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.<\/p>\n
Ms Chesters dropped into Goodstart Early Learning Strathfieldsaye last week to update staff on the government’s plans, which were outlined in the budget.<\/p>\n
She said the multibillion-dollar commitment recognised the significant contribution of care workers to Australian society and the economy.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
“The provision in May’s budget towards a pay increase is a positive step towards recognising the work of early childhood educators.<\/p>\n
“This will help attract and retain educators, giving parents and families better access to early learning services.”<\/p>\n
According to Ms Chesters, providing fair pay in the sector would remove another barrier to women’s economic equality and workforce participation.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Further details of a wage increase will be finalised after the matter goes through the current Fair Work Commission investigation.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Those improvements may take as long as a year to flow through to pay packets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 […]<\/p>\n