“The commitment to a universal system that is affordable for everyone is fantastic,that’s a great aspiration. But how we actually deliver that is going to take a bit of working through,” she said.
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“At the moment,[workforce shortages are] a massive brake on the system ... We’ve got services,closing rooms,capping numbers,not being able to give families extra days because they simply don’t have the workforce to deliver the amount of services that they’re already licensed to deliver.”
There are about 6500 job vacancies across childcare now – more than double the usual in pre-pandemic times. The crisis is showing up in an increase in the number of centres with waivers because they don’t have enough qualified teachers.
Childcare workers across the country are planningto strike in September over pay and conditions.
John Cherry,advocacy manager for Goodstart,the largest non-profit childcare provider,said many educators leaving the sector were citing burnout,along with the need for better pay and professional recognition.
“At the moment,it’s being exacerbated by workforce shortages,which means that people are working really hard,often they’re not getting the time off the floor they need to recharge,do the programming,all those sorts of things because the backfill just isn’t available,” he said.
Loble says the three prongs of affordability for parents,increasing supply and workforce must be addressed together. But she also says none of these are insurmountable.
Starting Now offers solutions;including bringing forward the subsidy boost to early 2023,getting the consumer watchdog to start monitoring fees,prioritising early childhood educators for free TAFE courses,and prioritising ways to lift pay in the sector as part of the upcoming jobs and skills summit.
Page wants to see the capped hourly rate,on which fee subsidies are based,lifted significantly with the condition the increase flows into wages. She points out the plan to increase the proportion of fees the government subsidises will make care cheaper for parents but not lead to any more money going to providers.
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Cherry made a similar suggestion,saying while Goodstart has improved the wages and conditions it offers,there’s a limit to how much extra parents can pay to cover this.
“What we need,is more government investment in the sector so that we can match the government-funded wages in the public school system,” he said.
Early Childhood Education Minister Anne Aly said the government was committed to addressing the issues.
Work is already under way to task the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to examine fees in the sector,the workforce issues would be a focus at the jobs summit,and early childhood qualifications would be part of free TAFE offerings and expanded university places,she said.
“Our early childhood educators deserve to be recognised and valued consistent with their critical role,” Aly said.
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