Legislation introduced to lock in 15 per cent pay rise for early educators, with safety requirements for services

The Federal Government has introduced legislation to secure funding for the 15 per cent early childhood educator pay rise, with services also set to face new safety requirements as a condition of receiving the payment.

The Albanese Government has introduced legislation to provide a further $3.6 billion for the 15 per cent early childhood educator pay rise and put safety requirements attached to the funding into law.

The legislation will amend the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) Act 2024, extending support for the wage increase while requiring participating early childhood education and care (ECEC) services to meet national safety standards.

More than 80 per cent of eligible services are currently receiving the payment.

The Government said the funding would continue to be tied to limits on fee increases, while a new legislated safety condition will take effect from July 2027.

The 15 per cent pay rise was originally introduced in 2024 to address workforce pressures and improve remuneration for educators.

When combined with minimum wage increases, the Government said a typical full-time educator would receive $255 more each week compared with before the program began, while an early childhood teacher would receive $410 more each week.

Since the pay rise was announced, the Government said the ECEC workforce had grown by 20,000 educators and job vacancies had fallen by more than 31 per cent.

Goodstart Early Learning also recorded a 69 per cent reduction in its use of agency staff during the first year of the program.

Minister for Education Jason Clare said the payment had supported workforce growth while helping to contain costs for families.

“The payment has worked to bring more people into the early education workforce and to keep costs down for families,” Mr Clare said.

“Turns out if you pay people more, more people want to do the job.”

Minister for Early Childhood Education Senator Dr Jess Walsh said educators had reported that the additional pay was supporting retention.

“They tell me it’s helping them stay in the jobs they love,” Dr Walsh said.

“It’s also providing more certainty and stability for the children in their care.”

The legislation will also put into law a requirement for participating ECEC services to meet the national safety standard as a condition of receiving the payment.

The Government said 95 per cent of early learning services currently meet the safety standard.

From July 2027, services that do not meet the National Quality Standard requirements relating to safety may have their funding reduced or suspended.

“This means that by law, if you want the pay rise you need to be meeting national safety standards,” Mr Clare said.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our children.”

The funding condition forms part of broader Federal Government reforms aimed at strengthening safety across ECEC.

For approved providers participating in the worker retention payment, the change adds a direct financial consequence to performance against the relevant safety requirements, making continued compliance an important consideration for workforce and financial planning.

Services receiving the funding will also continue to be required to limit fee increases.

The Government said fees at participating services had grown at around half the rate recorded at services not receiving the payment.

It estimated that the average family would save about $1,500 during the next two years as a result of the fee restrictions.

The condition is intended to prevent the cost of higher educator wages from being passed directly to families through increased fees.

The legislation strengthens the connection between workforce funding, affordability and safety requirements for participating providers.

Services receiving the payment will need to continue meeting the program’s fee requirements, while from July 2027 their performance against the relevant National Quality Standard safety requirements will also have direct implications for continued funding.

For providers, the change makes safety performance more than a regulatory and quality consideration. It will also become a factor in access to funding supporting educator wages.

For educators, the additional $3.6 billion provides greater certainty around continued government support for the 15 per cent wage increase.

The legislation was introduced to Parliament on 12 August 2026.

More information is available from the Ministers’ Media Centre.