Early Learning and Care Council of Australia

A 3-day-guaranteed eligibility to early learning and care for all Australian children, regardless of parental/carer work status - game changing 👏

The exceptional Professor Emerita Deborah Brennan AM addressed our event at Parliament House last month, co-hosted by the Parliamentary Friends of Early Childhood.

The Productivity Commission has kindly published Professor Brennan's speech - a succinct and smart explanation of 'Why there’s more to universal childcare than affordability'. Definitely worth 5 minutes of your day 👉

Why there’s more to universal childcare than affordability A recent PC report on early childhood education and care (ECEC) strikes a good balance between centring the child and recognising the role of ECEC in supporting parents' workforce participation, writes Associate Commissioner Deborah Brennan.

We are delighted to welcome the Australian Government’s overhaul of the language it uses to describe the nation’s early learning and care professionals.

Today’s release of the Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA) includes new titles for the early learning and care workforce, replacing outdated terms like ‘Child Care Worker’.

Find out more in our media release 👉

ELACCA celebrates long-awaited overhaul of language about early learning profession - ELACCA Media release    6 December 2024 The Early Learning and Care Council of Australia (ELACCA) is delighted to welcome the Australian Government’s overhaul of the language it uses to describe the nation’s early learning and care professionals.  Today’s release of the Occupation Standard Clas...

We are delighted to launch our ITE Boost Queensland program today, welcoming 54 early childhood educators to an accelerated teaching degree course, featuring specialised wrap-around supports and scholarships.

The Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Boost Queensland program is funded by the Queensland Government, through its Qualifications Pathways Program (QPP). ELACCA is one of nine organisations selected by the Queensland Government to help build its early childhood workforce through the QPP.

Find out more:

ELACCA welcomes 54 Queensland educators to new workforce upskilling program - ELACCA Media release    12 July 2024 The Early Learning and Care Council of Australia (ELACCA) is delighted to launch its ITE Boost Queensland program today, welcoming 54 early childhood educators to an accelerated teaching degree course, featuring specialised wrap-around supports and scholarships.  ...

The Early Learning and Care Council of Australia has welcomed today’s Federal Budget, which includes a commitment to build and sustain the early learning and care workforce via a wage subsidy.

‘We congratulate Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Minister Clare and Minister Aly on this vital investment in a qualified, highly-valued early learning and care workforce,’ said ELACCA CEO Elizabeth Death.

‘We look forward to seeing the Government bring together the threads of important policy and industrial processes – including the Productivity Commission inquiry and Multi-Employer Bargaining – over the remainder of 2024.’

More in our media release:

ELACCA looks forward to transformational investment in the early learning workforce - ELACCA Media release    14 May 2024 The Early Learning and Care Council of Australia (ELACCA) has welcomed today’s Federal Budget, which includes a commitment to build and sustain the early learning and care workforce via a wage subsidy.  ‘We congratulate Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Minister Clare an...

We are delighted to welcome our newest member, Renee Bowman, Chief Executive Officer of Nido Early School.

Renee was previously the UK CEO of Junior Adventures Group, which also operates children’s education and care services in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. She has worked in 10 countries, leading teams in public, private and charitable sectors across a wide range of sectors.

Nido Early School has been a member of ELACCA since 2021 and we thank Renee's predecessor, the Founder and Managing Director of the company, Mathew Edwards.

Our media release:

ELACCA welcomes new member CEO from Nido Early School - ELACCA Media release    9 April 2024   The Early Learning and Care Council of Australia (ELACCA) has warmly welcomed its newest member, Ms Renee Bowman, Chief Executive Officer of Nido Early School. Ms Bowman was previously the UK CEO of Junior Adventures Group, which also operates children’s edu...

Congratulations to the Queensland Government, Steven Miles and Di Farmer MP, on the launch of your Qualifications Pathways Program (QPP), which will provide hundreds of early childhood educators with scholarships and support to upskill to a Bachelor qualification.

ELACCA is very pleased to be one of nine organisations selected to deliver the QPP in Queensland.

Our experience and expertise in supporting educators to upskill and to extend their professional learning makes this program a great fit for ELACCA.

Read our media release:

Queensland scholarship program to build the early childhood teacher workforce - ELACCA Media release    8 March 2024  The Early Learning and Care Council of Australia (ELACCA) congratulates the Queensland Government on the launch of its Qualifications Pathways Program (QPP), which will provide hundreds of early childhood educators with scholarships and support to upskill to a Ba...

We congratulate the NSW Government on the success of its Early Childhood Education and Care Scholarships program, which will catalyse growth and quality uplift in the early learning sector.

‘We are delighted to see such a strong response to the scholarships program,’ said Elizabeth Death, CEO of ELACCA. ‘More than 2,300 scholarship applications were received, which is such an encouraging indicator of future growth and quality uplift in the early learning sector.’

Read our media release here:

NSW scholarship program will help build a thriving educator workforce - ELACCA Media release   19 February 2024     NSW scholarship program will help build a thriving educator workforce  The Early Learning and Care Council of Australia (ELACCA) congratulates the NSW Government on the success of its Early Childhood Education and Care Scholarships program, which will ca...

Free Kindy is up and running in Queensland! Congratulations to the Queensland Department of Education and the early learning services across the state who've worked so hard to bring this to fruition.

Thousands of Queensland families are celebrating their first week of free kindy! Find your nearest free kindy by using the Free Kindy Finder 🔗 www.qld.gov.au/FreeKindy

We are delighted to be partnering with QUT (Queensland University of Technology) and the Victorian Department of Education to co-design and deliver the Victorian Educational Leadership Program.

Our CEO Elizabeth Death: 'The program’s linkage between QUT, government, the workforce and providers is a critical success element, closing the collaborative loop and providing support for the early years’ workforce.'

Read more 👉

QUT collaborates to empower early childhood educational leaders QUT School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education has partnered with the Early Learning and Care Council of Australia (ELACCA) and the Victorian Department of Education to deliver a comprehensive leadership development program tailored for educational leaders in Victoria’s early childhood work...

We are thrilled that ‘From the Ground Up’, the ELACCA-QUT leadership program for early childhood educators, has been recognised by the Australian Council of Deans of Education with the Award of Excellence and Impact in Education for 2023: https://www.acde.edu.au/

Congratulations to Associate Professor Megan Gibson and her team at QUT (Queensland University of Technology) QUT for their brilliant co-design and collaboration on ‘From the Ground Up’. Thanks to the skill and commitment of the QUT academic staff, ELACCA educators are receiving the highest quality professional learning.

‘From the Ground Up’ is an innovative program to strengthen and extend the leadership skills of emerging and established leaders in early childhood education and care. Through expert instruction and action research, educators build knowledge and skills, and put their learning into practice right away. The ‘From the Ground Up’ alumni pool is growing each year, creating a professional leadership network for educators right across Australia.

We are proud of our ‘From the Ground Up’ educators - and we know their hard work will support excellent outcomes for the children they educate.

ELACCA looks forward to continuing its partnership with QUT in 2024.

We also congratulate the other two national winners of the ACDE awards: Moombaki Cultural Learnings (led by Professor Cheryl Kickett-Tucker, Curtin University); and Dr Cris Edmonds-Wathen (Charles Darwin University).