EDUCATORS, FAMILIES AND CHILDREN TO BENEFIT FROM SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S NEW EARLY LEARNING WORKFORCE STRATEGY
21 June 2024 – Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five campaign has welcomed the South Australian Government’s new Early Childhood Workforce Strategy [1].
Minderoo’s Jay Weatherill said that the strategy would help ensure South Australia had a strong, resilient and well-supported early learning workforce, which will be integral to the implementation of the state’s bold new early learning reforms, including the planned rollout of universal three-year-old preschool.
“The South Australian Government has introduced many ambitious early learning reforms in the recent past and this strategy rightfully recognises that a well-supported workforce will be vital to their delivery,” Mr Weatherill said.
“No attempts at making early childhood education and care more accessible will be fruitful without a resilient workforce.
“By prioritising both attraction and retention, this strategy will help South Australia build a workforce ready to deliver high-quality early learning and care to children across the state.
“Encouraging students to pursue a career in the sector by providing them with financial support will help attract talent and enabling more career pathways for the existing workforce will help with retention,” Mr Weatherill said.
The Early Childhood Workforce Strategy was developed in consultation with several stakeholders across the sector, including members of the Thrive by Five South Australian Alliance.
Brad Chilcott, conveyor of the Thrive by Five South Australian Alliance said that the new strategy reflected vital feedback from across the sector and would help tackle key challenges.
“Over the past few years the early learning workforce across Australia, including in South Australia, has faced many growing challenges.
“This strategy takes many important steps to address a wide range of these challenges by providing vital financial and professional support to educators and those aspiring to join the sector,” Mr Chilcott said.
As a part of the strategy, the South Australian government will invest $96.6 million in several attraction and retention measures including:
- Delivering financial support of up to $25,000 to aspiring early education teachers and of up to $7,000 to people studying a diploma in early childhood education and care.
- Introducing new professional development pathways for the existing workforce, including additional career opportunities.
- Creating dedicated scholarships for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, to help strengthen the state’s Indigenous early learning workforce.
“It is also encouraging to see that the state government is taking steps to ensure that First Nations families and children can access culturally appropriate care.
“These reforms will benefit families and children by ensuring that they can access high-quality learning and care.
“We congratulate the South Australian Government on working towards developing a truly accessible and affordable early learning system in the state, one that recognises the vital role played by educators,” Mr Weatherill said.
