Childcarers pay hike explained

FEDERAL Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters has spread the message of a forthcoming pay rise for early childhood education and care workers during a visit to a local facility.

Ms Chesters dropped into Goodstart Early Learning Strathfieldsaye last week to update staff on the government’s plans, which were outlined in the budget.

She said the multibillion-dollar commitment recognised the significant contribution of care workers to Australian society and the economy.

“Our early childhood education and care workforce, which is made up of 90 per cent women, has been underpaid and undervalued for too long,” Ms Chesters said.

“The provision in May’s budget towards a pay increase is a positive step towards recognising the work of early childhood educators.

“This will help attract and retain educators, giving parents and families better access to early learning services.”

According to Ms Chesters, providing fair pay in the sector would remove another barrier to women’s economic equality and workforce participation.

She said the move also supported the government’s ambition of universal access to affordable, quality early childhood education and care for parents and families.

Ms Chesters said a commitment to funding a wage increase was “long overdue” and would go some way to addressing workforce shortages affecting the care sector.

Further details of a wage increase will be finalised after the matter goes through the current Fair Work Commission investigation.

The commission has already boosted the wages of workers on awards by 3.75 per cent, with that increase to apply to pay packets from next month for the one-fifth of Australian workers on centrally-determined awards.

But expected to receive extra increases are early childhood education and care workers, disability home-care workers and social and community services workers, dental assistants, medical technicians, pharmacists, psychologists and other health professionals.

Those improvements may take as long as a year to flow through to pay packets.