Workforce Innovation and Development Institute

The Workforce Innovation and Development Institute at RMIT University partners with the social service sector, government and the higher education and skills  system to respond to our shared workforce challenges.

Their mission is to build a stronger community, supported by a diverse, skilled, responsive, healthy and innovative social service workforce.

WIDI are a skilled and trusted partner, applying our sector knowledge and expertise in research, education and social innovation to design and implement practical, scalable, workforce solutions.

Some of the major projects delivered by WIDI are listed below. View all of the programs here.

Graduate resource centre 

The Workforce Innovation & Development Institute (WIDI) is proud to announce its selection to operate the Graduate Resource Centre (GRC) component of the Community and Social Services Graduate Program. This initiative is funded by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH). 

The Graduate Resource Centre is an important component of the graduate program contributing to how graduates will access and participate in the program. The GRC will provide participants with a simple and streamlined process for applying for positions in participating organisations, and if successful, coordinate and oversee their participation in the learning and development activities across a 12-month program and support you and your employers to access learning and development opportunities.

Successful applicants will be connected to a graduate role in the community and social services and will be fully paid in accordance with industry awards and conditions.

A pathway to reliable and reproducible Specialist Homelessness Services Workforce data

Driven by the urgent need to address significant gaps and inconsistencies in information on the Specialist Homelessness Services workforce, the project drew on existing literature, historical evidence and sector consultations to design a system of workforce data capable of providing an ongoing source of information for workforce development and planning.

Sponsored by the Council to Homeless Persons, the project also explored existing workforce data collection approaches and introduced an innovative and comprehensive approach to data collection and analysis for the sector with two key sources of workforce information:

• Data linkage using the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP) to link existing government data sets with relevant State Government data
• Supplement gaps with surveys and other data sources as the new approach is prototyped, tested, and refined

Designed to enable more rigorous and proactive workforce planning across all parts of the social service sector, the Common Workforce Data Project comprised:

• A review of existing workforce data and wider literature
• Consultations with the sector and workforce planning bodies in Australia and abroad,
• A discussion paper synthesising findings outlining options for workforce data systems for the SHS sector,
• Design and development of a workforce data set for key workforce development and planning needs that is capable of comparisons with other sectors
• The development of a workforce survey tool,
• The establishment of a MADIP project with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to test and pilot a longitudinal workforce data set for the SHS workforce,
• A survey of the SHS workforce (August – September 2022)
• A final report with a roadmap for the new system (see link to full report).

The final report was endorsed in January 2023 and work on the first data linkage results is nearing completion (expected October-November 2023).

To learn more about these projects and others please contact the team: widi@rmit.edu.au