Childcare centres are facing a staffing crisis and the federal government is being asked to put almost $1 billion a year into the sector to fund pay rises to help attract more educators.
More than one in eight childcare centres now have waivers from the sector’s quality regulator to allow them to operate for at least 12 months without meeting legal staffing requirements.
Nicola Forrest, co-chair of the Minderoo Foundation, is calling for childcare educators to receive a 10 per cent pay rise.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The problem is worst in South Australia, where almost 22 per cent of services have a staffing waiver in place, data from the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority shows.
In NSW, nearly 16 per cent of services have a waiver, while Victorian centres are doing the best in the country with just 3 per cent needing staffing waivers.
The proportion of services with a staffing waiver has risen significantly since the pandemic started.
A workforce strategy released by ACECQA last September noted attracting and keeping a high-quality workforce was a significant and increasing challenge for the sector.
Thrive by Five, an offshoot of Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation, wants the federal government to fund a 10 per cent pay rise for the sector to help address this urgently.
“The workforce crisis in the [early childhood education and care] sector is now so acute that the Commonwealth government must take immediate action to prevent current workers from leaving the sector,” it says in a budget submission.
The advocacy group says a wage supplement for education would be the most effective way to do this, funded through the existing childcare subsidy that goes to centres.
It estimates this would cost between $900 million and $1.6 billion a year, depending on the number of educators and their qualifications.
“Educators are leaving the sector they love every day because they can’t afford to live on the absurdly low wages they are paid.”
The ACECQA workforce strategy says governments and the sector should investigate options to improve pay and conditions within the next three years, although it doesn’t suggest how much the boost should be.
Thrive by Five chief executive Jay Weatherill said workforce shortages were affecting the availability and quality of care available to children and parents.
“Omicron has exposed existing pressures in the early learning system and long-term workforce shortages, with furloughed staff driving room closures and now shortages in key team leadership positions,” he said.
“There is a workforce crisis in the early childhood education and care sector, with thousands of job vacancies, high staff turnover and inadequate pay and conditions for educators.”
The United Workers Union, which represents childcare staff, said it was important to address the systemic problem of low pay, not just turn to band-aid solutions.
“Educators are leaving the sector they love every day because they can’t afford to live on the absurdly low wages they are paid,” the union’s early education director Helen Gibbons said.
“The federal government must act before families and children start losing access to crucial early learning services. It’s time to finally recognise and value educators with the real wages they deserve, and create a sustainable early learning sector.”
Thrive by Five is one of several groups aiming to make childcare and early education a campaign during the coming federal election, along with The Parenthood and the Front Project.
Last week, Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds said the government needed to elevate children’s wellbeing in its policymaking priorities to ensure Australia was set up for the best possible future.
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