Fronditha Care secures second Labour Agreement to welcome Greek speakers to Australia

Fronditha Care will be able to sponsor 60 Greek speakers over three years to help fill bilingual staffing demands in aged care. 

A ground-breaking second Labour Agreement was signed between the Department of Home Affairs and Fronditha Care in June and is already in effect.

It will enable the organisation to hire 20 Greek speaking foreign workers each year until 2020 to fill personal care assistant roles which are continually in high demand.

The successful applicants will be able to work at either the organisation’s five residential aged care facilities or visit clients in the community as part of Fronditha Care’s Community Services team.

Fronditha Care CEO George Lekakis AO has seen a steep jump in demand for culturally and linguistically appropriate home care services, but has struggled to garner local interest.

“We had so much demand for Greek speaking personal care workers, but we just couldn’t fill those jobs,” he said.

“Opening up the employment pool to native Greek speakers, who genuinely have an interest in caring for the elderly, makes sure we can lower our skyrocketing waiting lists and meet the needs of our cherished bilingual clients.”

The Labour Agreement mirrors the previous Labour Agreement that was established in 2014 and hired workers over three years, but has since lapsed.

The new agreement will see those employees from the first labour agreement have the option to apply for permanent residency.

“We’ve been fortunate to welcome some amazing staff members from Greece with the first Labour Agreement - but now we can ensure we retain the high standards of care for our elderly who either can’t or have forgotten how to speak English,” Executive Manager of Human Resources Kathleen Fisher said.

Those who wish to learn more or to apply can call 03 9552 4100 or visit frondithacare.org.au/careers

Find out more about Fronditha Care.