Amplify! Blog

We are incredibly excited about what recent announcements could mean for the future of our sector and for Australia’s children. However, if we don't start addressing the workforce challenges our sector is facing immediately, we run the risk of failing to meet the policy objectives of the historic early childhood education and care reforms.

“In order to secure the success of these new reforms, it’s vital that retention and recruitment strategies are implemented,” says Michele Carnegie, CELA CEO. “There are many and varied reasons that our workforce is in crisis, and while remuneration is one factor, there needs to be a broad range of strategies applied to start fixing the underlying causes now.” 

Read on to find out what our recent workforce survey revealed about the key issues being faced by our members and the urgent solutions we are advocating.

This week the NSW Government announced a series of landmark initiatives for our sector, including a year of universal pre-kindergarten for all children by 2030.  

Yesterday we spoke to Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell to find out how the initiatives came about, what they mean for the community sector, and what plans are in place to help solve the workforce crisis.  

Dominic Perrottet, Sarah Mitchell and Matt Kean have announced an investment in the 2022/23 NSW Budget of more than more than $5.8 billion over 10 years, to introduce universal pre-Kindergarten for all children in NSW by 2030.

Dominic Perrottet, Sarah Mitchell and Matt Kean have announced an investment of more than $1.4 billion over four years for the 2022-23 NSW Budget to ensure affordable preschool for all families. Plus, Dominic Perrottet, Sarah Mitchell, Matt Kean, Brad Hazzard, Victor Dominello, Natasha Mclaren-Jones have announced $376.5 million investment over four years in child development and family support as part of the 2022-23 NSW Budget.

Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in the curriculum is an important goal for many early years and OSHC services. Still, it can be challenging to know where to start.  

Elizabeth Akee and Rachel Foulstone of PCYC Barkly Hwy OSHC in Mount Isa Queensland share how they created a 12-month plan to embed local Indigenous perspectives into their program with input from cultural advisor Aunty Ros Von Senden.

Last week, Dr Anne Aly was appointed Minister for Early Childhood Education and Youth. 

Find out why Dr Aly has been described as "one of the jewels in prime minister Anthony Albanese's cabinet" and answer our workforce survey to inform our advocacy to the new Government. 

Have you ever considered joining an international organisation with a focus on advancing children’s rights?  

CELA recently spoke with Sandie Wong, President of OMEP Australia (a peak body that defends and promotes the rights of all children to access early childhood education) to find out what they are advocating for and how you can get involved. 

This morning, Australia has sworn in its 31st Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, our first Labor leader since 2013.

We take a look at what this could mean for our sector, what we are advocating for, and what can you do to help ensure that the new government puts education and care issues firmly on its list of priorities.  

The National Reconciliation Week 2022 theme Be Brave. Make Change is simple and to the point.  The theme asks us as individuals and as organisations to be bold and take brave actions in our daily lives to achieve reconciliation.  

But what does this exactly mean for educators? How can we take these four simple words and apply them meaningfully to our practice and our educational settings?