Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing and Disability)

An individual support worker assists older people and people with disability to manage daily activities, maintain independence and participate in their communities. That might mean showering and dressing a client in a residential facility or driving someone to their appointments and helping them shop. Person-centred care is the principle behind all of it, so you follow what your client wants for themselves instead of deciding for them. You’ll work in homes, community settings and residential facilities, talking with families and healthcare professionals about how each client is going.

Yes. You’ll complete a minimum of 120 hours in a real care environment, supporting clients under supervision at an average of 12 hours per week. You can do your placement in aged care, disability or community settings. You’ll also work on placement activities at home that count towards your assessment.

Across 16 units, you’ll learn to:

• Communicate with clients, their families and the healthcare professionals around them

• Provide personal care safely and responsibly

• Support a client’s wellbeing and emotional needs

• Help clients maintain independence in their daily routines

• Follow safe work practices in a care environment

• Work in a way that promotes each client’s dignity and quality of life

You’ll practise all of it during your 120 hours of placement, with an experienced worker supervising you.

Individual support covers both aged care and disability work, which is why this qualification carries the Ageing and Disability specialisation. Aged care focuses on older clients, usually in residential facilities or through home care services. Disability support focuses on people living with disability, at any age. The Ageing and Disability specialisations can help prepare you for roles across both areas.

Yes. If disability work is where you want to be, our Certificate IV in Disability Support develops skills relevant to more independent support work and coordinating or supervising others. This Certificate III is the entry requirement, so many people start here and move on to more advanced qualifications once they’ve got some work experience behind them. If working with older clients interests you more, study our Certificate IV in Ageing Support to move into more senior aged care roles. 

You can also enrol in either the Certificate IV in Disability Support or the Certificate IV in Ageing Support  qualifications at the same time as enrolling in the Certificate III in Individual Support and study two qualifications as one streamlined pathway. By enrolling together, you can save with a combined enrolment discount, lock in your future course at today’s price and avoid having to re-enrol later. If the same units are included in both qualifications, they’ll be credited towards your next course, reducing the number of units you need to complete and potentially shortening your overall study time. Our admissions team can talk you through the combined enrolment, credit transfers and costs.

Individual support can offer an accessible pathway into the care sector, including aged care, disability services, community organisations and home care. As you gain experience, you may have opportunities to work across different settings and develop skills in the areas that interest you most. You’re also free to move between those settings as your interests change and specialise in what you feel strongest about. The qualification opens the door to the rest of the care sector, since the Certificate IV in Disability Support and Certificate IV in Ageing Support both build directly on it.

AIPC offers the Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing and Disability) fully online, so you can study it from anywhere in Australia as long as you have a reliable internet connection. Full-time study takes around 18 months to cover 16 units. Your 120 hours of placement are the part you’ll do in person, though you can arrange for it at a care service near where you live.