- Salary increase for early childhood workers
- Salaries will increase by 15 percent
The Albanese government is preparing to give early childhood workers a 15 per cent pay rise, with promises that salaries will increase by a combined $258 by December 2025.
Laws to allow the legislated pay rise will be introduced to parliament on Thursday and, if passed, would be implemented over two years with a 10 per cent increase starting in December 2024, followed by a 5 per cent increase from December 2025.
This means early childhood educators would see a raise of at least $103 per week starting in December 2024, followed by a minimum weekly raise of $155 starting in December 2025.
However, to access the funding, childcare providers will have to be able to prove they have not increased their fees by more than 4.4 per cent in the 12 months since August 8.
The Labour Party has hailed the bill as a victory for one of the lowest-paid sectors, which is predominantly made up of women.
“Giving our children the best start in life means providing them with the best education and care,” said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
We know these early educators do an incredible job and deserve our thanks, but they also deserve a decent wage.
Early years minister Anne Aly said the “highly feminised workforce” had been neglected and taken for granted for “far too long”.
The Albanese government is preparing to give early childhood workers a 15 per cent pay rise, with promises that salaries will increase by a total of $258 by December 2025 (file image)
Education Minister Jason Clare said the pay rise would benefit workers, while the 4.4 per cent cap on fees would keep prices down for families (file image)
“Properly valuing the early childhood education and care workforce is crucial to attracting and retaining workers and is vital to achieving the quality universal early learning sector that Australian families deserve,” she said.
Education Minister Jason Clare said the pay rise would benefit workers, while the 4.4 per cent cap on fees would keep prices low for families.
“A pay raise for every early childhood educator is good for our workforce, good for families and good for our economy,” she said.
While the Coalition has yet to finalise its position on the bill, opposition early childhood education spokeswoman Angie Bell has previously criticised the policy for being a short-term “pre-election sweetener”.
“What happens in two years’ time when the 15 per cent has been paid and the cap on restrictions has been removed? Ultimately, it will be Australian families who will foot the bill,” he said in August.
The opposition has also expressed concerns about rising childcare costs once the fee cap ends in August 2025.
