Guidelines to Support ECEC Pay Rise
The government has released more detail about the worker retention payment, and applications for this grant open soon!
BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE
Back in August, the government announced a 15% wage increase over two years for early childhood education and care workers.
This wage rise will be supported by a worker retention payment that individual ECEC providers need to apply for, and although more detail has emerged since the payment was first announced, it’s great to see comprehensive grant guidelines being released by the government.
These guidelines are available on GrantConnect, and they explain important details about the worker retention payment, including:
- Eligibility requirements
- Grant conditions, and
- Reporting requirements
ECEC providers need to be on top of these guidelines before applying for the payment, and the government is hosting a webinar on Thursday, 10 October 2024 at 2pm (AEDT) to help providers get up to speed on the payment.
This webinar will be recorded and published online for later reference, and all the new information is very welcome, especially with the government announcing that grant applications open next week.
This webpage explains how providers will apply for the worker retention payment when the time comes, and although the first ECEC wage increase (of 10%) will take effect on 2 December 2024, the government does understand that meeting some grant conditions will take time.
For this reason, they will backdate payments to 2 December 2024 if a provider applies by 30 June 2025, and you can work through all the key information here.