Redundant? Retraining takes years. This takes weeks.
If that's you, here it is straight: what the work actually involves, what it pays, what it costs to set up, and how to start — from someone running the same business, part-time, in regional Tasmania.
1. The years-versus-weeks problem
Changing industries the usual way means TAFE or university: one to four years, fees, placement hours, and no income while you do it. The mortgage doesn't wait for a graduation. This is a business you can be billing within weeks — an ABN, public liability insurance, a police check, a current first aid certificate and an NDIS Worker Screening Check. That's it.
2. You need income before you need a plan
You don't have to know what you want to do with the rest of your life to earn next month. Take one client, a few hours a week, and start. If you're on income support, Self-Employment Assistance exists for exactly this situation — free support while you build the business, and the course walks through whether you qualify.
3. The work is local, and it can't be sent anywhere else
Someone has to turn up, cook the meal, drive to the appointment, clean the kitchen, and sit with a person who would otherwise spend the day alone. It happens in a house, in your own town, with your hands. It isn't a role that moves offshore, and it isn't one that gets done from a desk.
4. The demand isn't a guess
While whole industries tighten, aged care and disability support keep hiring — the government's own workforce reviews say the shortage is long-standing, and it's sharper outside the cities. In a small town you're not competing with a hundred applicants; you're the local person people already know.