TRANSCRIPT
A special visit for a childcare centre in Sydney's inner-west... as the Prime Minister announces a wage increase for childcare educators.
They are set to receive a 15 per cent pay rise staggered over two years, but on one condition - centres agree to not increase their fees by more than 4.4 per cent over the next year.
The announcement comes off the back of a federal budget promise in May.
“This 15% pay increase is justice. Justice for the work that early educators do, not just in minding our children, because that's not what they do. Yes, they mind them, but they care for them, and importantly, they educate them as well. Human brain development occurs more in the first five years than in the rest of people's lives, and that is why this is so important.”
It's an increase educators are calling vital - including Queensland early Childhood Educator and United Workers Union member Karen Moran.
“We welcome this decision by the Albanese Labor government today that's been 20 years in the making. Early childhood educators perform some of the most vital work in the country, but for so long they've been the most undervalued and underpaid. And this decision today will change people's lives. It means that early childhood educators who've been relying on food bank to feed their own families won't have to do that anymore. And those that work, two and three jobs just to make ends meet will be able to spend more time with their families.”
Childcare workers are set to receive an extra $103 a week from December, and then an additional $155 more per week from December 2025.
The Opposition say they support improved pay for childhood educators, but blame the Albanese government for rising inflation.
“You can't get a benefit as a worker if you've been given some money in one hand from Labor, but then the banks are just taking that and much, much more because your mortgage rates have gone up and your mortgage repayments have increased again this month. And it's not just mortgage payments that have increased under labor. When you go to the supermarket, you know that every time you put your card over or pay cash at the checkout, you're getting less and less for that money. And that's because inflation is such a big issue that Labor's created.”
But Minister for Early Childhood Education Anne Aly says it wasn't until this Labor government that childhood educators were listened to.
Minister Aly says she signed a pledge to support a pay rise for early childcare educators when she first joined parliament in 2016.
Now, that call has finally become a reality.
“We know that brain development is 90% of brain development occurs in those first five years. This is not babysitting. This is not wiping bums and noses. This is education. We see you, we hear you. We acknowledge you. We know the vital and professional work that you do in helping our youngest Australians to grow and to thrive.”
Education Minister Jason Clare echoed this praise.
“Our early educators deserve a gold medal. They also deserve a pay rise, and that's what this is about. Over the last year or so, we've cut the cost of childcare for more than a million Australian families, and this is the next step, supporting the people that make all of this possible. The people who lift our kids up by lifting their wages.”
The national body representing educators from non-government schools and childcare centres also welcomed the news.
New South Wales and ACT Secretary from the Independent Education Union of Australia, Carol Matthews, spoke to SBS.
“Look, we're pleased. Obviously, it's important that teachers in long daycare services get a pay rise. They're certainly being paid less than teachers in schools, and there's a real workforce shortage for that reason. So a 15% pay rise, even though it is staged in over a fairly long period, it is a really good step in the right direction.”
But she says there are a few questions to address - particularly around the government's cap on centre fee increases.
“We're pleased with the government's cap of 4.4% on fee rises in the next 12 months, but we want to make sure that the funding increase is actually passed on to teachers and educators. I'm sure that that's the government's intention. We understand that will be done through an enterprise agreement, which the unions have been seeking, and we think that'll be the mechanism for ensuring that the pay rises do go to the employees.”
Education Minister Jason Clare says to ensure the 15 per cent increase gets into the hands of educators, centres will need a registered industrial agreement with the Fair Work Commission and there will be a legally enforceable agreement with the Department of Education and providers to ensure they abide the 4.4% cap.
The Prime Minister insists the centre fee cap will ensure these measures also benefit families amid a cost of living crisis.
“Part of the condition of this will be a tap on fee increases, making sure that this delivers benefits for families on top of the increase in the childcare subsidy that we did last year. So that's why this is good for children, good for workers, and good for families, as well as being good for our economy.”
Owner of childcare centre Toot Toot, Pallavee Joshi [[pal-ah-vee josh-ee]], told SBS she welcomes the pay increase for workers, and says she supports the 4.4 per cent fee increase cap as a means of retaining valuable and experienced educators.
“By capping the fee rise to 4.4%, I think the benefits will go to who it's meant to go to, which is childcare educators. I mean, especially post COVID, finding good staff in the childcare sector has been a nightmare, and retaining them is even harder because this is an industry mostly dominated by female workers, and it's hard because with less pay, there is no incentive.”
As a heavily female-dominated sector, CEO of The Parenthood Georgie Dent says the pay rise is an historic moment decades in the making.
“Things that the members of the Parenthood community, parents and carers know is that the work that early childhood educators do is incredibly valuable. It is not just babysitting. It is fundamental to supporting the education and development of children, and it is so thrilling for that to be recognized in a really meaningful way.”
A first step in a fight for greater recognition for early educators.
