That ICPA (Aust) requests the relevant Federal Ministers amend the lack of salary parity between four year trained early childhood teachers and four year trained primary and high school teachers to assist with access to early childhood education in rural and remote communities.
It is necessary that salary payments of early childhood teachers can be afforded the same salary package as their four-year trained peers who are working in primary and high schools.
Currently, the pay gap is so significant it is impossible to recruit and retain teachers in early childhood centres and new recruits often use early childhood jobs as a steppingstone into the primary school sector.
Particularly in the remote context where the early childhood packages are without comparable incentives such as holiday pay, provision for housing, access to professional support and travel to attend professional development.
Some centres are unable to offer early childhood packages which are equal to those in state primary and high schools.
