VECTEA 2024

The Victorian Early Childhood Teachers and Educators Agreement (VECTEA) is an enterprise agreement that applies to early childhood teachers and educators employed in kindergarten education programs in Victoria.

There are many benefits to being a VECTEA employer signatory, including:

• Significant time, administrative, and legal expense savings with not having to negotiate an individual employer agreement.
• Providing a simple, clear agreement for your staff that is consistently applied across almost all other Victorian community/not-for-profit sessional kindergarten services.
• Supporting a contemporary award that expresses the commitment of both employers and employees to delivering high-quality early education programs across different settings.

The most recent version of the VECTEA, the VECTEA 2020, is up for re-negotiation in 2024.

The VECTEA has delivered significantly improved pay and conditions for teachers compared to teachers on the industry (modern) award, enabling kindergartens to retain their superior quality ratings.​

Some of the beneficial employment conditions of the VECTEA 2020 for teachers and educators include:​

• extended planning time to support quality programming ​ (30 minutes per teaching hour for early childhood teachers (ECT) and 15 minutes per teaching hour for educators)
• 10 weeks of paid annual leave (term break leave)
• 16 weeks of employer-paid parental leave for primary caregivers​
• 20 days of paid family and domestic violence leave​
• 15 days (pro-rata) of paid personal/carers’ leave each year​
• graduate teacher mentoring leave ​
• a government-funded Wellbeing Support Program (EAP).

Both enterprise agreements and awards are referred to as industrial instruments. Industrial instruments are legally binding documents that specify the terms and conditions of employment, including the minimum pay and obligations of employers.

Enterprise agreements

Enterprise agreements (previously referred to as enterprise bargaining agreements or EBA) are written employment agreements between employers (or a group of employers) and employees and their unions.

An enterprise agreement sets out the minimum terms and conditions of employment, including wages, for employees for a set period of up to four years. If an agreement applies to an employee, the modern award does not apply even if it covers them. An enterprise agreement may also have some terms and conditions that are different from the award.

An enterprise agreement must meet several requirements under the Fair Work Act before the Fair Work Commission can approve it. The terms and conditions of an enterprise agreement must have terms and conditions that are better off overall than the equivalent modern award and must not exclude any of the National Employment Standards.

The Victorian Early Childhood Teachers and Educators Agreement (VECTEA) is an enterprise agreement that covers common-interest employers who agree to bargain together.

Modern awards

A modern award (an award) is a document that sets out the minimum terms and conditions of employment on top of the National Employment Standards (NES) in the Fair Work Act. Employees in early childhood education and care services not covered by the VECTEA, will usually be employed in accordance with the relevant industry and occupational awards.

A contract of employment is only a part of the employment law framework in Australia, referred to as the national workplace relations system. The national workplace relations system includes the Fair Work Act 2009, the National Employment Standards, registered agreements and awards.

An employment contract cannot legally displace award or agreement terms and conditions, so if an award or agreement applies, it forms the employment contract background.

Both enterprise agreements (registered agreements) and awards are industrial instruments. Industrial instruments are legally binding industrial documents that specify the terms and conditions of employment, including the minimum pay and obligations of employers.

A simplified relationship between industrial instruments (awards/agreements), employment contracts and workplace relations legislation is detailed below.

As we have done for over 20 years, Early Learning Association Australia (ELAA), in our role as the Peak Body and employer representative, will be entering into negotiations with the relevant sector unions for a new agreement.  

ELAA is committed to negotiating a new agreement that meets the growing policy needs of Governments that are now recognising the value of high-quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC).   

The Victorian Early Childhood Teachers and Educators Agreement 2020 (VECTEA) and the agreements that mirror its terms and conditions reach their nominal expiry date on 30 September 2024.

The VECTEA 2020 will continue to operate past its nominal expiry date until its replacement agreement, the VECTEA 2024, is finalised and approved by the Fair Work Commission.

This proposed agreement will cover your education team, including nominated supervisors, educational leaders, early childhood teachers, and certificate III qualified (including Additional Assistants) and diploma-qualified educators who work to support the delivery of kindergarten programs including sessional kindergarten programs and kindergarten programs within integrated long day care services,.

