Growing and supporting the early childhood workforce

Filling the early childhood workforce gaps

The early childhood education and care workforce is critical to the delivery of our vision for the early childhood system, but we are experiencing a national shortage of early childhood educators and teachers.

In South Australia, the shortage in early childhood education and care services is particularly acute. More than a quarter of services don’t have a qualified teacher in a designated role. Regional and remote communities continue to face exacerbated workforce challenges.

To provide the staff needed to roll out universal 3-year-old preschool, we need 800 early childhood teachers, a 41 percent increase in the 2023 number of early childhood teachers. We also need 880 educators, and more staff in roles like service directors.

The Government of South Australia is investing $56 million in the early childhood education and care workforce. Initiatives will support attraction, qualification pathways, retention and quality. The Office for Early Childhood Development ran a series of co-design workshops with the sector to create the state’s early childhood workforce strategy. The Early Childhood Workforce Strategy was released in June 2024.

Creating a pipeline for more early childhood teachers and educators

The government is also moving to allow the registration of early childhood teachers holding a qualification recognised by Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), including 3-year degrees, for teaching children aged birth to 5, to bring more existing teachers into the sector and allow specialisation in early childhood.

The urgent task of building the early childhood workforce pipeline, in partnership with universities, TAFESA, vocational education and training (VET) providers and the sector, starts in 2024. This is fundamental to broader government workforce and skills commitments across sectors in South Australia, as the availability of quality early childhood education and care enables more parents to engage in work and study, having a multiplier effect on our economy.