In addition to a 15 per cent pay rise, early childhood educators can now apply for financial support to assist with living and travel costs while they undertake a prac placement in a rural or remote area.
Minister for Early Childhood Education Dr Anne Aly said the new Practicum Exchange Living Allowance (PELA), organised via the Practicum Exchange Network, will help ensure that students studying an early childhood education and care qualification are supported to complete their required practical component.
To further assist educators complete required training placements, applications are also open for the Government’s Paid Prac Subsidy.
The Paid Prac Subsidy helps early learning providers to give existing educators paid leave while they undertake the prac placements required to complete their early childhood education and care qualifications.
Applications are also open for the Professional Development Subsidy, covering the costs of training for qualified early childhood education and care workers.
The PELA and the Professional Development and Paid Practicum subsidies are part of the Federal Government’s $72.4 million Early Childhood Education Workforce Package, supporting the training and development of the Early Childhood Education and Care workforce.
The program has already helped around 47,450 educators across 3,700 services to compete their training and upskill.
Dr Aly said the grants are an important step in securing the workforce needed to deliver a universal early learning and care system.
“We’re securing the essential early childhood education workforce that families rely on every day,” she said.
“We’re supporting the early learning sector in a range of ways, including through making it easier to access training and professional development opportunities and funding a historic 15 per cent wage rise.”
The 15 per cent wage rise is available to up to 200,000 early childhood education and care workers across the country, helping to retain existing early childhood educators and attract new workers to the sector.
This means a typical educator who is paid at the award rate is eligible to receive a pay rise of at least $103 per week, increasing to at least $155 per week from December 2025.
A typical early childhood teacher is eligible to receive an additional $166 a week, increasing to $249 from December 2025.
Applications for the PELA and the Professional Development and Paid Practicum subsidies close 14 March 2025. To find out more visit education.gov.au/early-childhood/workforce/support/professional-development-opportunities.
To find out more about the 15 per cent wage rise visit education.gov.au/early-childhood/workforce/wages/how-apply-worker-retention-payment.
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