During the negotiation period, the existing agreements, VECTEA 2020 and its ‘mirror’ agreements, VECA 2021, VEEA 2021, and VOTTEA 2023, will remain in effect.

Once the Fair Work Commission approves the new VECTEA 2024, which will include any new salaries and conditions, these agreements will be replaced by the new VECTEA 2024.

All employees who will be covered by the new VECTEA 2024, will have the opportunity to vote before the new agreement is approved.

The last scheduled salary increase under VECTEA 2020, along with its corresponding agreements, was in April 2024. During the re-negotiation period, current salaries established under VECTEA 2020 will continue to be in effect.

Future salary increases under a new VECTEA 2024 will take effect once the Fair Work Commission approves the new agreement.

ELAA will continue to release Wage Bulletins every July for the VECTEA 2020. During this period, salaries of certain VECTEA classifications may be updated in accordance with increases to the underpinning modern awards. However, this does not apply to all VECTEA classifications.

ELAA Members can access the ELAA Wage Bulletins on the ELAA website’s MyMembership portal here (a member login is required). 

ELAA has been the employer representative body for the VECTEA (and its predecessor agreements) for over twenty years. We want to ensure that our members continue delivering high-quality education and care, are financially sustainable, and are building capacity and capability with resourced solutions.​

Resourcing for the VECTEA is complex and involves:​

• industrial relations expertise and advisory support​
• Fair Work Commission applications and representation ​
• development of tailored implementation resources and guides​
• engagement of a law firm for strategic expertise.

The VECTEA 2024 Signatory Benefits Package offered ELAA members a unique four-year opportunity to join VECTEA 2024. This one-time offer was open to single-site and multi-site providers in November 2023. It was available to both single-site providers and early years managers, with a one-time sign-up available in November 2023.  ​

As an ELAA member with the VECTEA Signatory Benefits Package, you’ll enjoy a range of exclusive benefits:-

• Confirm your place as a VECTEA 2024 employer signatory
• Receive an annual subscription to the IR Advisory Subscription for tailored HR/IR phone and email support as you need it
• Access VECTEA training for your People and Culture teams (available for multi-site providers only)
• Get nominated to the Industrial Relations Reference Group (EYM and multi-site providers only)
• Benefit from employment contract template reviews (ELAA contract templates only)
• Access comprehensive VECTEA implementation and support resources

The VECTEA 2024 Signatory Benefits Package offered ELAA members a one-time, unique, four-year opportunity to join the VECTEA 2024 agreement. 

The VECTEA Signatory Benefits Package package is a required four-year subscription until 30 June 2027 (financial year 26/27), and it is paid in annual instalments during your membership renewal.

This means that ELAA members who sign up for the VECTEA 2024 must pay an annual fee to retain the benefits of their VECTEA signatory package. The annual VECTEA benefits package fee includes ELAA membership and other ELAA subscriptions or packages.

The fee structure is as follows:

• Year 1 (pro-rata): VECTEA 2024 sign-up application (November 2023)
• Year 2: 2024 membership renewal (June 2024)
• Year 3: 2025 membership renewal (June 2025)
• Year 4: 2026 membership renewal (June 2026)

Only centre-based Approved Services located in Victoria will be covered by the VECTEA 2024. Your annual VECTEA Signatory Package fee will be calculated each financial year based on this number (capped at six sites for multi-site providers).

As an ELAA member, you can receive regular VECTEA updates through our weekly ELAAvate e-newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here.

Further, when you renew your membership this year, we will also ask you to nominate a VECTEA 2024 contact who will receive important VECTEA-related correspondence via email. 

We value our members’ input and would like to involve members in the bargaining process. During this period, we will engage and consult with ELAA members in our Industrial Relations Reference Group and relevant subcommittees. 

ELAA members can contact Member Solutions at (03) 9489 3500 (Press 2) between 10 am – 3 pm, Monday to Friday) or email us at membersolutions@elaa.org.au.

If you are an employee who is a member of a union, you can contact the following for further information:

Australian Education Union (AEU) – Victorian Branch

United Workers Union

Employees may also contact the Fair Work Ombudsman for further information at: Contact us – Fair Work Ombudsman.