When the Federal Budget was handed down in May, Gemma watched on in the Parliament Gallery. A much-needed pay rise was on the horizon, and a lot of hard work lay ahead.
Now, that pay rise is here, with our Government announcing a 15 per cent wage increase for early childhood educators, including for Gemma, a centre director, early childhood educator and proud campaigner who helped drive this historic outcome.
Over her career, Gemma has watched educator after educator walk out the door, unable to live on the low wages they’re earning. Now, Gemma is celebrating the difference this wage increase will make.
“It’s a remarkable step forward,” she says.
The wage rise means about $100 more in weekly pay packets. And it means so much more than that.
“It’s about being recognized, valued and needed,” explains Brenda, another educator.
Providing the best start in life
For too long, early childhood educators have been treated as little more than babysitters. But early childhood education plays a critical role in the development of our littlest Australians.
By the time they reach age 5, children have experienced around 90 per cent of their brain development, well before they set foot in primary school. Quality early childhood education makes all the difference, with impacts that last a lifetime. This overwhelmingly female workforce gives generations of Australians the best start. They are not babysitters. They are not childcare workers. They are highly skilled and dedicated educators.
That’s why just a thank you doesn’t cut it.
Love isn’t enough
Our educators have been called on to do this work for too little pay, on the basis that they love their jobs. But they know love doesn’t pay the bills.
Too many educators across Australia have made the heart-breaking decision to leave their careers, taking invaluable skills and passion with them. Time and again they’ve told me they simply can’t afford to stay.
Those educators who do remain battle the additional strain of workforce shortages. Not to mention the stress created for families, with high staff turnover making it difficult for children to build a relationship with their educators.
When you’re being pushed to your professional limits, loving what you do just isn’t enough. It’s time educators are valued in their pay packets. And our pay rise will do just that.
Years in the making
Educators have taken to the streets, walked the halls of Parliament and exhausted every avenue to be recognized for what they do. It took a long and hard-fought campaign to be taken seriously, a familiar story for many advocates for equality.
Before joining the Senate, I represented this workforce, and I know firsthand how much these educators have given to get here. Advocates like Gemma dedicated their time, determination, and voice to demand the pay they deserve. Often at the expense of being with their own loved ones, while they campaigned to ensure they could sustainably care for ours.
Barriers in our industrial relations system prevented educators and employers from coming together to bargain. We cleared the path with our Secure Jobs Better Pay Bill, and now educators are making history, bargaining across the sector for the first time. They have backing from this Government, and communities across the nation who want a better deal for the workforce educating their children.
Greater economic security
Last year, we delivered a historic 15% pay rise to our aged care workforce. A pay rise also advocated for by an overwhelmingly female, and undervalued, workforce. Combined with this pay rise for early childhood educators, over half a million Australian women are now on the path to greater economic security.
As the first ever gender equal Federal Government, this is the type of reform we’re proud to deliver. It values a previously invisible feminised sector and delivers for Australian parents too. With educators properly paid and valued, more will stay in the jobs they love.
That means a strengthened early childhood education system, and parents who can work knowing their children are getting the best start possible. Brenda knows this firsthand, as a parent who became an educator as her second career.
“Before I became an educator, my husband and I worked in offices. If we didn’t have early childhood education, we wouldn’t have had careers to provide for our family.”
Our educator pay rise boosts women’s economic security. It boosts women’s workforce participation. And it boosts our nation’s economy.
This pay rise is a testament to generations of educators who demanded to be seen, heard and valued. And as Gemma said to me today, this is for the next generation of early childhood educators too.
Image: Early childhood educator, Gemma.