Shaping Bright Futures: WorkinEarlyLearning launches to tackle the ECEC Sector's workforce crisis

Australia's early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector is the foundation the rest of the workforce stands on. When ECEC service providers can't find or keep qualified educators, the ripple effects reach far beyond individual services and communities. They affect the family budgets, employment rates and economic participation of every parent who relies on a place for their child.

A sector-led response 

That foundation is under serious strain. Work initiatives, in partnership with the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA), has launched WorkinEarlyLearning - a dedicated jobs and workforce platform built specifically for Australia's ECEC sector, live now at WorkinEarlyLearning.com.au.

Paul Mondo, President of the Australian Childcare Alliance, has been closely involved in the development of the platform and sees it as a practical response to the workforce pressures that service providers are confronting every day:

"Our members tell us, day in and day out, that finding and retaining  high-quality, qualified educators is one of the single biggest challenges they face. WorkinEarlyLearning provides our sector with a tool built to meet the needs and realities of early learning. This is not a generic jobs board, but a platform designed to understand the skills, the values and the people that make great educators. This partnership reflects exactly the kind of practical, industry-led solution our members and the sector needs."

Chris Carman, Co-Founder of Workinitiatives, said the platform reflects the same approach the social enterprise has taken to workforce challenges in other essential sectors:

"Every sector we work in tells us a version of the same story. There's no shortage of people who want meaningful work, but the systems connecting them to it haven't kept pace. Early childhood education and care is one of the most important workforces in the country, and it deserves technology and infrastructure built specifically for it. WorkinEarlyLearning, developed in close partnership with the ACA, is about giving the sector the tools to find, support and grow the educators Australia's children need."

Building the ECEC workforce we need

Australia’s early childhood education and care sector is in the midst of positive transformation. Workforce conditions that once drove high turnover and chronic shortages are beginning to shift, driven in part by landmark reforms such as the Commonwealth's Worker Retention Payment, which has improved pay and conditions for educators across the country. Encouragingly, the sector is seeing early signs of stabilisation, with training enrolments growing and more Australians considering early learning as a career.

Yet challenges remain, and demand for ECEC places for families is growing faster than the workforce can currently keep pace with. According to Jobs and Skills Australia's 2024 ECEC Workforce Capacity Study, at least 21,000 additional qualified educators are needed nationally just to meet current demand and create more sustainable workloads. Over the next decade, that requirement will grow further still: an additional 36,000 educators must be hired to meet projected future demand. Regional, rural and remote communities are bearing the brunt of this shortfall, with workforce challenges in these areas making it even harder to meet the demand for places.

While staff retention is improving, a meaningful proportion of the workforce still reports uncertainty about their long-term future in the sector, and qualification completion rates have not yet caught up with enrolment growth.

These workforce gaps are what WorkinEarlyLearning aims to help close, by connecting people to the training pathways, career information and job opportunities that make entering and staying in the sector easier. Its launch comes at a pivotal moment, with reforms already reshaping the landscape. The sector's ability to deliver on the promise of universal, quality early learning will depend, fundamentally, on continuing to attract and retain the educators at its heart.

The platform built by the sector, for the sector

WorkinEarlyLearning is well placed as part of the solution and is the dedicated industry jobs and workforce platform designed specifically for Australia's early childhood education and care sector. It connects job seekers with employers across all ECEC occupations, making it easier for service providers to find the right people for the right roles at the right time.

For employers and providers, the platform enables them to post roles to a targeted, sector-specific job-seeking audience and the full Workinitiatives network of national industry and community platforms, while accessing pre-qualified candidates from across Australia and overseas. It streamlines international hiring with migration specialist support and labour market testing, integrates with existing HR and ATS systems, and lets service providers showcase themselves with personalised videos to attract top candidates.

For job seekers, WorkinEarlyLearning makes it simple to browse ECEC jobs matched to skills, values and lifestyle, access career pathways, training information and sector insights, stand out to employers with a video resume, and connect directly with services that are actively hiring.

WorkinEarlyLearning isn't just about filling vacancies, it's about growing the sector's talent pipeline from both ends. 

For existing educators, the platform makes it simple to explore upskilling options and career pathways within the sector. For services, this helps retain great people by supporting their development rather than losing them to other industries. 

For those looking to enter the sector, a built-in course finder connects jobseekers with relevant ECEC qualifications and training providers, giving them a clear, guided pathway from first interest through to a rewarding career in early learning. 

Part of a bigger mission

WorkinEarlyLearning sits within the Workinitiatives network, a social enterprise working in partnership with peak bodies like the ACA and other key stakeholders to solve Australia's skills crisis. Workinitiatives' enabling technology and collaborative approach connects people, jobs, skills and pathways, linking employers with local talent or, where that talent isn't available, with job-ready talent from overseas. The organisation has developed industry-led, community-driven jobs, skills and economic development platforms across multiple sectors, and now turns that model to the needs of early childhood education and care.

The impact, as Workinitiatives frames it, operates on three levels. For individuals, the platform opens doors to economic independence, purpose and long-term progression. For communities, it allows local people to find meaningful work and local businesses to find the people they need to grow. And for the industry as a whole, it means building a skilled, committed workforce ready to power Australia's future.

Learn more by visiting WorkinEarlyLearning.com.au.

Sources: Jobs and Skills Australia, ECEC Workforce Capacity Study (2024)