Advocacy

As a peak body for early childhood education, Community Early Learning Australia is an influential and vital advocacy force for the sector and for Australia's children. 

CELA's advocacy for the early childhood education sector

CELA’s advocacy brings the voices of community-based and stand-alone services to government, helping shape policy that strengthens quality, access and viability across early education.

Through year-round advocacy, we speak with governments about the issues affecting services, offering practical solutions, providing evidence and analysis, and sharing the views and experiences of members.

This work helps government understand how policy decisions affect early childhood service provision and, ultimately, the children and families who rely on these services.

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Monthly advocacy news

APRIL 2026

Investing in QLD quality not-for-profit services | READ MORE

Budget advocacy update: growing small and regional providers​ | READ MORE

CELA's budget advocacy | READ MORE

New quality not-for-profit ECEC for Huonville, Tasmania | READ MORE

ECEC workforce subsidies open soon | READ MORE

CELA advocacy: ECEC WRP extension likely | READ MORE

CELA is helping to grow high quality ECEC in South Australia | READ MORE

CELA’s advocacy shapes major Senate Report | READ MORE

 

MAY 2026

Governments to develop a National ECEC Commission | READ MORE

NSW Parliament Early Education Round Table | READ MORE

JUNE 2026

NSW Government backs community preschools | READ MORE

NSW Budget update: No answers on community preschool wage gap | READ MORE

New ECEC Worker Retention Payment | READ MORE

NSW Budget must solve community preschool wage gap | READ MORE

Huge news: $3.6b ECEC Worker Retention Payment grant extended | READ MORE

Advocacy spotlight: Calls to save a community managed long day care service | READ MORE

4.75% minimum wage increase announces | READ MORE

JANUARY 2026

Strong advocacy delivers for regional families in Kimba: READ MORE

FEBRUARY 2026

A win for expanding early childhood education and care in SA: READ MORE

CELA's Federal budget advocacy on behalf of community & small providers - READ MORE

Big win for community early education across Tasmania - READ MORE

Workplace umpire backs CELA's NSW community preschool wage claim - READ MORE

Expanding quality not-for-profit services in the ACT - READ MORE

Investing in Victorian quality not-for-profit services - READ MORE

A new Early Learning & Family Centre for WA First Nations children - READ MORE

National child safety reforms - Focus on 'under the roof' + adequate supervision - READ MORE

 

 

MARCH 2026

CELA's advocacy maintains relentless momentum for fair wages in NSW community preschools​ - READ MORE

New BEEF small provider funding round opens | READ MORE

CELA advocacy update: community preschool wage claim​ - READ MORE

OCTOBER 2025

Policy reform: CELA is seeking your input: READ MORE

ECA Conference - thanks for stopping by: READ MORE

NOVEMBER 2025

NSW Legislative Council inquiry into the NSW ECEC sector: READ MORE

Advocacy news: Changes to NSW Start Strong funding: READ MORE

Guidelines have been released: The 3 Day Guarantee starts 5 January: READ MORE

 

 

DECEMBER 2025

Worker Retention Payment Update: READ MORE

Congratulations to CELA member, Birrelee MACS: READ MORE

JULY 2025

Before Parliament – the strengthening regulation of Early Education Bill: READ MORE

AUGUST 2025

Gender Undervaluation Review Children’s Services Award (2010) - take no action for now: READ MORE

CELA’s submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Early childhood education and care sector in NSW: READ MORE

One year on: celebrating a milestone pay rise for early childhood educators: READ MORE

CELA’s advocacy to protect families’ access to community preschools: READ MORE

SEPTEMBER 2025

Community Managed LDC Members – we need your urgent input: READ MORE

Advocacy in NSW Parliament: READ MORE

Keeping you informed about Key National Cabinet & State Government Quality & Safety Reform Announcements: READ MORE

Prior-year period

January 2025

Accessing the worker retention payment | READ MORE

February 2025

Dreams really do come true - massive advocacy win with the passage of the 3-Day Guarantee Bill | READ MORE

March 2025

Four Corners – CELA response | READ MORE

 

April 2025

NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into early childhood education and care | READ MORE

 

May 2025

Worker retention payment: final chance to secure back pay by June 30 for long day care educators and teachers | READ MORE

 

 

June 2025

NSW preschools multi-employer bargaining update | READ MORE

 

 

Submissions

2025 Submissions

Response to the National Child Safety Review CRIS

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2025-26 Pre-Budget Submission

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Letter to the Prime Minister - Delivering universal high quality early childhood education & care in the 48th Australian Parliament

