Employers who operate long day care centres across Australia can now apply for a share in the largest ever government investment into the professional development of educators in this industry.
Announced on May 19 by Assistant Minister for Education Sussan Ley, the government’s $200 million Long Day Care Professional Development Programme is expected to help tackle skills shortages in early childhood education.
“The Abbott Government is committed to delivering high-quality child care for our children. This programme will help services with the cost of upskilling and training educators to meet the requirements of the National Quality Framework,” Ms Lay said in a media release.
All long day care service providers who have Child Care Benefit approval are eligible to apply for the funding, with additional support made available for early childhood educators and those operating in regional, rural and remote communities.
Employers should be able to claim up to $10,450 per full-time equivalent educator. This is made up of a $3,750 base, with additional loadings of $2,300 for early childhood teachers, $4,100 for regional employees and $4,400 for those based in very remote locations.
Employers invested in the professional development of their staff, whether through apprenticeships, traineeships or other upskilling opportunities, are encouraged to take advantage of this vital government funding.
Providers have until June 13 to apply through the MyChild site. This program is open to all applicants and not weighted on a first-come, first-served basis, so providers can apply at any time within the next two weeks.
If you are one of the many long day care centres who is struggling to keep up with your paperwork and staff development now may be the perfect time to call our BUSY At Work’s Managed People Services (MPS) team.
BUSY’s dedicated team at MPS can help take much of the hard work out of managing multiple trainees and apprentices. MPS provides tailored support solutions for training and development of staff. This also includes alleviating some of your paperwork, delivering one of one support systems and critical skills training.
MPS provide a variety of workforce development programs for you to choose from, including:
· Support Managed Easy
· Apprentice Management Made Easy Apprentice
· Management Made Easy Indigenous Program
· Critical Skills Training for Supervisors
If you are not ready for our support services yet and still looking for the right trainee or apprentice then check out ApprenticeshipCentral, a free job matching site. This service can help put you in contact with talented and driven individuals to fill the apprenticeships or traineeships in your business.
Give BUSY a call today and see how we can work with you. 13 BUSY (2879)
