We’re funding a wage increase for the early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce through the worker retention payment.
On this page:
On 17 June 2026, the Australian Government extended the worker retention payment, with expanded eligibility and updated conditions. Updated information is now available. We will continue to update our website as further details are released.
The worker retention payment is a grant from the government. It’s paid to ECEC services to help increase your workers’ wages.
Providers who opt in receive:
- funding to support higher wages for eligible workers
- additional funding to help cover related on-costs.
To get funding, providers must:
- engage workers through a compliant workplace instrument
- limit fee increases
- pass funding on to eligible workers
- meet safety standards (from July 2027).
Payments are delivered to ECEC services via the Child Care Subsidy System.
Applications are open for Centre Based Day Care and Outside School Hours Care providers.
We will provide information about how Family Day Care and In Home Care providers can apply soon.
Use the links below to find the information you need.
Key dates
These are key program milestones. Other dates apply depending on your circumstances, including fee growth caps and reporting deadlines.
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 8 October 2024 | Applications open |
| 2 December 2024 | Program starts (10% wage increase) |
| 30 June 2025 | Historical leave liability applications close |
| 30 September 2025 | Backdated payment applications close |
| 1 December 2025 | Year 2 starts (15% wage increase) |
| 31 December 2025 | Funding review applications close |
| 17 June 2026 | Program extended to 30 June 2028 |
| 1 December 2026 | Extension begins |
| July 2027 | Safety standard condition starts |
| 30 June 2028 | Program ends |
Resources
Workplace instruments, awards and supported bargaining
Learn more about awards, workplace instruments and bargaining.
Communication toolkit
Let your community know you’ve signed up to the worker retention payment.
Stay up to date
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