ANTHONY ALBANESE MP
PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA

JIM CHALMERS MP
TREASURER

JASON CLARE MP
MINISTER FOR EDUCATION

DR ANNE ALY MP
MINISTER FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
MINISTER FOR YOUTH

Every day, parents trust early educators with the most important people in their world, and every day Australia asks early educators to do one of the most important jobs imaginable.
 
Today, we are making sure those educators are fairly paid.
 
The Albanese Government will fund a 15 per cent wage increase for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) workers.
 
This wage increase will be tied to a commitment from Child Care Centres to limit fee increases. We want to make sure workers can be fairly paid without the costs being passed on to families.
 
This commitment will help retain our existing early childhood educators, who are predominately women, and attract new employees.
 
This is better for parents and better for educators. It’s also good for Australian business and creating greater equity for women in the workplace.
 
By improving access to quality early childhood education and care we can also boost productivity and workforce participation in the short and long-term.

Significantly, the wage increase also applies to workers in outside school hours care services – creating benefits for the parents of school aged children too.
 
This significant wage increase is an important next step in the Government’s reforms to the sector, building on the successful Cheaper Child Care changes.  
 
This will be phased in over two years, and include a 10 per cent increase from December 2024, and a further 5 per cent increase from December 2025.
 
This means a typical ECEC educator who is paid at the award rate will receive a pay rise of at least $103 per week, increasing to at least $155 per week from December 2025.
 
ECEC workers are some of the most important workers in the country and they deserve to be paid properly.
 
This $3.6 billion investment from the Government recognises the vital role that ECEC workers play preparing children for school.
 
To be eligible to receive funding for the wage increase, ECEC services won’t be able to increase their fees by more than 4.4 per cent over the next 12 months from today.
 
This is an important condition that will keep downward pressure on fees for families. Funding must be passed on in full to employees through increased wages.
 
This is a win for workers, a win for families and will help ease cost of living pressures.
 
Quality, affordable early education prepares children for a great start at school, contribution to their ongoing education and development.
And it lays the foundation for our nation's future economic success. 

Since coming to Government, the number of ECEC workers has grown by more than 30,000, but we need more.
 
This announcement comes after the Government joined negotiations with unions and sector representatives as part of the ECEC supported bargaining process, made possible by the Secure Jobs Better Pay Act.
 
Combined with the Government’s Cheaper Child Care initiative, today’s announcement will help support the availability of early education and care for families and is a crucial step in charting the course to a truly universal early education system.
 
The Government has also received the Productivity Commission’s final report into early childhood education and care and will release it in due course. Government support for the interim retention payment will be provided for two years while the Fair Work Commission finalises its gender undervaluation priority awards review and as the Government charts a path towards a universal childcare system.

As at 8 August 2024.