Delivering universal access to early childhood education and care (ECEC) will benefit families, children, and society. However, the value of universal access will not be realised without prioritising service quality. 

The Front Project analysed the relationship between high-quality ECEC services and staffing conditions in low SES communities where we know children have the most to gain. We found an association between better workforce conditions and high-quality service delivery, which we know also has a positive impact on children. 

Key Findings:

• In SEIFA 1 areas not-for-profits and Department/local government services make up 68% of services and 83% of all ‘Exceeding/Excellent’ services. 
• 66% of SEIFA 1 Exceeding/Excellent services analysed in this sample are covered by an Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA)*. This is much higher than the overall sector at 29.7%, suggesting a link between industrial conditions and service quality (ACECQA Q2 2024). 
• Centres operating under EBAs consistently offer more generous staffing conditions than Award-reliant services. Multi-employer agreements tend to be high-quality due to the bargaining power behind them. 
• Preschools and kindergartens (PSKs) generally offer better workforce conditions than long daycare centres (LDCs), due to their distinct operational model, funding structure, and history of enterprise/collective bargaining.   

We found that a wage increase alone is unlikely to be the complete solution for supporting quality uplift in ECEC.

The findings from this report offer insights into conditions of quality and how employers and governments can work together to drive quality.