Labor spends taxpayer dollars to fix childcare pay rise bureaucratic ‘mess’

Labor is giving out $11 million — including more than $3 million to unions — to clean up its childcare pay rise red tape “mess”.

EXCLUSIVE

Almost $11 million in taxpayer funds have been handed to unions and early education organisations for them to help childcare providers unravel the “unnecessarily complex” red tape Labor imposed on a pay rise for workers.

About 41 per cent of early education services have not yet put in for the Worker Retention Payment — a grant to cover the first 10 per cent of a promised 15 per cent wage increase for childcare staff — more than five months after the applications opened.

Childcare workers are due to receive two payrises totalling 15 per cent over two years. Picture: Getty Images,

Following complaints from smaller childcare centres about the complexity of the process and lack of assistance from department officials, it can be revealed the Albanese Government has spent $10.99 million outsourcing a solution.

This included giving more than $3 million to the Independent Education Union, Australian Services Union and United Workers Union to assist providers with their applications, which has prompted the Coalition to raise concerns about Labor using the debacle to further unionise the sector.

Australian Industry (Ai) Group, Australian Childcare Alliance and Community Early Learning Australia are among the other organisations funded in late January to sort out what the Opposition has branded “wasteful spending” needed to clean up a “mess”.

Coalition early education spokeswoman Angie Bell. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Coalition early education spokeswoman Angie Bell said while she was pleased Labor was “finally offering support” for services to deal with the process, “it should never have come to this”.

“The Worker Retention Payment did not have to be this hard – so hard that apparently the department’s own staff aren’t able to provide adequate help,” she said.

Department of Education figures show 8634 services, or 59 per cent, have submitted applications for the grants so far, and of these only about one in four have been approved and funded.

Applications received by June 30 will be backdated to September last year, but many childcare services have opted to pay staff immediately at huge out of pocket expense while they wait on the grant.

Education Minister Jason Clare. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Benowa Children’s Centre CEO Jenny Sheward-Spence said she wanted to show staff she valued them and had already forked out more than $16,000 to cover half the pay rise, but were still waiting on the backdated money from the government.

“If we don’t hear something soon or receive the funds they promised to date, we will need to withdraw and raise our fees to cover this wage increase,” she said.

Education Minister Jason Clare said about 74 per cent of eligible workers were currently covered by applications the department had on hand, insisting officials were working to process these “as quickly as possible”.

“I make no apologies for ensuring we are spending taxpayer money appropriately and that centres are passing on the full benefit to their workers and not jacking up fees for families,” he said.

“We recognise that smaller providers need more support to access this payment and that’s why we are providing an additional funding to sector and employer bodies to help early childhood education providers apply.”