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LDC staff waivers outstanding fall for third consecutive quarter latest ACECQA data says
Jason Roberts
Aug 17, 2024
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The percentage of long day care (LDC) services with staff waivers outstanding has fallen for the third consecutive quarter, the longest such stretch of falls since 2016 according to ACECQA’s latest NQF Snapshot. 
As at the end of June 2024, 15.6 per cent of all LDC had a staff waiver outstanding, down from 16.1 per cent in the three months to March 2024 and 17.0 per cent in the three months to June 2023.
Waivers outstanding are now at levels last seen in mid 2022, with momentum clearly on the downside with regards to the overall trend, reinforcing a sense that the extreme workforce tightness experienced post COVID-19 continues to subside from an LDC perspective.
That being said, total staff waivers outstanding across the broader early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector ticked up slightly, with marginal gains seen across family day care (FDC), outside school hours care (OSHC) and preschools.
Across Australia’s eight states and territories the performance was a bit more mixed with five jurisdictions recording falls, two moderate gains and one only a slight gain.
Queensland, which has fallen very materially from the peak levels experienced back in 2022, posted a slight gain last quarter, New South Wales a moderate fall and Victoria a relatively large increase.
Victoria has enjoyed low waiver numbers for many years, and still does relative to its peers, but recent rises are bucking the broader trend being presented across the sector.
In the smaller states and territories all of Western Australia, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory registered falls, with the ACT the most pronounced followed by South Australia.
Of the remaining jurisdictions Tasmania at 10.7 per cent is now at a three year low level after another fall and the Northern Territory was the key standout that bucked the trend with a fairly large rise to 15.5 per cent LDC services with waivers outstanding.
As we move into the second half of 2024 the overall trend of waivers outstanding continues to point lower with more states and territories recording falls and national averages confirming them a set of developments which at the margin implies that the post COVID-19 workforce shortages continue to unwind.
To review this quarter’s snapshot please click here.
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