BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE

SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

Well, it’s official! 

Early educators have won the right to bargain together and negotiate a substantial wage increase. 

This is big news, because not only are they the first applicants to be granted supported bargaining authorisation by the Fair Work Commission, but this formal go-ahead means that 64 employers and 12,000 educators can now bargain together to raise the bar (and hopefully, incomes) in early education. 

There are hopes that Multi-Employer Bargaining will lead to a really substantial pay rise for our amazing educators – with an increase of 25% on the wish list. 

However, this kind of wage negotiation couldn’t happen before the Fair Work Commission gave supported bargaining authorisation to the United Workers Union, Australian Education Union and Independent Education Union, and their joint representatives – the Australian Childcare Alliance, Community Early Learning Australia, Community Child Care Association and leading childcare provider, G8 Education. 

As we reported back in June, these unions and their joint representatives have come together because they recognise that a collaborative approach is needed to find a better solution for our hard-working educators.  

These early learning professionals need to be recompensed fairly for the huge commitment they make to children’s education and care, and it’s acknowledged that something drastic must be done to attract and retain more quality staff in a sector that’s struggling with chronic workforce shortages.  

Of course, the federal government needs to be a key player in any negotiations. 

They hold the purse-strings when it comes to childcare funding, and now that Multi-Employer Bargaining authorisation has been granted, the United Workers Union will waste no time in getting the federal government involved. 

Helen Gibbons, Early Education Director at the United Workers Union says, “The UWU intends to call on the federal government, as the funder of the sector, to come to the bargaining table and come prepared to fund a real wage increase. 

“The Prime Minister and Industrial Relations Minister told early educators late last year to use the new laws in the Better Jobs, Better Pay legislation to set up tripartite negotiations and win better wages. We’ve got the ball rolling and now we expect to see federal government representatives bright eyed and bushy tailed at the bargaining table as soon as possible. 

She says, “There is a crisis in early education. A crisis that sees children being turned away, staff shortages across the country and educators burning out. The only way to turn this sector around is to start to pay educators what they are worth.” 

Here at KindiCare, we look forward to seeing where a collaborative approach will take early educators’ wages to encourage greater participation in the early learning sector.  

KindiCare’s Founder and CEO, Benjamin Balk says, “Despite many early learning providers nationally paying above award wages to attract and retain staff, wages are still not at a level that recognises the importance and tireless efforts of early childhood educators.

"These people are critical in the growth and development of our children in their crucial first five years, and the right to Multi-Employer Bargaining will open the door to real wage increases that recognise the value of early childhood educators and teachers in our society.” 

Mr Balk explains that, “We’ve seen successive governments focus on childcare subsidies to address affordability and accessibility for families with young children, but not enough has been done to make the early learning sector an attractive and viable long-term career option for most educators.  

“More than 18% of long day care services are currently operating with a staff waiver due to a shortage of qualified staff. Addressing wages in the sector is critical to addressing both the current workforce shortage and ensuring a stable long-term qualified workforce for the sector.”

Mr Balk believes that early learning educators and teachers absolutely deserve a wage rise that reflects their importance in our community. However, he cautions that with wages making up the biggest cost in operating early learning services, without government intervention, the cost of any substantial wage increase would be reflected in fee increases, with these already running higher than inflation. 

Everyone is being affected by the rising cost of living, and Mr Balk says, “An honest and open dialogue and collaboration between for-profit and not-for-profit early learning operators, federal and state governments and the unions will be critical in delivering a wage increase and a solution that works for parents, providers and educators.  

“To achieve this, we have to be realistic that both state and federal governments will likely need to stump up direct wage subsidies, as well as amending the Child Care Subsidy hourly rate cap, to ensure the sector remains viable for early learning providers and affordable and accessible for families.”  

Mr Balk notes that, “Both the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and the Productivity Commission are currently undertaking separate inquiries into the market for the supply of childcare services, with the ACCC’s second interim report due out in the coming days.  

“Both of these inquiries should provide all stakeholders with concrete data to use as the basis of a wage review, as well as guiding solutions as to how to fund any step-change in sector wages.” 

Stay tuned!