and specialise in something more niche that you ’ re absolutely built for .”
KERRI RIVETT , CHIEF EXECUTIVE , ROYAL FREEMASONS Kerri Rivett took her current role as chief executive of the Royal Freemasons bang in the middle of the pandemic .
The Freemasons has a big aged care portfolio of 16 residential care facilities and home care packages all over Victoria , and getting to grips with such a large organisation in a period of uncertainty took all of her experience .
Kerri Rivett
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I think it ’ s a tough industry . I think if you can survive in age care , you will survive anywhere .
“ It required some tenacity to figure out very quickly what was going on in the organisation . I was brought in for my experience , and the organisation was facing some challenges , both from a leadership and a clinical point of view ,” she tells Aged Care Insite . “ I suppose when I reflect on my career , the reason they brought me in is because I came from the coalface : I started out at 17 as a personal care worker and pretty much worked my way up .”
Like all providers , the Freemasons has faced a slew of issues during the last two years and Rivett has spent much of the last 12 months restructuring and steadying a ship already facing rough post-royal commission waters .
But for Rivett , the role at the Freemasons offered her a challenge and , determined not to rest on her laurels , she was more than happy to rise to it .
14 agedcareinsite . com . au