The Albanese Labor Government will today introduce legislation to lock in our 15 per cent pay rise for early educators, while strengthening safety requirements for services.
The Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) Act 2024 will be amended to deliver a further $3.6 billion to fund the pay rise and put into law the requirement services meet national safety standards to receive the payment.
Every day early educators help children learn, grow and get ready for school.
It’s one of the most important jobs in the country and they should be paid fairly for that work.
When we were first elected, the workforce in this sector had been undervalued and underpaid for far too long.
Early educators were leaving the job they love in droves.
But that’s now changed because of the 15 per cent pay rise that this Government delivered almost two years ago. This amendment locks in that funding.
When combined with our support for minimum wage rises, this will mean $255 more per week for a typical full-time educator and $410 more per week for early childhood teachers, compared to before the program started.
Over 80 per cent of eligible services are now receiving the payment.
Since the pay rise was announced, there are now 20,000 more early educators and job vacancies have decreased by over 31 per cent.
At Australia’s largest child care provider, Goodstart Early Learning, the use of agency staff decreased by 69 per cent in the first year of the program.
This funding will continue to be tied to a commitment from services receiving the payment to limit fee increases for parents.
We are making sure workers can be fairly paid without the costs being passed on to families.
Since we announced the pay rise, fees at centres receiving the payment have grown at around half the rate of centres that don’t.
Going forward, the average family will save about $1,500 over the next two years.
The legislation will also put into law the requirement that early childhood education and care services meet the national safety standard as a condition of the payment.
Today 95 per cent of early learning services are meeting the safety standard, more than ever before, but we want that number to be higher.
From July 2027, if services don’t meet the National Quality Standard when it comes to safety, their funding can be cut or suspended.
Parents deserve confidence that their child is safe in care.
If a service is not meeting the standard that parents expect and children deserve, it risks this funding being cut off.
This requirement builds on the Albanese Government’s reforms to strengthen safety in early education and care.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Education Jason Clare:
“Caring for and teaching children is some of the most important work in the country.
“Our early educators deserve every cent they get.
“We’re locking this funding in.
“The payment has worked to bring more people into the early education workforce and to keep costs down for families.
“Turns out if you pay people more, more people want to do the job.
“Over the last year, working with the states and territories, we’ve done a lot to strengthen safety in early education and care.
“This means that by law, if you want the pay rise you need to be meeting national safety standards.
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our children.
“This will help to make sure safety and quality in early education is what parents expect and what our children deserve.”
Quotes attributable to Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Amanda Rishworth:
“Early childhood educators have one of the most important jobs in Australia and their hard and highly skilled work deserves to be properly valued.
“Labor’s backing for wage rises means early childhood teachers are now earning $410 more per week, compared to December 2024 when the Government first implemented the pay rise.
“The Albanese Government’s commitment to increasing early educator pay has seen more 20,000 more workers enter the sector and job vacancies decrease by over 30 per cent.”
Quotes attributable to Minister for Early Childhood Education Jess Walsh:
“I hear about the difference this pay rise is making every week when I meet with educators.
“They tell me it’s helping them stay in the jobs they love.
“It’s also providing more certainty and stability for the children in their care.
“It is helping build and retain the stable, dedicated workforce that children deserve.
“‘And educators deserve every cent.”
