The Federal Government has confirmed they will fund an initial 15% pay increase for early childhood educators and teachers in a $3.6 billion commitment.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:
Early educators shape lives and change lives. We can never thank them enough for what they do – but we can make sure they are properly valued and fairly paid.
The announcement is a win for a sector that has been struggling with workforce shortages for too long. This is the moment that we have been working so hard towards on behalf of our community and small provider member services, through the multi-employer bargaining process.
Years of CELA advocacy led to this reform
CELA has invested years of advocacy in our most ambitious advocacy campaign to date. We recognised the Federal Government’s appetite for major wage reform and knew that community and small providers had to be represented in the process.
The results of our relentless advocacy work have meant ministers and parliamentarians understand the value of community early education services, and have agreed to provide funding towards a wage increase.
In June last year, CELA along with CCC and other parties, applied to the Fair Work Commission for permission to negotiate under new multi-employer bargaining laws. Since then, CELA has been representing long day care providers in national negotiations and more recently NSW preschools in state negotiations, ensuring that community-managed and small providers have a voice throughout this process.
Pictured at the launch press conference at Woden in June 2023: Tony Burke MP, CELA CEO Michele Carnegie, Nazish Mushtaq of UWU, David Smith MP.
INFORMATION SNAPSHOT
What we know now
- The Federal Government has committed to fund a new worker retention payment for early childhood education and care educators.
- This funding will support a 15% wage increase, with a 10 per cent increase from December 2024, and a further 5 per cent increase from December 2025.
- It means a typical 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.
- This $3.6 billion commitment recognises the urgent need to address chronic workforce shortages in the early childhood sector, by directly funding services to pay professional wages.
- ECEC workers who work in a Child Care Subsidy (CCS) approved service will benefit from this funding.
- The Department of Education have indicated that more detail on eligibility will be available shortly.
- This payment will be delivered in the form of a grant which providers will need to apply for. The Department has said they expect applications to be open from October 2024 and that guidelines will be made available soon.
- To be eligible for grant funding, services will need to engage staff through a workplace instrument (also known as a workplace agreement or an enterprise agreement).
- Funded services will be required to limit fee increases to 4.4% over the next 12 months from 8 August 2024. Noting that service wage costs are usually around 50-80% of total expenditure, annual wage increases are the majority contributor to fee increases and these increases will now be covered by this funding. The Department has indicated that they may provide exemptions for services in exceptional circumstances, and that more detail on how to apply for an exemption will be included in the grant guidelines.
What's next for the multi-employer agreement
- This announcement has been made as a result of the national multi-employer bargaining negotiations.
- CELA, CCC and other parties are currently working towards finalising MEB negotiations, and prioritising discussions with government about the grant arrangements and conditions to ensure continued service financial sustainability and quality service delivery.
- The national multi-employer bargaining agreement will count as a workplace instrument for services to be eligible to receive the retention payment.
- Long day care services will be able to opt into the multi-employer agreement once negotiations have been finalised.
- The announcement of the government's commitment to fund pay increases will now allow these negotiations to be finalised.
- Once finalised, services who have completed the EOI process will receive all information they need to opt into the agreement.
- Discussions to confirm options for non long day care services are already underway and more information will be provided soon.
How you can stay across updates as they happen
- Long day care services can find out more by completing the expression of interest (EOI) form here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MEB-CELA
- Note: Services that have already expressed interest have received a detailed information update via email.
- The Department will be releasing more information over the coming weeks including grant guidelines. You can find out more and subscribe to their weekly newsletter on the Department of Education's dedicated page www.education.gov.au/early-childhood/workforce/wages
How CELA can support services to access the funded pay increases through the Multi-employer Bargaining agreement (MEB)
- In order to access the grant, services will need to have a workplace agreement. The multi-employer agreement would satisfy this eligibility. The national multi-employer agreement is for long day care services.
- Once the national long day care multi-employer agreement is finalised, long day care services can opt-in and be covered by that new agreement. This will be the quickest way for long day care services to meet the eligibility criteria that has been set.
- CELA will be supporting services to opt-in to the multi-employer agreement. All information will be provided through this EOI process.
