The Australian economy is at the beginning of an economic transformation. How that happens and whether it happens well are now in the balance. This transformation involves an area of the economy that we tend not to think of as being productive or about investment. 

It involves what economists have come to term the “Care Economy”. This consists of all those services that provide care in one way or another to people of various ages and abilities. It includes aged care, disability services, family services (family violence amongst them), social housing, mental health services, child care and so on. 

Yes, these are the sectors that routinely appear as subjects of Royal Commissions or Government Inquiries, with horrible headlines accompanying their findings. What hasn’t been widely understood is that each of these reports link to one another in ways that have yet to be properly grasped. 

It is not well understood, but the Care Economy is the largest single employer in Australia, with over 1.8m people currently working in Care Economy jobs. It is also our fastest growing industry as measured by jobs growth, by a long way. Overwhelmingly, the Care Economy employs women rather than men. 

How is it being transformed?

In the early days of white Australian settlement right up until the mid-20th century, much of the Care Economy was informal, being provided free of charge, mainly by women at home, or through charities, again largely using unpaid labour provided by women. 

Over the last 40 years, this has gradually shifted. First, governments have taken carriage of in-house services that were previously undertaken informally or through charities – child protection, for example. Governments have also started to fund the delivery of these services through not-for-profits, often faith-based organisations. More recently, governments have put these services out to tender, allowing private entities to begin to deliver Care Economy activity in ways that previously were not possible. This shift toward the use of the private sector has tended to be accompanied by a rights-based philosophy: that all Australians have a right to secure housing, to live a decent life, and to be free from violence, for example.

What is the transformation that is happening right now?

There is an increasing recognition that the Care Economy is about more than welfare. The Productivity Commission in its review of the then-proposed National Disability Insurance Scheme recognized that a well-funded and effective system of disability support would largely pay for itself, by increasing workforce participation by carers and people with disability.

Similarly, the Victorian Government’s Royal Commission into Family Violence recognized that a well-funded system designed to support victims and prevent family violence would generate sizeable returns, in the form of fewer women and children requiring medical treatment, more women being able to live independently and in employment, and children being able to move into adulthood and careers without the trauma of violence in the home holding them back. 

Realising the aims of improving people's lives involves understanding the requirements of investment in the Care Economy and ensuring that it is productive. These different sectors are now converging, for the first time in Australian history. And this offers us an unprecedented opportunity to innovate, while generating meaningful jobs and fulfilling careers, all the while leaving a dramatically beneficial impact on people’s lives.

What we want to do 

We want to identify the Care Economy as the next cab off the rank for national economic development, leading to better services for clients, rewarding and well-remunerated careers for employees, with increased quality of life and higher standards of living for all. We want to build a system of systems that is demonstrably more economically viable and sustainable than what our society offers today.

Our Vision 

Our vision is for a sustainable Care Economy that improves people’s lives and drives Australia’s economic growth. We will achieve this by developing a suite of technology-enabled products and services to optimise care delivery for service providers, as well as improve the experience of care for participants. We will build a well-educated and adaptable workforce, that enjoys broad and deep career pathways. 
A foundation to our vision is the capacity for sector innovation and application of critical enabling technologies to have a transformative impact on care.

Our Mission 

To lead Australia’s productivity growth by integrating critical enabling technologies to diversify and transform care services.  The industry-led collaboration facilitates participants of care to co-design and implement products and services for the Australian Care Economy and accelerates supply for the growing high-value global care market. Improved and sustainable care services will be delivered by a connected and adaptable workforce with improved technology skills and capability.

Leadership Team

Deena Shiff

Chair Elect, Care Economy CRC

Deena Shiff, a trailblazer in human-focused technology, brings a wealth of experience from her distinguished career in government, law, and as a senior executive in the communications industry. Her career has been marked by her dedication to leveraging technology to improve human lives.

As the founding CEO of Telstra’s corporate venture capital arm, Telstra Ventures, Deena led the charge in making investments in emerging e-services/digital businesses. She was the first woman appointed as Group Managing Director at Telstra, where she led large business divisions between 2001 and 2013.

Her commitment to human-centric technology is further reflected in current board memberships:

• Director of ProMedicus Ltd, a Melbourne-based health software company that is revolutionising healthcare in Australia, Europe, and the US.

• Independent Board Member of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, a global fund that finances, procures, and distributes vaccines in the Global South, demonstrating her commitment to leveraging technology for global health.

In addition, Deena chairs the Global Advisory Board for the ARC Centre of Excellence on Automated Decision Making and Society (ADM+S), where she guides the development of technologies that are ethical, equitable, and transparent.

Ms Carmela Sergi

Interim Chief Executive Officer, Care Economy CRC

An accomplished senior executive, Carmela Sergi has significant experience in leading large and complex collaborations between industry and research organisations. An intellectual property attorney, Carmela has worked in a variety of executive roles across the pharmaceutical, medical technology and health service sectors. Carmela sits on the Board of Advocacy for Disability Access and Inclusion Inc (ADAI) and most recently was the founding CEO of ARIIA, Aged Care Research and Industry Innovation Australia.

Carmela has a driving passion to improve health and care through collaboration, knowledge translation and industry uptake of research outcomes. Her experience includes a strong focus on commercialisation with skills in intellectual property management, market development and investment attraction. Carmela has extensive experience in developing partnerships at local, national and international levels. She has a proven track-record of working with diverse stakeholders such as government, university, industry, health services, consumer organisations and business including start-up, SME and large corporations.

Professor Irene Blackberry

Research Director, Care Economy CRC

Professor Irene Blackberry is the John Richards Chair and Director of the Care Economy Research Institute at La Trobe University. Professor Blackberry is a health services and implementation science researcher of complex multifactorial care. She has over 20 years of research experience across the Care Economy in Australia and abroad, predominantly in healthcare, aged care and informal care sectors. Her research examines access to care and models of care that are innovative, effective and sustainable, building skills in individuals and greater capacity of the whole-of-community to support people from diverse background and rural communities.

Most recently her focus has been on addressing care crisis by breaking down the siloing of care sectors. She is the leading force behind Australia’s Care Economy research including building an industry-led research partnership program on Care Economy and establishing the Care Economy Collaborative Network. 

Irene is the Past President of Australian Association of Gerontology Victoria, member of the NHMRC Council and Principal Committees 2021-2024 Triennium, on the editorial board of several international journals and expert advisors to government and not-for-profit organisations. She has attracted over $60M in competitive research funding and published 150 reports and journal articles. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree and PhD in Medicine and a postgraduate study in Program and Economic Evaluation.