Excerpt
The Albanese government will fund a 15% pay increase for early childhood educators - tying it to centres agreeing to not increase their fees by more than 4.4% over the next year.
The pay rise will be phased in over two years, with a 10% increase from December and a further 5% from December 2025.
A typical worker paid at the award rate would receive $103 a week increasing to at least $155 a week from December 2025.
The cost of the move is $3.6 billion.
The May budget provided for funding higher childcare wages, although the government gave no details at the time.
The Productivity Commission, in an interim report into early childhood education and care, pointed to better wages and conditions as a key way to address workforce shortages in the sector. The government has the commission’s final report but has not yet released it.
The government said in a statement that it was providing the interim retention payment for two years “while the Fair Work Commission finalises its gender undervaluation priority awards review and as the government charts a path towards a universal childcare system”.
The Fair Work Commission began proceedings to investigate the historic undervaluation of early childhood education and care work, disability home care work, and other social and community services workers shortly after delivering its national wage case decision in the middle of the year.
It undertook to complete the review in time for next year’s wage case, to apply from the middle of next year.
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