Targeting more men to work in the care sector is one proposal the board of treasurers’ has submitted to challenge gender stereotypes and address workforce shortages.
Comprised of all state treasurers, the board made a submission to Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ Employment White Paper, including a series of proposals for reduced barriers to childcare education, better wages and conditions in the care sector and more flexible paths to entry.
Among the ideas is a proposal to target mid-career men for retraining and upskilling in the care sector.
Building on the 2022 jobs and skills summit, Chalmers will release the more than 400 submissions on Saturday and said, “Our goal is to build a bigger, better-trained workforce, boost incomes and living standards and to create more opportunities for more people in more parts of Australia”.
Chalmers also said the feedback in the submissions would help shape the government’s policies and the white paper, which is due for release in September.
Thrive by Five’s Director Jay Weatherill applauds the submission’s proposal to increase men’s participation in the care workforce, saying it will likely have big impacts on addressing current shortages and increasing wages in the early childhood education and care sector.
“The early years of a child’s life are crucial for development and encouraging more men to take up roles with the early childhood education sector is a welcome move,” Weatherill said.
“Building a diverse ECEC workforce with more representation from men will also allow for children to benefit from male role models in the early years.”
Citing the latest Internet Vacancy Data from Jobs and Skills Australia, Thrive by Five notes that Australia is experiencing an unprecedented workforce shortage, with more than 4,277 new jobs vacancies across the ECEC sector.
“It’s vital that careers in the sector are made more attractive to people of all genders and existing employees are encouraged to remain in the early learning workforce,” said Weatherill.
“Demonstrating the commitment to addressing workforce challenges within care industries must also include action on funding wage increases and addressing unmanageable workloads.”