Victoria’s Most Inclusive Workforce Pipeline for
Residential Aged Care & Disability Providers
The care sector is facing unprecedented pressure. Chronic vacancies, rising agency costs, and high turnover are destabilising residential aged care, disability support, lifestyle programs, and food services. Launch into Care is ACDCForMe’s specialised workforce solution that delivers job-ready, sector-ready, retention-ready frontline and essential care workers who are prepared for the realities of care work long before they step onto the floor.
We build the workers that mainstream systems miss, and we deliver the workforce stability providers urgently need.
Who We Are
ACDCForMe Ltd is a Victorian not-for-profit workforce development organisation dedicated to strengthening the care sector through inclusive workforce pathways. We specialise in preparing people who do not thrive in mainstream training, and in preparing employers to receive workers who are confident, capable, and ready to stay.
Our Mission
To transform the care workforce by preparing people and preparing employers, creating sustainable, inclusive frontline workforce.
Our Non-Executive Board
ACDCForMe is guided by a highly specialised Non-Executive Board whose expertise reflects the communities and sectors we serve. Their leadership ensures our programs are culturally safe, operationally grounded, and aligned with real workforce needs.
Our Board brings deep expertise across:
· Workforce Australia operations and large-scale employment services
· First Nations education, community leadership, and workforce development
· CALD community engagement and migrant workforce pathways
· Neurodiverse and LGBTQ+ community advocacy and program design
· Healthcare recruitment and high-volume workforce mobilisation
· Aged care, disability care, lifestyle & leisure program capability building
Expert Advisors to ACDCForMe
Alongside the Board, ACDCForMe is supported by aged care CEOs, COOs, and residential operations specialists who provide real-time insight into workforce pressures, operational realities, and sector reform. Their guidance ensures Launch into Care is built for the floor, not for theory.
What We Do
Launch into Care is a complete workforce development system that takes people from “not ready” to “work-ready and retention-ready” through a structured, intensive, evidence-based pathway. We do not run short courses or generic employability programs. We build the foundational human skills that Certificate III training does not teach, the skills that determine whether someone will thrive in frontline care roles. Our program prepares people deeply and holistically, ensuring they understand themselves, understand the work, and understand how to succeed in the demanding, emotionally complex environments of residential aged care and disability support. By the time participants complete Launch into Care, they are confident, regulated, realistic about the work, and fully prepared for the expectations of care employers. Providers receive workers who are ready to contribute from day one, not workers who need rescuing.
1. Pre-Employment Program
The pre-employment phase is the heart of Launch into Care. Over six weeks, participants build the soft skills, emotional readiness, workplace literacy, and self-management capabilities that are essential for success in care roles but are not taught in Certificate III training. They learn how to regulate their sensory and emotional responses, manage energy across a shift, communicate effectively with supervisors and residents, navigate conflict, organise tasks, and understand the realities of care work. They develop confidence, identity safety, and a clear sense of their strengths and support needs. By the end of the program, they are not just “job-ready”, they are work-ready, sector-ready, and retention-ready frontline care workers.
2. Traineeships in the Care Sector
Participants transition directly into traineeships in:
· Residential Aged Care – Personal Care Attendant
· Lifestyle & Leisure (Aged Care & Disability Day Programs)
· Food Services Assistant (Residential Aged Care)
· Supported Independent Living – Disability Support Worker (Residential)
We ensure participants enter roles that match their strengths, interests, and readiness for frontline care work.
3. Employment & Retention Stabilisation
The early months of care work are where most trainees become overwhelmed, lose confidence, or disengage. Launch into Care helps to prevent this from happening by maintaining close contact with participants during the transition into employment. We reinforce the skills learned in training, help them navigate challenges before they escalate, and ensure they remain confident, regulated, and connected to their purpose. This stabilises the workforce, reduces early exits, and significantly enhances retention. Providers experience fewer roster disruptions, less reliance on agency staff, and a more consistent, reliable frontline workforce.
Why Providers Trust Us
Providers partner with ACDCForMe because we deliver what the sector has been missing: a predictable, high-quality workforce pipeline built on deep preparation, strong employer alignment, and proven retention outcomes. Our Non-Executive Board and expert advisors bring decades of lived, operational, and executive experience across aged care, disability care, lifestyle programs, healthcare recruitment, and high-volume workforce mobilisation. We understand the operational pressures of residential care, the regulatory environment, the emotional demands on staff, and the cost of turnover. Our model is built to reduce those pressures, not add to them.
Foundations
Natalie McLean is the program creator and one of the Non-Executive Directors of ACDCForMe. She is a nationally recognised leader in neurodiversity‑affirming, trauma‑informed workforce development. With more than a decade of experience across aged care, disability, youth employment, and community services, Natalie has built a reputation for designing employment pathways that genuinely work for people who do not thrive in mainstream systems.
Natalie is the creator of Launch to Care, ACDCForMe’s flagship Victorian Workforce Inclusion & Traineeship Pathway. She designed Launch to Care to solve a long‑standing gap in the employment system, that being the lack of structured, job‑ready pathways for people facing complex barriers, and a lack of employer capability to support them. The model blends pre‑employment preparation, employer mentoring, and long‑term retention support, helping to create a complete workforce development system that benefits jobseekers, employers, and communities.
Her work is grounded in evidence, lived insight, and deep sector knowledge. Natalie specialises in supporting young people, neurodivergent jobseekers, First Nations participants, migrants, women returning to work, and adults experiencing long‑term unemployment. Her programs are structured, predictable, and designed to build confidence, workplace literacy, and self‑advocacy, all key foundations for sustainable employment.
What Residents and Clients Gain
Residents and clients benefit from workers who are calm, confident, emotionally regulated, and genuinely prepared for the realities of care. They experience more consistent relationships, safer care, and a workforce that is stable, compassionate, and aligned with the values of dignity, respect, and person-centred practice. Launch into Care strengthens the heart of residential care, the frontline relationships that determine quality, safety, and wellbeing.
Launch into Care: A Workforce Solution That Works
This is not a short course. This is not a pilot. This is a specialised, proven, sector-aligned workforce system designed for the realities of residential aged care and disability support.
Launch into Care strengthens the heart of frontline care by delivering workers who stay, who care, and who elevate safety, dignity, and wellbeing - transforming instability into a strong, reliable workforce providers can depend on.