June 7, 2022

Health workforce boost welcomed

Transformation of UOW’s Liverpool and Loftus campuses will aid efforts to train new healthcare workers

The University of Wollongong (UOW) welcomes the New South Wales Government’s announcement of the nation’s largest-ever health workforce boost, which will see 10,148 full-time equivalent staff recruited to hospitals and health services across the State over the next four years.

With world-class expertise in health and medical education and research – and with the ongoing transformation of its health-focused campuses in Liverpool and Loftus – UOW will continue to play its part in training nurses and midwives, doctors and allied health professionals for the state’s health workforce.

UOW’s commitment to transforming health in NSW is evident in two recent strategic leadership appointments in Professor David Currow, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Health and Sustainable Futures) and Professor Louise Hickman, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Health – Sydney Campuses). Both Professors Currow and Hickman have already commenced pressing forward on UOW’s steadfast plan to further advance the health workforce post-COVID.

Located in the heart of Liverpool, UOW South Western Sydney offers a world-class education in one of Australia’s fastest-growing urban areas. 

UOW South Western Sydney is applying for funding under the NSW Government's WestInvest program, which, if successful, would provide state-of-the-art facilities in Western Sydney for the whole community, with health and medical facilities at the forefront.

Built in the 1970s, the current building has served Liverpool and surrounding areas as a police station, a council building and now houses hundreds of students studying Nursing, Social Work, Business, IT, Law and Education – a career-ready workforce for the region.

The planned development will completely transform the building, with the aim of a net-zero energy output, through a re-fit with industry-leading smart and sustainable materials. When complete, the building will be a living example of how old commercial buildings can be repurposed for a cleaner, efficient and sustainable future using the expertise of UOW’s Sustainable Building Research Centre.

Facilities would include health and wellbeing services aligned to UOW’s expertise, such as mental health, counselling and nursing. It will house state-of-the-art MedTech simulation facilities, such as expanded nursing laboratories to help build professional pathways.

This is essential to meet local job vacancies such as nursing and social work graduates to be employed within Liverpool and surrounding areas.

UOW is equally committed to addressing the needs of the Southern Sydney community through the UOW Southern Sydney campus transformation project, which will significantly enhance the education space at Loftus for the benefit of local students and the broader community.

The sustainable, environmentally sound retrofit would make the building more welcoming and will have a particular focus on the provision of health, wellbeing and professional qualifications.

It will include advanced MedTech simulation facilities, such as expanded nursing laboratories to help build professional pathways and exercise sports education. This is essential to meet local job vacancies nursing, health and physical education within Southern Sydney and surrounding areas.

UOW Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Health and Sustainable Futures) Professor David Currow welcomed the NSW Government announcement confirmed the University’s commitment to providing a health workforce for the communities it serves

“As a University with campuses across rural, regional and metropolitan NSW and with extensive health networks spanning much of the state, the University of Wollongong is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of people across the diverse communities which we serve,” Professor Currow said.