By 2018, one in four jobs will be in the community services and health sectors. That’s an estimated 229,400 new jobs to be created in these industries over the next three years. These are some of the latest statistics to come out of the Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council’s 2015 EScan. With such rapid growth set to occur, it is more important than ever for community organisations to ensure they are recruiting and maintaining an effective workforce.
Our COPE Workforce Development courses are for workers who need to develop or build upon certain skills as part of their work or community contribution. They are mainly geared towards the community services and health sector, but can be applied to other sectors or volunteer situations.
Many of the courses we offer focus on skill sets that are predicted to be in high demand in the coming years, such as cultural competency (Use of Interpreters, Exploring Cultural Diversity and Cultural Fitness) as well as a range of courses in other areas such as communication, relationships, working with children, suicide prevention and mental health.
Our COPE courses can also serve as a good introduction to further study, such as one of our nationally recognised qualifications.
“Many of our courses are connected to each other,” says Accidental Counsellor and Managing Conflict in the Workplace educator Pamela Dawn. “There are pathways within the Institute where you can develop further skills to provide you with more job opportunities. For example, there’s the Accidental Counsellor course which feeds into the Diploma of Counselling and the Diploma of Community Services in Case Management.”
“We are committed to supporting students learn and grow; our style of teaching is interactive,” says Pamela. “Our courses are designed to support you getting work in whatever industry you choose to move into.”
Our COPE courses are now offered at two locations – Hindmarsh and in the Riverland at Berri. For a full list of our offerings please view our course calendars: