The fifth Early Childhood Education and Care National Workforce Census took place in 2024.
On this page:
Key findings
Workforce
Children
About this report
The 2024 National Workforce Census provides a national overview of the early childhood education and care workforce.
It collected information about:
- staff
- service usage
- children with additional needs
- access to preschool programs.
The 2024 National Workforce Census builds on the results of earlier censuses and provides a useful picture of the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector over time.
Resources
2024 National Workforce Census Report
In 2024, the NWC collected site level information from 18,990 approved ECEC services across Australia. This included 2,181 dedicated preschools.
Read the 2024 National Workforce Census Report
Interactive Dashboard
Explore this data in an interactive dashboard.
Explore the 2024 National Workforce Census Interactive Dashboard Guide to using the 2024 National Workforce Census Interactive Dashboard
Data tables
Explore the full national and regional data sets.
Download the 2024 National Workforce Census National data tables Download the 2024 National Workforce Census Regional data tables
Infographics
Download infographics visualising key facts and statistics from the 2024 National Workforce Census.
Service type data
- NWC 2024 service type data – Centre Based Day Care
- NWC 2024 service type data – Family Day Care
- NWC 2024 service type data – In Home Care
- NWC 2024 service type data – Outside School Hours Care
- NWC 2024 service type data – Vacation Care
State and territory type data
- NWC 2024 state and territory type data – Australian Capital Territory
- NWC 2024 state and territory type data – New South Wales
- NWC 2024 state and territory type data – Northern Territory
- NWC 2024 state and territory type data – Queensland
- NWC 2024 state and territory type data – South Australia
- NWC 2024 state and territory type data – Tasmania
- NWC 2024 state and territory type data – Victoria
- NWC 2024 state and territory type data – Western Australia
Detailed findings
These key findings represent a snapshot of the ECEC sector during the reference week of the National Workforce Census (NWC).
The self-reported data is from:
- 97% of CCS services, and
- 67% of dedicated preschools nationally (excluding Western Australian dedicated preschools who did not participate in the 2024 NWC).
Workers
268,050 workers at ECEC services.
173,738 paid contact staff held a qualification in an ECEC field.
91.2% of the ECEC workforce was female.
Children
1,491,240 children aged 0 to 12 attended CCS-approved services. This is not a count of individual children, as children are not identified in NWC data and may attend more than one ECEC service.
4.4% of all children attending CCS-approved services were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
19.3% of all children attending CCS-approved services spoke a language other than English (LOTE) at home (or had parents/guardians who spoke a language other than English).