From David Smith MP - September/October eNews

Our early educators do such an important job and it’s great to be part of a government that has delivered pay increases for our early educators across the country.

The Albanese Government has taken another step to ensure our early educators are paid fairly for the vital work they do with our children. Every day early educators help children learn, grow and get ready for school.

The Albanese Labor Government has introduced legislation to lock in our 15 per cent pay rise for early educators, while strengthening safety requirements for services.

When combined with our support for minimum wage rises, this will mean $255 more per week for a typical full-time educator and $410 more per week for early childhood teachers, compared to before the program started. Over 80 per cent of eligible services are now receiving the payment.

Since the pay rise was announced, there are now 20,000 more early educators, and job vacancies have decreased by over 31 per cent.

This funding will continue to be tied to a commitment from services receiving the payment to limit fee increases for parents. We are making sure workers can be fairly paid without the costs being passed on to families. Since we announced the pay rise, fees at centres receiving the payment have grown at around half the rate of centres that don’t.

Going forward, the average family will save about $1,500 over the next two years.

That is a good result for carers and families.