• Nearly 1.3 million Australian children are enrolled in approved child care services.1 While the provision of affordable ECEC is a ‘workforce issue’, enabling parents to work outside the home, it is also critically important for the development of children.
• When children are provided with high-quality early learning experiences in the first years of life, they experience a lasting impact across their lifespan. They also are more likely to transition more smoothly to school, stay engaged with education and experience improved social and emotional wellbeing in their adult life.2 Participation in high-quality early learning is particularly important for children who experience disadvantage.3
• Recent data shows that 96 per cent of early childhood educators are female, almost a third are aged 24 or less and about a quarter were born overseas. A sustainable, highly qualified and professional workforce such as that envisaged by the 2012 Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce Strategy would support the longer term development of the ECEC profession and assist in the retention of quality early childhood educators in the industry.
• The issue of equal pay in the sector also has implications for retention. The matter has been repeatedly before the Fair Work Commission, where it currently remains. Hearings have been characterised by problems in interpreting the equal remuneration provisions of the Fair Work Act and conducting gender aware job evaluations.