The federal Labor government says it is investing a further $3.6 billion over the next two years to lock in the historic 15 cent pay rise for early childhood educators.
Local MP Justine Elliot said in a statement that the “investment will be tied to a commitment from Child Care Centres to limit fee increases to make sure workers can be fairly paid without the costs being passed on to families”.
“When we invest in early education and when we invest in our early educators, we are investing in our children’s future”, she said.
“Every day on the North Coast early childhood educators do the important job of helping children learn, grow and get ready for school and we are locking in fairer pay for their work”.
“When combined with our support for minimum wage rises, this will mean $255 more per week for a typical full-time educator and $410 more per week for early childhood teachers, since the December 2024 pay rise.
“The Albanese Labor Government’s pay rise has worked to bolster our early educator workforce and keep costs down for North Coast families by limiting fee increases at childcare centres.
“Since we announced the pay rise, there are around 20,000 more Early Education and Care Workers, an 8 per cent increase and job vacancies have fallen 31 per cent.
“We’ve also introduced the 3 Day Guarantee to make sure every child who needs it is eligible for three days of subsidised early learning each week.
“This is a win for workers, a win for families and will help ease cost of living pressures on the North Coast,” Justine said.
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