May 7th, 2024
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Over the last two days ACA has been working extremely hard on behalf of ACA members, on a two-day lobbying trip to Parliament House in Canberra.
As you would now be well aware, the supported bargaining process for working conditions in the early learning sector - sometimes referred to as the Multi-Employer Bargaining (MEB) - is now underway, having formally commenced on Friday 27 October.
We know that a successful outcome for our sector is contingent on the Federal Government properly funding any negotiated outcome, and therefore our political advocacy efforts are critical in this space. Now is the time to impress upon the Federal Government the urgency of the situation.
As collaborating with other organisations can create a stronger, louder, unified voice, ACA reached out to form working relationships with the some of the other parties involved in the negotiations process, all with the same goal of seeking a government-funded wage rise.
As a result of this powerful stakeholder engagement, ACA has joined forces with Community Child Care (CCC), Community Early Learning Australia (CELA) and the United Workers Union (UWU) to talk to the Federal Government about the urgency of the situation.
Paul and Nesha have done an incredible job of building positive working relationships with the other participants in the supported bargaing process, as well as the relevant Federal Government Ministers and their support staff.
In particular, our positive working relationship with the United Workers Union (UWU) is an tremendous achievement.
On Monday and Tuesday ACA President Paul Mondo and ACA Vice President Nesha Hutchinson attended Parliament House, Canberra, along with representatives from the above oranisations, to meet with key Ministers and Members of Parliament (MPs) for face-to-face, meaningful and frank discussions, in the context of the supported bargaining negotations.
The key objectives of these meetings were to
- emphasise the urgency of the staffing crisis, the impact this is having on children, families and educators and the limiting effect on the government’s early learning policy priorities.
- advise on how the supported bargaining process can succeed as an efficient and effective mechanism to deliver professional pay for educators.
- advocate that a determining factor of the success for supported bargaining process will be the government’s willingness and capacity to fund it.
- advocate that this funding be included in the 2024 budget, if not earlier.
Our united collective planned to meet with as many Members of Parliament (MPs) as possible, in order to "make a lot of noise", make sure the workforce shortages issue and the urgency is understood and build momentum within the Labor Party for a funded wage rise.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Julie Price - CCC, ACA Vice President Nesha Hutchinson, Leanne Townrow - UWU, Early Childhood Education Minister Anne Aly, Michele Carnegie - CELA and ACA President Paul Mondo.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Julie Price - CCC, Michele Carnegie - CELA , Health & Aged Care Minister Mark Butler, ACA Vice President Nesha Hutchinson, Leanne Townrow - UWU and ACA President Paul Mondo.
During our discussions, it was important to have an evidence base to support our ask for a government-funded payrise.
We were able to offer powerful recommendations for the most cost-effective, high-impact mechanism to fund a wage rise in our sector, by drawing on the key findings of ACA's Dandolo Wage Increase Analysis Report – June 2023.
This report, coupled with ACA's most recent capped enrolment survey results, allowed ACA to make a very strong case for the urgent need for change, and the best way forward to address the problem.
As you can see in the photo of Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke below, he was keen to point that these negotiations were made possible under new Secure Jobs, Better Pay provisions in the Fair Work Act, which bring the Federal Government into the negotiation process, as a third party funder.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: ACA President Paul Mondo, ACA Vice President Nesha Hutchinson, Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke, Michele Carnegie - CELA, Leanne Townrow - UWU and Julie Price - CCC.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Julie Price - CCC, Michele Carnegie - CELA , Environment & Water Minister Tanya Plibersek, ACA Vice President Nesha Hutchinson, Leanne Townrow - UWU and ACA President Paul Mondo.
In addition to many more meetings with MPs and Ministers on Day 2 of the lobby efforts, our collective group also organised and particated in a press conference at Parliament House, at which Paul and the other participating stakeholders called upon the Federal Government to take action in addressing the workforce crisis in our sector.
Paul cited the statistics from our latest capped enrolments survey, which showed that half of respondents had been forced to cap enrolment numbers due to staff shortages, with a total of 11,123 places withheld from families during the week of 9-13 October.
Without the support of our members, ACA could not have provided these powerful statistics to the media. We thank you again for your ongoing engagement and support, which strengthens our ability to advocate on your behalf.
You can read yesterday's ACA media release with the latest survey results on capped enrolment's here.
You can also read some of the resulting media articles here and here.
On a final note, it's important to remember that ACA's Executive Committee, which includes our President Paul Mondo and Vice President Nesha Hutchinson, are all volunteers. The work that they do on behalf of ACA's members comes out of their own personal time.
We are sure you will join us in thanking Paul and Nesha for their amazing efforts in Canberra on Monday and Tuesday of this week!
ACA continues to work hard to ensure the best outcomes for our sector in this space. We are keen to see the supported bargaining process result in a successful outcome, with a government-funded wage rise for our educators.
We would like to see this positive outcome that implemented by 1st July 2024
We will keep up posted as the supported bargaining process progresses.
PUBLISHED: 15 NOVEMBER 2023
