Labor commits to 20 per cent increase in educator wages over next 8 years

The Australian Labor Party (ALP) has re-confirmed their commitment to resolving the long standing issue of low early childhood education and care wages with an announcement that they will, if elected, seek to fund educator pay increases equal to $11,300 over the next eight years which is roughly equivalent to a 20 per cent increase over the period.

Making the announcement at a campaign rally in the marginal seat of Chisholm in Melbourne, party leader Bill Shorten stated that the policy will boost the attractiveness of the sector to passionate and dedicated individuals coming into the profession and that wage increases “will go into the pockets of educators without increasing fees for families.”

Wages to rise over 50 per cent after Modern Award increases accounted for

Importantly, Mr Shorten confirmed that these increases would come on top of those passed annually by the Fair Work Commission during their Modern Award deliberations.

Over the course of the last five years the Modern Award has increased on average by 3.0 per cent.

Extrapolating this average increase over the next 8 years would see wages rises by 31 per cent before Labor’s commitment and over 50 per cent afterwards.

Details of payment mechanism still unclear

Although more detail on the extent and intent of the increases have been provided no additional detail on how the policy would be implemented and how much it would cost were included in the announcement.

These details will be of particular interest to the sector and is likely to be a central discussion point in the flagged consultation period during Labor’s first 100 days of government should they win the general election.

This announcement comes after Labor committed to spending an additional $4 billion to support affordability for families using ECEC services.

For more information on this announcement please click here.