Free RATs for Vic kinder kids make sense

The announcement today by Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews, of free at home, Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) to be available to all children aged three to five attending Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services makes a lot of sense.  (more…)

Ongoing preschool funding for Victoria welcomed

Early Learning Association Australia (ELAA) welcomes the announcement of the signing of the preschool funding agreement between Victoria and the Commonwealth.
The new four-year funding agreement, which provides up to $514 million in Commonwealth funding from 2022 to 2025, will benefit up to 330,000 Victorian children in four-year-old kindergarten. (more…)

A welcome investment in Victoria’s Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce

Early Learning Association Australia (ELAA) welcomes the Victorian Government’s announcement of its Next Steps in Victoria’s Kindergarten Workforce Strategy .

The strategy responds to an urgent need for action to address workforce issues, as highlighted in ELAA’s jointly authored report Investing in our future: Growing the education and care workforce. (more…)

Staffing and skills crisis looms for Australian early education and care

A recent study by three leading education and care peak bodies has revealed that Australian education and care services reported over 4,500 vacancies had been advertised in the first six months of 2021. Nearly half of all job vacancies in education and care settings remained unfilled in early 2021. Poor pay and conditions, and lack of qualified applicants were key reasons for these shortages. (more…)

ELAA Welcomes mandatory vax announcement for Vic early childhood workers

Early Learning Association of Australia (ELAA) welcomes today’s announcement by the Victorian Chief Health Officer that vaccination against COVID-19 will be a requirement for Victoria’s Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) workforce. (more…)

ELAA urges mandatory vaccines for the Early Childhood Education and Care workforce

Early Learning Association of Australia (ELAA) is urging the Victorian Chief Health Officer to introduce mandatory vaccination of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) workforce. (more…)

New Vic agreement a big step forward for the community early learning sector

ELAA welcomes the approval of the Victorian Early Childhood Teachers and Educators Agreement (VECTEA) 2020. This agreement brings Victorian community early childhood teachers and educators significantly closer to the wages and conditions of their primary school counterparts. (more…)

Vic Budget delivers more good news for early childhood sector

In the wake of last week’s Federal Budget, today’s Victorian State Budget brings further good news for the Early Childhood Education and Care sector. The Andrew’s Government has pledged in excess of $407 million in further investment for our sector over the next four years in the form of seven key initiatives. (more…)

21/22 Federal Budget – A four-year commitment to kindergarten funding is a great stride forward

“After years of advocacy by ELAA and other Early Childhood Education and Care peak bodies, it’s very encouraging that our collective advice to government, based on Australian and International research, appears to have been heard. Our message to government has always been that longer-term funding will give greater certainty to service providers and families,” said ELAA CEO, David Worland.

CLICK TO READ THE FULL MEDIA RELEASE

20/21 Vic Budget keeps up the pace on kindergarten reform

Yesterday’s Victorian 20/21 Budget, reflected a continued commitment to what is most certainly the biggest Government investment in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Sector in our State’s history. Read our full media release (more…)