Greater support for early educators and closer State-Federal coordination vital for reform of early learning
31 July 2022 – A new briefing paper by the Centre for Policy Development has recommended urgent action on workforce planning to help maximise the more than $23.3 billion in new investment recently announced in early childhood education and care by the Commonwealth, NSW and Victorian governments.
The paper recommends making early childhood education a priority at the upcoming national jobs and skills summit and opening up a tri-partite dialogue between unions, employers and government on the early learning skills shortage.
Thrive by Five Director Jay Weatherill said, “We have experienced unprecedented momentum with significant state and federal investment in the early childhood education and care system.
“The recent announcement of free preschool for all four-year-olds in NSW and Victoria and expansion of the Federal childcare subsidy scheme will be lifechanging for children, parents and families.
“However, the full advantage of this multi-billion dollar investment towards a universal early childhood system will only be realised if there’s qualified and supported workforce to deliver high-quality early learning and improvement in State-Federal cooperation.
“We need greater respect for early educators, free tertiary education opportunities for new and existing early educators, greater workforce planning and improved pay and conditions,” he said.
Centre for Policy Development’s Starting Now briefing paper available here:
https://cpd.org.au/2022/07/