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Submission to the NSW Legislative Council Inquiry into the Early Childhood Education and Care Sector in NSW
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Response to the National Child Safety Review Consultation Regulation Impact Statement
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Gender Undervaluation Priority Award Review Position Paper – response to provisional views 
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Economic Reform Roundtable submission

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Gender Undervaluation Priority Award Review Submission
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Education & Employment References Committee Inquiry into the quality & safety of Australia’s early childhood education & care system submission
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NSW Preschools Multi-Employer Agreement - evidence submission to the Fair Work Commission

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NSW Preschools Multi-Employer Agreement - submission outline to the Fair Work Commission

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2024 Submissions

2024-25 Pre-Budget Submission

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Gender Undervaluation - agreed facts submission to the Fair Work Commission

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Productivity Commission - ECEC Inquiry Draft Report

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2024-25 Pre-Budget Submission

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Productivity Commission - ECEC Inquiry Draft Report

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Jobs and Skills Australia ECEC Capacity Study

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2023 Submissions

Advocacy Report 2023

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CELA IPART Interim Report Submission

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ACCC Interim Report submission

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CELA's submission to the National Care and Support Strategy

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IPART Review - CELA response to issues paper

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CELA submission to the Early Years Strategy

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CELA's Submission to the Select Senate Committee on Cost of Living

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CELA's Submission to the Productivity Commission's Inquiry

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Our 6 Point Plan for Education and Care

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We advocate across five key areas

1. Achieving quality early education

quality early education

Ensuring that all children in Australia have access to affordable, high quality early education and care is one of CELA’s key principles and underpins our commitment to achieving best practice nationally.

Success means that increasingly, more centres and services will meet and exceed quality standards and ultimately best practice will become the norm across our sector.

2. Building a stable workforce that’s nurtured and valued

stable workforce

Quality early childhood education and care depends upon the calibre and strength of our workforce. A stable workforce is also essential for building responsive relationships with children and families.

CELA understands the challenges and concerns facing the ECEC workforce, both now and into the future. Our members must be able to attract and retain quality entrants, manage workload and levels of workforce stress, and provide professional development, pathways and recognition.

3. Ensuring viability for community and small providers

viability for community and small providers

Community and small providers of early childhood education and care provide crucial services as a centre point for many communities across Australia. We are acutely aware of the important role they play and of their unique challenges and vulnerabilities.

These smaller providers collectively comprise a vital part of our early childhood education and care infrastructure. Most approved providers across Australia are in fact small and community providers, with their services making up over 30% of all early childhood education and care services (ACECQA).

4. Improving access for vulnerable children

improving access

Our most vulnerable children have the most to gain from early childhood education but are less likely to attend. Prior to COVID-19 over 750,000 children were living below the poverty line – this figure is likely to increase due to the economic impact of COVID-19.

There are multiple barriers to vulnerable children accessing early childhood education and care, which include cost, transport and availability of safe, culturally responsive services.

During COVID-19 we saw major behaviour change when free childcare was introduced. A significant number of vulnerable children attended long day-care for the first time or increased their hours. Once fees resumed, services reported these children no longer attending. CELA is deeply concerned that thousands of vulnerable children are again invisible having now been removed from early childhood education and care.

5. Closing the gap for rural children

closing the gap

Despite the fact that early childhood is the period of greatest brain development with profound longterm influences, too many rural and regional children lack access to quality early childhood education and care.

A range of barriers must be addressed to ensure high quality ECEC provision is available in rural and remote areas. Access to timely and quality early childhood education and care is a vital part of the solution to solving the widening gap in education, health and life outcomes between city and country.

CELA’s CEO Michele Carnegie undertakes a range of approaches on behalf of members, including:

  • Liaising with State and Federal Ministers to explain issues and provide solutions
  • Liaising regularly with senior agency staff who brief and appraise State Ministers
  • Via our publications Amplify and Broadside we report on issues of importance to our sector
  • Member of multiple advisory panels where we represent the perspective of community and small providers
  • Providing targeted submissions to important reviews such as the NQF, Workforce Strategy and EYLF

To advocate effectively we ensure that we understand the views and needs of our members through:

  • Listening to feedback via conversations with our members
  • Undertaking Member Surveys on specific issues
  • Our Learning & Development program which connects us with several thousand educators annually
  • Our collective CELA leadership expertise

LEARN ABOUT OUR ADVOCACY HISTORY

CELA’s advocacy – examples and impact

Improving wages and conditions for the early childhood education and care workforce

From December 2024, CCS-funded services across Australia will be able to access a ‘worker retention payment’ of 15% above Award, funded by the Australian Government. This was a result of sustained advocacy by CELA over several years. With a workforce crisis emerging, CELA partnered with like-minded peaks to survey services to understand the extent of the workforce shortage and its impact on services.

