IEU member and community preschool Ambassador Margaret Gleeson tells it like it is.
For 26 years I’ve been the Managing Director of a small community preschool that started in 1952. Like many preschools across the state, we were established in response to community need.
I have 40 years’ teaching experience in government primary schools, long day care and preschools.
Community preschools are doing it tough. The undervaluation of teachers and educators is only worsening.
Since mid-2024, I have been one of six IEU ambassadors from across NSW attending hearings at the Fair Work Commission, sharing my preschool’s story and hearing many stories from other preschools.
The staffing crisis has a daily impact – casual relief staff are leaving for higher paid roles and statewide recruitment challenges are intensifying.
I’m worried about staffing community preschools. Our most recent staff celebrations were for a 60th birthday, followed by a 70th birthday. Will there be a new generation of teachers for the children of NSW?
Treasurer faces questions
On 4 March, I joined the IEU and a contingent of members to attend a Budget Estimates hearing at NSW Parliament House. We wore our bright pink campaign colour to highlight the need for funding increases for community preschools.
We appreciate Greens MP Abigail Boyd’s direct questions to NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey, including drawing his attention to the recent Fair Work Commission recommendation.
Mr Mookhey’s responses highlighted just how little he understands of the issues NSW community preschools are facing.
“We have actually provided a huge amount of additional resources for childcare,” he contended.
In response, Ms Boyd drew the Treasurer’s attention to the 2026 Start Strong guidelines, saying they had actually cut fee relief funding for 212 community preschools, even further reducing total funding by up to 6.46 per cent for more than a third of services.
Disappointingly, the Treasurer’s response was to ignore the facts and handball the issue to the NSW Education Minister as “an operational decision of the Education Department”.
What do we want?
We need your help to ensure the NSW government understands the hardship that inadequate funding is causing in NSW community preschools.
Our ask is simple. We need increased funding for:
- Fair funding: Increases that reflect the real cost of delivering high quality early education while maintaining accessibility for families and communities.
- Fair pay: Funding that enables preschools to offer competitive wages so we can attract and retain qualified teachers and educators and continue to deliver this essential service to the community.
- Recognition: Acknowledgement of the essential role community preschools play in NSW, and the serious impact their loss would have on children, families, and local communities.
What you can do
- Wednesday 18 March: Wear pink, decorate your preschool and talk to your colleagues and communities about fair funding. Let’s get visible! Download resources here.
- Wednesday 6 May: Rally at top of Martin Place, gather 9.30am for 10am start. Make signs and wear your best bright pink so we can make it clear to the NSW government that they need to fund community preschools fairly. Let’s get loud!
- Follow IEU social media and our campaign page: be informed of events and use resources available. Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky
Please join us in ramping up our advocacy to achieve justice for educators, children, families and preschools.
This update is part of the March 2026 EXEC Extra enewsletter. Stay across all our updates for early childhood teachers on our ECEC page or via our Facebook community group for members only.
