Now that you’re familiar with the many aspects of what self-employment as a support worker can look like, the next step is to find what support you’d actually like to provide. Mable enables independent support workers to offer a range of services to people with disability and older Australians. In this article, we discuss these services and any qualifications needed to provide them.
Often with support work, you may start out providing one type of service to a client and then progress to providing other services once the client has seen your work and rapport has been established. When putting together your profile, it’s good to keep this in mind and offer as many services as you are qualified and experienced to offer, as one job role can lead to the next.
Support workers on Mable offer the following services:
- Social support
- Domestic support
- Personal care
- Nursing services
- Speech therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Physiotherapy
- Psychology support services.
Some of these services need to be delivered in-person such as gardening and personal care, while other supports such as psychology and companionship have the option of being delivered virtually.
Social support
Social support comes in many forms. Some of the duties you may perform as part of social support include:
- Shopping with a client for groceries
- Light housework – tiding, decluttering and washing dishes after a meal
- Cooking meals
- Emotional support and companionship
- Accompanying a client on a day trip to the movies, museums, the beach, bowling or a concert, for example.
- Community outings are a big part of social support as clients often look forward to trying and experiencing new things and getting out and about
- Providing transport* to attend medical appointments
- Helping clients learn new skills such as cooking and assisting them in enjoying their hobbies and interests.
While social and domestic support doesn’t require any formal qualifications, they do need a certain set of skills and the right outset towards supporting the client’s goals. With high demand for these services among the Mable community, it’s the perfect opportunity to build your small business as a support worker and provide assistance that changes lives for the better.
*A current Australian Drivers licence must be validated with our approvals team in order to provide this service.
Domestic support
From mowing the lawn, to gardening and doing laundry, domestic support services are requested from clients on Mable on a daily basis. Other examples of domestic support include:
- Minor repairs in homes that don’t require a trade qualification. For example, changing light bulbs, changing batteries in smoke detectors, minor repairs to furniture, fixing cupboard doors, etc.
- Light gardening, including weeding, cutting lawns, planting, and clearing small plants from gardens
- House cleaning: cleaning bathrooms and kitchen, vacuuming and dusting
- Assisting with daily organisation of reminders, calendar management, appointments, correspondence, and other general administrative tasks.
Providing a clean and tidy home and yard is essential to ensuring a safe and hygienic environment for your clients to enjoy.
Personal care
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 care support worker on Mable.
- Cert III or IV in Aged Care (With two professional referees in the last five years)
- Cert III or IV in Disability (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 obtained 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.
Personal care may include any of the following:
- Showering, dressing and toileting
- Manual transfer
- Personal grooming such as shaving Assistance with eating
- Light massage of hands, arms, feet or legs
- Assisting with community sport, fitness and daily exercise
- Assessing, planning, organisation and facilitation of options and services meeting health, well-being and budget objectives
- Delivering care services using a palliative approach and supporting a person and their family with grief and loss.
The key to providing great personal care is upholding the dignity and privacy of clients and giving kind, respectful attention to them as you attend to their personal care needs.
Read Trish’s story to see how she has benefited from the work of her team of support workers.
Nursing services
Enrolled and registered nurses provide a range of services to people with disability and older Australians through Mable. Enjoy the freedom of choosing your hours, your clients and your rates while benefiting from the administrative support Mable provides through its easy-to-use app and invoicing system.
Regarding qualifications, there are two possible pathways:
- To provide nursing services, you need current nursing registration with AHPRA and one or more years of experience.
- To provide personal care services, you need any nursing qualification or Certificate 3 or 4 in Aged Care or Disability Support.
In addition, you will need the usual checks such as a police check (done through Mable) and a Working With Children Check.
Allied health professionals
Allied health professionals such as speech therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and psychologists can offer their services through Mable.
This requires a minimum of 12 months registration with AHPRA in most cases, except for speech pathologists who require current registration with Speech Pathology Australia.
Agreement: before you start providing support
Remember, after your meet and greet session and before you start providing support, to make sure you have a signed agreement in place. The agreement is a document that sets out all the details and terms of payment as well as the support service to be provided. Learn in more detail about how to create an agreement and why it’s important to have one beforehand.
These guidelines are also helpful to know before you begin your support session on Mable.
FAQs
How do I become a support worker on Mable?
To become an independent support worker on Mable, you will need:
- An Australian Business Number (ABN)
- A profile photo
- A brief bio for your profile
- A Nationally Coordinated Criminal History check through our partners, Checked Australia*
- Two professional or character references
- Two references
- A Working with Children Check (if working with children)
- To meet your state and/or territory’s COVID-19 vaccination requirements
- Completed infection control training.
* The criminal history check must be completed through the link provided by Mable. This ensures that the check covers the type of work that you will be conducting via the Mable platform.
Read this detailed guide on becoming a support worker on Mable. For more information, explore our frequently asked questions.
Do I need qualifications to be an independent support worker on Mable?
It depends on what services you plan to offer. You don’t need qualifications for social support and domestic assistance. Qualifications are required for personal care, nursing and allied health professional services.
What are the benefits of being an independent support worker on Mable?
You get to choose your own hours and days, your own rates of payment and the clients you book with. With invoicing taken care of and a secure messaging system to connect with clients, Mable has made it simple and straightforward to run and build your business. Learn more about all the benefits of becoming a support worker on Mable.
