Early childhood educators across Australia are taking home a full 15 per cent pay rise, with the final 5 per cent boost flowing into wages today under the Albanese government’s $3.6 billion workforce investment.
The increase means an extra $160 a week for educators, with Education Minister Jason Clare saying the package ensures “early educators deserve to be paid fairly” for the essential work they do. Combined with recent minimum wage adjustments, the government says full-time early childhood educators are now earning about $200 more each week compared with a year ago, while early childhood teachers are up by roughly $316 a week.
The government argues the wage lift is already reshaping the sector, long plagued by vacancies, burnout and high turnover. Since the first 10 per cent rise landed last December, the educator workforce has grown by 6 per cent — an additional 15,100 people between August 2024 and August 2025. Over the same period, vacancy rates have fallen 14 per cent and staffing waivers dropped 9 per cent. Major provider Goodstart has reported a 5 per cent reduction in casual staff use and a dramatic 70 per cent fall in labour-hire reliance.
Mr Clare said the turnaround is evidence the policy is working. “Caring for and teaching kids is some of the most important work in the country… We know the pay rise is working to bring more people into the sector and help to keep the great educators we’ve already got.”
Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth said the increase reflects the government’s broader agenda to lift wages. “ECEC workers deserve to be fairly paid and feel properly valued. That’s why our Albanese Labor government has delivered this much-needed pay rise,” she said, adding that multi-employer bargaining reforms were “critical” in securing the agreements covering thousands of educators.
Rishworth also criticised the opposition, saying Sussan Ley must clarify whether she plans to “get stuck into cutting pay for educators like these”.
Early Childhood Education Minister Jess Walsh said the pay lift is reversing years of undervaluation. “For too long, our early childhood educators were underpaid, undervalued and overlooked — and as a result, they were walking out the door,” she said. “With the Albanese Labor Government’s 15 per cent pay rise, we’re seeing that turn around. This helps create a long-term stable workforce, and that strengthens the whole sector.”
To keep pressure off families, eligibility for the Worker Retention Payment is tied to limits on fee increases, effectively linking wage support with affordability measures.
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