Early Years

About Early Years

As the foundation of our education system, early years educators range across the public, private and faith-based sectors with a total spend of $3.4 billion each year. The sector’s 22,600 employees work across 1,854 organisations to support over 335,000 young Australians to get the best start in life.

As our birth rate grows, so too does demand for early years education and services. Providers of childcare centres are innovating and increasingly offering preschool education. Welcome increases in Federal funding have aided in elevating revenue, but strict staffing ratios through the National Quality Framework have kept growth in check. Wage growth in recent years has placed further pressure on the sector as have the regulatory requirements for ratios of tertiary qualified staff. This increase in qualifications and standards adds to the value proposition of early education, offering families more reason to choose to send their children to preschool.

AKM- link to talent