New short courses in infection control are now being rolled out to help customer-facing businesses open safely and minimise the risk of COVID-19 spreading.

Around 80,000 subsidised infection control training places will be provided across Australia, supported by an $80 million Infection Control Training Fund jointly delivered by the Commonwealth and State and Territory governments.

Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, Senator Michaelia Cash, said the infection control training will help keep Western Australian workers safe and build confidence for consumers as businesses reopen.

“This is especially important within the aged and disability care sector, to ensure the most vulnerable members of our community are kept safe.”

Workers will be provided with the skills and knowledge they need to decrease the risk of transmitting infections during their daily duties.

In addition to aged and disability care, other targeted industries include: retail, tourism, hospitality, cleaning, security and transport and logistics. Short infection control courses can be completed as a stand-alone competency or as part of a broader qualification.

Assistant Minister for Vocational Education, Training and Apprenticeship Steve Irons, said the fund will deliver around $8.26 million to support subsidised infection control training in Western Australia.

WA Education and Training Minister Sue Ellery said the McGowan Government was pleased to partner with the Commonwealth Government to deliver vital infection control to a bigger cross section of WA’s workforce.

“Early feedback to support recovery has been that short, sharp skill set training helps workers perform their jobs safely by reducing the risk of infection and transmission in the workplace,” Minister Ellery said.

The infection control skill set was the first national training product developed by the new Australian Industry Skills Emergency Response Sub-Committee in response to COVID-19.

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