“That ICPA (Aust) advocates to the relevant federal ministers for funding to be sought to address Early Childhood Teacher pay parity to assist with access to early childhood education in rural and remote communities.”
Pay parity of Early Childhood Teachers is a significant issue. An Early Childhood Teacher completes a four year degree course. In a remote early childhood service, an experienced Early Childhood Teacher can expect a salary of around $106,500. If they maintain National Schools Education Authority (NSEA) proficient accreditation and elect to work in the Public School System, at a Connected Communities School, such as Bourke, in a rural and remote location, the additional benefits they would get compared to working as an Early Childhood Teacher would tally to $148,671 per annum.
• Significantly shorter contact hours per week
• Professional mentoring by other Teachers
• Structured Professional development programs ($10,000 pa) 255,149
• In addition to the above, there is also the impact on superannuation to be considered.
Early Childhood services are significantly limited in their budgets. It is important to find long term solutions to address pay parity of Early Childhood Teachers in rural and remote locations.
