We’re funding a wage increase for the early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce through the worker retention payment.
On this page:
The worker retention payment has been extended to 30 June 2028. If you currently have a grant agreement, you do not need to submit a new application to continue participating in the program from 1 December 2026. We will send you an offer to extend your grant agreement in mid-October 2026.
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.
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 | Backdated funding review applications close |
| 17 June 2026 | Program extended to 30 June 2028 and expanded to In Home Care and Family Day Care |
| October 2026 | Grant extension offers sent to current participants |
| 1 December 2026 | Year 3 starts |
| Mid-December 2026 | Acceptance of grant extension offers due from continuing participants |
| 28 February 2027 | Updated workplace instrument approval due from continuing participants |
| 31 March 2027 | Reassessment due for services not meeting QA2 safety condition |
| 1 July 2027 | QA2 safety condition starts |
| 1 December 2027 | Year 4 starts |
| 30 April 2028 | Applications close |
| 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.
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