In an attempt to address the critical staff shortages facing the early childhood education sector the Greens have proposed that early childhood teachers who work in child care centres rather than schools should have their university fees wiped out.

The proposal, which has been costed by Treasury and is under consideration by the federal government, would see a year of debt waived for every year that tertiary educated teachers remain in the long day care sector. Early childhood teachers who work in high need areas, such as regional and remote Australia, would have two years' worth of debt waived for each year spent working in long day care.

As of next year all child care services must employ a qualified early childhood teacher under the National Quality Framework and many services are struggling to find qualified staff.

The Greens' Early Childhood Education and Care spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the scheme will help solve this problem by attracting qualified teachers to the child care sector and encouraging them to stay for longer…

The Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) has called on the Gillard Government to deliver meaningful child care reforms in the May Budget claiming that the sector needs help to deal with the financial burdens imposed by the requirements of the National Quality Framework.

In a submission to government the ACA claims costs have increased by 22 per cent in the last two years and says that if the government doesn’t lend a hand child care services will be forced to increase costs further.

"Without an immediate injection of funds to cover these costs, parents will either be forced to reduce hours of care and reduce hours of work or seek to place their child in unregulated and unsafe backyard care," the submission says.

The ACA also calls for an increase in the CCB and says the government should pledge to never means test the child care rebate claiming it would have a devastating impact on working families and the economy.

"This subsidy was, and should always be, intended as a tool to encourage mothers back into the workforce. It is not welfare…" says the submission.

Did you know you can publicise your service's National Quality Standard rating before ACECQA starts publishing all available ratings in April/May this year.

This is a great opportunity to promote your service's achievements and Quality Improvement Plan.