- CELA is acting as a representative on behalf of community managed and small providers in the multi-employer bargaining negotiations. This means that community managed and small providers have a voice and a seat at the table throughout this process. This direct involvement continues our long-term advocacy for a truly valued and respected early childhood workforce.
- CELA will ensure services that have completed the expression of interest will receive regular updates as more details are available. We will also provide all the up-to-date information you will need to ensure your educators and teachers benefit from this historic commitment.
- CELA will also be offering direct support to members to access this historic funding.
What the announcement means
This announcement shows the Federal Government recognises the value of early educators and teachers to Australia’s families and communities.
"The Prime Minister’s announcement means early childhood services can now attract and keep the qualified staff they need, with a 15% pay increase funded by the Federal Government,” said CELA CEO Michele Carnegie. “Our sector has fought for years years to pay educators and teachers a professional wage. CELA and CCC saw the potential to finally solve our members’ workforce crisis through multi-employer bargaining. We have worked intensively across our sector and within the halls of Federal Parliament to make this a reality.”
Georgie Dent, CEO of The Parenthood, echoed this sentiment, calling the announcement "a tour de force" and "a hard-fought, wholly-deserving, nation-building leap forward that has been decades in the making." She highlighted the broad impact of this wage increase, noting that it will benefit not only educators but also communities, productivity, and the overall equity in society.
This commitment is a major step forward to addressing chronic workforce shortages in the early childhood sector by funding services to pay professional wages.
The increase would see a typical educator receive an initial pay rise of at least $103 per week, the award rate is currently $1,032.00 for a standard full-time week.
CELA extends its heartfelt thanks to the Prime Minister, the Treasurer, Minister Clare, and Minister Aly for their recognition of the vital contributions made by early educators and teachers. We also wish to express our deep gratitude to the MPs and Senators who have tirelessly championed the cause of CELA members within their communities.
A joyous day at CELA member Styles Street Community Long Daycare Centre
We were proud that the Prime Minister, Minister Clare and Minister Aly made this momentous announcement at a CELA member service that has been an integral part of their local community for 50 years.
Styles Street Children's Community Long Daycare Centre, a CELA member since 2008, is an Exceeding rated service located in Sydney’s inner western suburb Leichhardt.
"Styles Street epitomises the strength of community services—strong leadership, committed parent committee, and well qualified staff who deliver exceeding early education every day,” said CELA CEO Michele Carnegie. “Thank you Styles Street, you are a shining example of community managed early education that have risen to every change and challenge across the years with the needs of children and families at the centre of everything you do.”
Styles Street Director Radha Babicci expressed her great excitement about the announcement, acknowledging that after many years of advocating for a professional wage, the long-awaited increase was finally becoming a reality. She noted that while the pay increase was significant, what truly moved her was the shift in language surrounding their work—recognising their role in education and the importance and professionalism of the sector.
“I’ve often felt disheartened and undervalued when people refer to us as babysitters, merely a means to keep the economy running,” said Radha. “Hearing the Prime Minister, the Minister for Education, and the Minister for Early Childhood Education all speak with one voice, declaring that this is ‘education,’ that we ‘lift up children,’ and emphasising the value of quality early childhood education, made me feel truly appreciated and gave me renewed hope for our sector. It brings tears to my eyes even now when I think about it!”
Radha highlighted the importance of this shift, not just for retaining professionals in the sector by helping them feel more valued and ensuring a more liveable wage, but also for attracting and retaining new, high-quality educators and teachers. She told us that having been a director for more than 10 years, she’s never spent as much time on recruitment as she has in the last two years, and that they’ve had people leave because they simply can’t afford to live in Sydney on their current wage.
Radha expressed her heartfelt gratitude to Michele Carnegie and the CELA team for their tireless work and advocacy in achieving this outcome. “It all happened so quickly! I’m truly amazed and deeply grateful for everything they’ve done for us.”
Here is a quick recap on the process so far:
Further reading
For an excellent summary of the multi-employer bargaining process and how it fits in with other wage increases and policies for feminised, caring industries, read this article from The Conversation.
To find out more about how multi employer bargaining relates to the award wage, read our recent article on how multi-employer bargaining relates to the Award.