Stand up and be counted; Fourth National Workforce Census coming in April

The fourth Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) National Workforce Census is being conducted from April to June this year, designed to collect detailed information on service usage, children with additional needs, access to preschool programs and staff details, including staff demographics, types of work, qualifications, experience, and current study. 

Findings from the Census are used to provide a national overview of the early childhood education and care workforce, which in turn assists the Australian, State and Territory governments to better understand the challenges of providing quality child care and early learning, assess the capacity in the workforce to meet future demand and formulate strategies to support early childhood development policies, including the new National Children’s Education and Care Workforce Strategy.

In order to gather a complete picture, all approved ECEC providers are required to complete the survey, and preschools and kindergartens have also been invited to provide responses, with encouragement from State and Territory governments.

The National Workforce Census asks details about employees and children in a ‘reference week’:

• 12 April – 18 April 2021 for Outside School Hours Care (Vacation Care only)
• 10 May – 16 May 2021 for Centre Based Day Care, Family Day Care, In Home Care, Outside School Hours Care (BSC/ASC), and dedicated preschools/kindergartens.

Services are encouraged to submit Census responses immediately after the reference week, although responses can be submitted until 11 June 2021.

Census responses received by the due date will be entered in a draw to win a $750 voucher for educational materials or equipment. There will be two vouchers awarded in each state and territory.

For more information about the National Workforce Census, please see here.