The results were stark and provided the strong evidence-base needed to engage Government with the task of solving it.

CELA worked collaboratively with Government, other peak bodies, and large and small providers, to test the new Secure Jobs, Better Pay Act and applied to the Fair Work Commission to engage in the first-ever multi-employer bargaining process. This process brought Government to the table as the primary funder of early childhood education and care, to fund the wage increase without passing on increasing costs to families.

 

Building professional respect

Language matters. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) counts and categorises various aspects of the workforce, including occupations. Until 2024, the ABS classification system, known as the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO), used outdated titles such as 'Child Carer' and 'Child Care Centre Manager' to describe roles within the early childhood education and care workforce.

CELA successfully advocated to the ABS for updates to occupation titles within the early childhood sector. These updated titles, which reflect CELA’s and other peak bodies' advocacy efforts, now better represent the roles in the field. Recommended titles include "Children's Education and Care Service Director," "Early Childhood Education Room Leader," and "Early Childhood Educator," which the ABS has proposed for adoption to reflect modern terminology.

The new occupation titles are expected to be adopted by the ABS from 2025.

 

Influencing national policy directions for children and early childhood development and care

In recent years, governments have shown a growing interest in early childhood development and the policies that ensure the best outcomes for children. This reflects the understanding that supporting children effectively in their first five years brings lifelong benefits, not only for individuals and families but also for communities and the broader economy. The Australian Government is no exception, having initiated several major policy reviews, including the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Early Childhood Education and Care, the ACCC Childcare Inquiry, and the development of a national Early Years Strategy.

When contributing to the Government’s Early Years Strategy, we emphasised the need to focus on priorities that will drive meaningful change. Key recommendations included:

  • Universal access to high-quality early childhood education and care
  • An accountable, evidence-based early years system

The Government has since adopted a strategy that supports:

  • Progress towards universal access to early childhood education and care
  • Enhanced accountability and coordination, with a stronger emphasis on data, research, and evaluation.

 

Read our submission

FAQs

What is early childhood education advocacy?

Early childhood advocacy refers to the efforts made to influence public policies, practices, and perceptions to ensure that all children have access to high-quality early childhood education and care. Advocacy can involve raising awareness, gathering evidence, mobilising communities, engaging with policymakers, and working to secure resources and support for early childhood programs. The goal is to create an environment where every child has the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential during their early years.

  

How does CELA advocate for early childhood education?

CELA (Community Early Learning Australia) advocates for early childhood education by engaging in a range of activities designed to influence policy, improve practice, and raise public awareness.

This includes: 

  • Policy development and submissions: CELA works with government bodies and policymakers to develop and refine policies that impact early childhood education, ensuring that the voices of educators and providers are heard. From time to time, governments seek feedback on new policies or to explore issues via formal consultation processes and requests for responses. CELA canvasses member views and analyses data to develop formal submissions to advise government.

  • Public campaigns: We run campaigns or add our support to campaigns that highlight key issues in early childhood education, such as funding, workforce conditions, and the importance of quality early learning. 

  • Community engagement: CELA collaborates with early childhood services, local government, educators, and families to gather insights and data that inform our advocacy efforts. We also provide resources and training to empower others to become advocates for early childhood education. 

  • Media and public relations: CELA actively engages with the media to promote the importance of early childhood education and to raise awareness of critical issues facing the sector. 

Why is advocacy important in early childhood education?

Advocacy is crucial in early childhood education because it helps ensure that all children have access to the high-quality education and care they need during their most critical developmental years. Effective advocacy can lead to: 

  • Improved policies: Advocacy can influence government policies and regulations, leading to better funding, higher standards, and more support for early childhood education services. 
  • Greater public awareness: Advocacy efforts help raise awareness about the importance of early childhood education, leading to increased public support and investment in early learning programs. 
  • Equity and inclusion: Through advocacy, we can address disparities in access to early childhood education and work towards ensuring that every child, regardless of their background, has the opportunity to benefit from early learning. 
  • Stronger early childhood workforce: Advocacy helps improve the conditions and recognition of early childhood educators, ensuring that the workforce is supported, valued, and equipped to provide the best possible care and education to children. 

Join Us

Our membership packages offer vital support to new providers and beyond, with access to resources, publications, events and expert phone support.

We’re your voice for advocacy and a vital channel for training and information, delivering up-to-the minute breaking news, updates and analysis on regulations, policies and general running of successful ECE services, plus professional development, consultancy and management support.

We’ve been a trusted source of knowledge and support for early education organisations across Australia for almost 50 years.

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