How a Canadian program that helps educators 'thrive' not just 'survive' could help address Australia's childcare staff shortage

On Wednesday, federal parliament passed Labor's bill to reduce childcare fees for many Australian families.

More affordable childcare for families is great, but it will not solve all the issues in the sector. Schools are not the only ones with a teacher crisis. Early childhood services are also hit with chronic staff shortages.

As of October, there were about 6,800 advertised positions for early childhood educators in Australia. The pandemic has not helped. There was a 40% increase in job ads between April 2021 and April 2022.

Before COVID-19, there was about 30% annual turnover in the sector, and up to 45% in rural and remote areas. A 2021 union study of more than 3,800 educators revealed 74% said they wanted to leave the sector in the next three years. The top reasons for wanting to leave were excessive workload, low pay and feeling undervalued.

This turnover can impact upon children's wellbeing, development and learning.

To find out more about the challenges educators face, how it impacts upon their wellbeing and learn from other countries, our international study explored the experiences of early childhood educators around the world.

This article looks at the Australian and Canadian components of the study.