Sabra Lane: As the Federal Treasurer prepares the government's third budget in May, the early childhood care sector is calling for the government to consider supporting a wage increase for educators. Yesterday the government said it would push for a pay increase for Australia's low-paid workers in line with inflation as part of its submission to the annual wage review to the Fair Work Commission. But child care advocates say a meaningful increase for early educators is long overdue. Political reporter Chantelle Al-Khouri has this report.
Chantelle Al-Khouri: As a child care operator of one of the cheapest centres in Canberra, Nishi Puri sees first hand the impact of low wages on her staff and the industry.
Nishi Puri: Child care educators are very underpaid and underrated. So yes, they definitely need a wage increase because at this moment there's an acute shortage of child care workers.
Chantelle Al-Khouri: She says that increase needs to come from government coffers because previous staff wage increases have hurt already struggling parents.
Nishi Puri: The parents have been penalised all the while, while we did a fee increase each year for our educators. Which is not fair for them because everybody's under the cost of living pressures and I think federal government should step in.
Chantelle Al-Khouri: Georgie Dent is the Executive Director of advocacy group The Parenthood. She says the early childhood education sector is experiencing the highest number of staff vacancies on record and educators are among the lowest paid in Australia.
Georgie Dent: Early childhood educators have been leaving in record numbers over the last couple of years and it is because a lot of them have said quite literally they can't afford to stay because the wages are so low and with the cost of living crisis that they're facing.
Chantelle Al-Khouri: She says boosting their wages also helps improve the wider economy.
Georgie Dent: More than 90% of the early childhood education and care workforce is made up of women. So we know that a wage correction to see those educators and teachers being paid appropriately is going to meaningfully improve the financial security of women employed in that area.
Chantelle Al-Khouri: Georgie Dent applauds recent federal government reforms of the childcare sector, but is taking the reform to boost educators' wages to politicians in Canberra today. Yesterday the government said it will ask the Fair Work Commission to increase the minimum wage in line with inflation. The peak body for unions says that's not enough. The Australian Council of Trade Unions is calling for a 5% increase instead. Secretary Sally McManus.
Sally McManus: If you take inflation into account, then you've got to think about award wage workers have gone backwards and so they need to start catching up so that their wages recover to where they were three years ago before the pandemic. So it's essentially inflation plus catch up.
Chantelle Al-Khouri: The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is arguing for a 2% increase, saying it will be too costly for businesses. Sally McManus says that's not enough for the 2.9 million lowest paid workers in the country.
Sally McManus: They're the hardest hit by inflation. They don't have anywhere to go when their rent goes up. When their grocery prices and their bills go up, they have already had to cut back significantly and are the ones suffering the most.
Sabra Lane: ACTU Secretary Sally McManus ending that report by Chantelle Al-Khouri.