Australia’s early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector needs many more qualified early childhood educators, says Jobs and Skills Australia Commissioner, Professor Barney Glover AO.
In launching Jobs and Skills Australia’s early childhood education and care study today, Professor Glover shared the key findings of the report.
“Australia needs 21,000 more qualified ECEC professionals to meet current demand,” said Professor Glover.
“That number only increases when looking at what we’ll need in the future.”
“Current workforce levels are not sustainable. We need growth of 8 per cent to meet sustainable staffing levels, and another 8 per cent growth to meet unmet demand for services,” said Professor Glover.
“Anyone counselling young people on their career choices should be aware of this,” he said.
“There are fulfilling and rewarding jobs available now in ECEC and there will be even more in the future.”
The study is a comprehensive overview of the sector, detailing 28 key findings and making 41 recommendations.
JSA’s recommendations are based on detailed workforce modelling and extensive stakeholder engagement, and aim to address current challenges and build strong foundations for rewarding ECEC careers.
The study provides critical evidence, insights, and makes recommendations to support current and future workforce planning. This includes a detailed understanding of the current state and future needs of the sector’s workforce to support the development of Government strategy and vision on early years education and care of Australia’s children. It focuses on ECEC workforce and skills issues, particularly attraction and retention, to complement the broader scope of the other inquiries.
Of note, the study found there was a greater need for early childhood education to serve diverse families and their communities, including culturally and linguistically diverse communities in regional and remote areas, for neurodiverse children and those with disabilities.
The study noted First Nations leadership of education and training providers had been shown to make a significant difference to access and success of First Nations students.
The full report is available at the JSA website.
