15 SepWork and Care Submission to Senate
Recently, ELAA joined Community Child Care Association (CCC) and Community Early Learning Australia (CELA) in creating a submission for the Senate Select Commitee on Work and Care, which was established to inquire into the impact that combining work and care responsibilities has on the wellbeing of workers, carers, and those they care for.
The key Terms of Reference that we collaboratively identified focused on workforce demographics, the distribution of care services, the impact of COVID, and the wellbeing of both staff and students.
We found that areas of concern in the sector included workforce shortages, low employee wellbeing, low retention of teachers and educators and student enrolments, unequally distributed services, and low accessibility to care and education for some children.
Recommendations included:
- a wage subsidy increase of up to 15% per hour for educators and teachers while establishing a review of awards by the Fair Work Commission,
- supporting overseas qualified skilled educators and teachers to access Australian workplaces
- supporting students entering the sector
- increasing support and accessibility for children through additional funding to the Inclusion Support Program
- rectifying childcare deserts in rural, regional and low socio-economic areas
- retaining ratios and educator quality
- Supporting a diverse workforce, including addressing the underrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees.
Our submission can be read in full HERE .
