‘It terrifies me’: Union poll shows mass exodus of early childhood educators

A new poll shows the early childhood education sector is in crisis, with 97 per cent of early learning centres having lost educators in the past year. Hear what a Tasmanian educator has to say.

A Tasmanian early childhood educator has warned that children’s safety is at risk if urgent action is not taken to retain staff in the sector.

A July nationwide snap poll conducted by the United Workers Union (UWU) showed that more than 60 per cent of early childhood educators plan to leave the sector within three years, while 97 per cent of early learning centres have already lost educators in the past year.

The poll, involving more than 1100 educators and nearly 200 parents across Australia, also included statements from Tasmanian early childhood educators who said they were “extremely overwhelmed” by their workload.

A UWU poll shows that over 60 per cent of early childhood educators plan to leave the sector within three years. Picture: supplied

“It’s very embarrassing when parents come in and I’m either not able to talk to them properly or the room is just pure chaos because I’m understaffed,” one educator wrote.

For southern Tasmania early childhood educator Trish Foster, the inability to retain staff in the sector is far more concerning.

“It terrifies me because something is going to happen to a child if we cannot get good educators back into the sector,” she said.

“I’ve been in the sector for 13 years, and in my time it has never been like this.

“It’s really tough when all it takes is one person sick and you’ve got no one to cover them.”

Ms Foster said that low wages and increased job pressure as well as a lack of recognition for early childhood educators was behind the mass exodus from the sector.

It comes after Thursday’s federal government announcement of a 15 per cent increase in wages to December 2025 for educators.

Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese speaks at the Press conference in front of Early Childhood educators. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

“I’m hoping it’ll keep people in the sector for now, and because the unions are not going to stop fighting,” Ms Foster said.

“The ask was for 25 per cent so they’re going to continue to push for a 25 per cent pay rise.

“The age care sector got it, so why shouldn’t we? It’s the same kind of a job, but at different ends of life.”

Other Tasmanian educators in the UWU poll shared that the 25 per cent raise would “bring staff back to the sector” and “take off so much stress”.

Ms Foster, who is currently pursuing her Masters in early childhood teaching, believes changing the stereotype of the role as just “child care” would also improve conditions in the sector.

“The crazy thing is when I’m in school, I am a teacher but when I am in an early childhood setting, I’m an educator, but I have the same degree no matter where I am, because I’ve done the same study for both,” she said.

Tasmanian early childhood educators said they were “extremely overwhelmed” by their workload.

“We seem to have a lot less respect in the early childhood setting than we do in a school.

“We need to have equal wages to the teachers at least, because we need to encourage people to come into the sector.”

Education minister Jo Palmer said the state government “stands by those in the sector”, with a $5m funding package announced in late July.

“We know access to quality early childhood education and care for working Tasmanian families is critical, which is why we announced the $5m Early Years Workforce Development Fund,’ she said.

“The incentive package will provide 200 education and care qualification scholarships for Tasmanians who commit to working with a Tasmanian early childhood service for two years.”