Childcare worker shortage looms
The Age
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By MICHELLE GRIFFIN
THE job listings tell the tale: throughout Australia, hundreds of childcare centres are advertising for qualified workers, but there simply aren't enough. And even the industry's most enthusiastic training advocates admit there will still be a skills shortage next year when new federal government reforms make professional qualifications compulsory.By January 1 next year, staff-to-child ratios for looking after children aged under three increase from 1:5 to 1:4 and from 1:15 in the preschool rooms to 1:11, which means centres must either reduce places or put on extra staff.By January 1, 2014, every childcare worker in Australia must have, at a minimum, a certificate III qualification. Half the staff must have at least a TAFE childcare diploma. And every single childcare centre must have a degree-qualified teacher on site all day.Victoria's 1141 long-day-care centres already compete for qualified staff, as state regulations introduced in May 2009 require all new childcare employees to have certificate III as a minimum. Yet three out of 10 childcare workers in Victoria €” 5716 workers €” still have no qualifications, according to a 2010 workforce census. Only untrained staff with five years' continuous full-time experience or 10 years' part-time experience have until January 2014 to get qualified. All others must at least start formal training by January 1. Less than half of Victorian childcare workers [43.5 per cent] have diploma-level qualifications.There are now 29,494 unqualified childcare workers who must get their certificates in the next 2 years. "This is not an unrealistic expectation," says Sue Lines, the assistant national secretary of their union, United Voice, formerly the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union."The teaching issue is the hardest to address," said Ms Lines, citing greater demands, longer hours and poorer conditions at childcare centres than at primary schools and early learning centres. "If you could work at a school, you'd probably choose that."Barbara Romeril, executive director of Victoria's Community Child Care Association, said: "We know this will lead to higher fees." Estimates of price hikes range from $4 to $13 a day for each child.
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