Do you need qualifications to be a support worker?

A child and her support worker colouring together.

Support workers provide physical, emotional and social support to people who need it. These can include people with aged care support needs, people with disability (physical and/or intellectual), those with emotional needs, or anyone who needs support performing day-to-day tasks.

Their duties can range widely, from personal care, such as showering to supporting someone to travel to managing administrative tasks for clients to encouraging their social participation in the community (such as meeting friends or going to the movies).

Support workers can work in people’s homes, in specialised care settings or in hospitals on a full-time, part-time or casual basis, depending on the client’s needs.

Support worker qualifications

All support workers need to possess certain qualities, an understanding of the role and the right outlook.

On Mable, independent support workers don’t need formal qualifications to work as a social support and domestic assistance support worker. For more complex support, you will require a relevant qualification. To gain qualifications, you can:

  • Complete a vocational qualification in disability or community services. This may be a Certificate III in Individual Support (CHC33015) specialising in disability or a Certificate IV in Disability (CHC43115).
  • Ensure you have up-to-date immunisations (as required)
  • Complete certifications and checks such as a First Aid Certificate, Working with Children Check, Police Check, and NDIS Worker Screening Check.

Qualifications to be an aged care support worker

For those wanting to become aged care support workers, there are options to suit all study goals.

Aged care support courses and qualifications may include:

  • Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing, Home & Community)
  • Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing & Disability)
  • Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing)
  • Dual Certificate III in Individual Support & Certificate IV in Ageing Support

In addition to the above, an aged care support worker may also require a Cert III Individual Support in Aged Care (Community Services, Disability Work or similar).

You may also be asked to ensure you have:

  • Up-to-date immunisations (as required)
  • A First Aid Certificate
  • A Working with Children Check (if required)
  • A Police Check
  • A NDIS Worker Screening Check

Working requirements may include:

  • Completed NDIS orientation module
  • Infection control training (COVID-19 management)
  • Smart phone.

Expand your skills through Mable’s Learning Hub

When you sign up as an independent support worker on Mable, you get free access to the Mable Learning Hub to assist you in your journey of being a support worker and helping you with your professional development.

Through the Learning Hub, you can access training by reputable organisations such as La Trobe University, Cerebral Palsy Alliance, National Disability Services (NDS) and Dementia Australia. 

Working as a support worker via Mable

On Mable, if you are only offering social support and domestic assistance, you do not need any formal qualifications, but you will need:

  • A complete profile
  • A Checked Australia Police Check – to be applied for using the link provided in your Mable account
  • Two professional or personal references

If you would like to offer personal care you will need to have the following:

  • A complete profile
  • A Checked Australia Police Check – to be applied for using the link provided in your Mable account
  • You must have one of the below qualifications or two years of professional personal care experience in the last five years (with two professional referees who can verify two or more years of professional personal care experience) to be a personal carer on Mable.
  • Cert III or IV in Aged Care – with two professional referees in the last five years
  • Cert III or IV in Disabilities – with two professional referees in the last five years
  • Cert III or IV in Individual Support – with two professional referees in the last five years
  • Cert III or IV in Home and Community Care – with two professional referees in the last five years
  • Nursing Qualification – you must provide a nursing degree or diploma attained in Australia plus two professional referees in the last five years. Nursing qualifications outside of Australia accepted by Mable must be attained in NZ, Philippines, USA, Canada, UK, an EU member country, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the UAE, plus you must provide two professional referees in the last five years. Please note, these qualifications cannot be used for nursing services or assisting with medication on Mable.

If you would like to offer nursing services, you must have at least one year of experience in nursing as confirmed by 12 months of registration with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) (cannot be confirmed only by reference) to be a nurse on Mable.

If a nurse has less than one year of AHPRA registration, they cannot offer nursing services but can still offer personal care on Mable.

Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) registration:

  • Current nursing registration with Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) that has been active for at least 12 months prior as an RN (Registered Nurse) or EN (Enrolled Nurse) only.

Learn more about getting started as a support worker on Mable to start providing support today.

FAQs

It depends on what type of support work you are providing. Tasks and duties of a support worker may include:

  • Assisting with domestic duties such as shopping, menu planning, cooking, washing and cleaning
  • Helping with outings, social activities and other daily routines
  • Providing companionship and support to assist clients to develop their existing skills, abilities and confidence.

Find out more about what aged care or disability support workers do.

As an independent support worker signed up on Mable, there’s a range of services you can offer. Find out more about these on the website.

If you have a passion for making a positive difference to the lives of people with a disability and helping people to achieve their full potential, you might make a great support worker. Learn more about what makes a good support worker.

You can sign up on Mable as an independent support worker by completing minimum requirements as stated above and start providing support right away.

No, you don’t need a university degree to be a support worker. However, qualifications and additional certificates are required for some types of support work, as mentioned in the article above.

It depends on the support service you want to provide. Social support and domestic assistance don’t require you to have experience or educational qualifications, but more complex support services may. Learn more about the experience needed to become a support worker.

Working as an independent support worker through Mable offers many benefits. Through Mable, you get to choose the hours you work, choose the clients you work with, choose how much you charge for your services. Importantly, you have the opportunity to create long-term relationships with the clients you connect with, through Mable.