Children’s Services Award Changes 2026 and What Providers Need to Know
The Early Childhood Education and Care sector has been calling for greater recognition of educators for years, and now we’re seeing one of the most significant changes to the Children’s Services Award in recent history.
As part of the Fair Work Commission’s Gender-Based Undervaluation Review, major changes to the Children’s Services Award came into effect from 1 March 2026, bringing new classification structures, increased minimum pay rates, and a clearer career framework for educators.
For service providers, this isn’t just a payroll update. It has real implications for recruitment, retention, workforce planning, and budgeting.
Why These Changes Matter
The Fair Work Commission found that work performed by Children’s Services Employees had been historically undervalued, largely due to gender-based assumptions about care work. As a result, the Award has been redesigned to better reflect the skills, responsibilities, qualifications, and value educators bring to the sector.
This is a positive step for our industry.
For too long, many services have struggled with educator shortages, high turnover, and increasing competition for talent. Better pay and clearer career pathways can help attract and retain the educators our children deserve.
What Has Changed?
1. A New Classification Structure
The previous complex system of around 30 classification levels has been replaced with a simplified structure of 8 Children’s Services Employee (CSE) levels.
The new framework better aligns with:
- Qualifications
- Experience
- Responsibilities
- Leadership duties
This should make it easier for providers to classify employees correctly and for educators to understand their career progression opportunities.
2. Increased Minimum Pay Rates
The first pay increase took effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 March 2026. Further increases will continue to be phased in each year through to 2028 or 2029, depending on the classification level.
Some classifications will see total increases ranging from approximately 9.4% to 27.8% over the implementation period.
3. Changes for Certain Cook Roles
Providers should also be aware that cooks who hold or are working towards an approved early childhood qualification and may be required to work directly with children can now fall under the Children’s Services Employee classification structure.
What This Means for Recruitment
While increased wages are great news for educators, they also create a more competitive recruitment market.
We’re already seeing:
- Educators becoming more selective about opportunities
- Services reviewing remuneration strategies
- Greater demand for experienced Room Leaders, Educational Leaders, Coordinators, and Centre Managers
- Increased focus on employee value propositions beyond salary
Simply advertising a role is no longer enough.
The services attracting and retaining top talent are offering:
- Strong leadership
- Career progression opportunities
- Flexible working arrangements
- Positive workplace culture
- Professional development pathways
What Service Providers Should Be Doing Now
If you haven’t already, now is the time to:
Review employee classifications
- Ensure payroll systems have been updated
- Assess future wage cost impacts
- Review recruitment and retention strategies
- Strengthen your employer brand
- Benchmark your salaries against the market
The reality is that workforce shortages haven’t disappeared. If anything, the competition for quality educators is likely to intensify as the sector adjusts to these changes.
How Anila Recruitment Can Help
At Anila Recruitment, we work exclusively across Early Childhood Education, OSHC, and Social Care services throughout Australia.
We speak with educators, leaders, and executives every day, giving us real-time insight into candidate expectations, salary trends, and market conditions.
Whether you’re recruiting a Centre Manager, Educational Leader, Nominated Supervisor, Regional Manager, or OSHC Coordinator, we can help you secure high-quality candidates faster and reduce the impact of prolonged vacancies.
If you’d like to discuss your current recruitment challenges or workforce planning strategy, get in touch with our team.
hello@anilarecruitment.com.au
Source: Fairwork.gov.au/