As Australia continues to battle a teacher shortage, a new report from the United Workers Union shows how low pay and under-staffing is affecting operations in the sector.
“It's pretty damning results. We found that an enormous amount of centres, nearly two thirds said that the wellbeing or safety of children has been impacted by the staffing shortages. And we also found that about 80 percent of centres can't access the families can't access the days that they need. So what we're seeing is that children are not in the best learning environment sometimes because of the shortages.
"Parents are desperate to access early childhood education and care for their children. They want this not only for educational outcome for their kids, they also just need to be able to participate in the workforce. This is a cost of living crisis. And parents need to be able to go to work and know that their children are being taken care of."The Australian Bureau of Statistics says caring for children remains the largest barrier to female participation in the labour force.
President of the Australian Parents Council Jenny Branch-Allen, says parents - especially women - have reported a disruption to their daily lives. But Vice President of the Australian Childcare Alliance Neesha Hutchinson says more needs to be done to save families and the industry.