The NSW Government must fund pay rises for community preschools

DAY OF ACTION: 15 October 11:30am, top of Martin Place

On Wednesday, 15 October, the IEU is holding a Day of Action rally. We will be gathering at the top of Martin Place, to make a stand to save our community preschools.

Wear pink, bring your signs and slogans to our rally, and most importantly, bring your fight for fair funding!

This is your chance to make your voice heard. The union, along with Community Early Learning Australia (CELA), is asking community preschools across NSW to shut their doors for a full or half day and join us at the rally. It’s time to make a statement – without fair funding, preschools cannot survive.

RSVP to the Day of Action

Posters and Resources

What should I do if I can’t attend the rally?

After months of bargaining with your union, the IEU, the NSW Government has rejected our proposal for increased funding to help you get the wages you deserve. They refuse to take responsibility as the main funding body for community preschools in NSW.

The Expanding Quality Access program, announced by the NSW Government on 16 September, won’t fix the problem.

We need the NSW government to stand with community preschools and pay their teachers and educators what they deserve

Our letter to MPs

Posters and Resources

Read the story so far

Our letter to parents

NSW community preschools are in crisis

Community Preschools are not-for-profit services dedicated to inclusive early childhood education and care. They cater to all children, including children from backgrounds of economic disadvantage and children with additional needs.

Currently, they are facing a workforce exodus.

Poor pay and conditions have meant that community preschools have struggled to attract new staff to their services and are losing staff to other sectors.

Community Preschool teachers and educators are drowning under increasing workloads, and intense pressure to maintain a high standard of care.

This can’t go on.

RSVP to the Day of Action Rally

What should I do if I can’t attend the Day of Action Rally?

We understand attending the rally isn’t a possibility for everyone. Here’s a guide to how you can still get involved:

Close your preschool for a full or half day
Hold a Day of Action event! This could look like a mini rally, a picnic in pink, or another type of community gathering
Invite your local MP as well as local media, parents and other community members. This is your opportunity to get the word out about the difficulties your service is facing.
Use our resources to get the word out! We have posters and selfie signs to help get you started, but don’t be afraid to get creative!

We strongly encourage you to attend the rally at Martin Place if possible. Together, our voices are stronger.

Posters and Resources

We need fair pay for community preschool teachers now.

Community preschools are safe, trusted and built around children’s needs. Many have long waiting lists, reflective of the role and value that they hold in the community.

Quality

Community preschools set the standard for early childhood education and care, and are 3x more likely to be rated high-quality than for-profit services.

Safety

Community preschools have low rates of safety breaches because they are:

staffed by professional and experienced teachers prioritising child safety
managed by volunteer committees of parents whose only priorities are children’s education and safety – not profit!

Pay

Community preschool teachers and educators are paid up to 30% less than teachers and educators in schools with the same qualifications and roles

We call on the NSW government to fund community preschools fairly.

Community preschools set the standard for high-quality early childhood education and care

Community preschools provide high-quality early education and care. Around 52% of community-based preschools are rated as exceeding in the National Quality Standards (NQS ratings), compared to around 18% of long day care services.

They are the benchmark for ECEC services.

Read our letter to MPs

Why community preschools matter

There are around 710 community preschools across NSW, ranging from metropolitan areas to remote and rural regions.

Community preschools are managed by volunteer parent management committees and are 100% not-for-profit.

They provide a vital service to educate and care for children aged three to five years, their families and communities. These are the critical years before children commence primary school. The difference access to safe, high-quality early childhood education can make to a child’s educational development and wellbeing is transformative. To make sure these children start school strong, we need to make sure their teachers and educators are paid fair.

Over 95% of community preschool teachers and educators are female.

Low rates of pay are a result of systemic, gender-based undervaluation of the work they perform. If the NSW Government does not address the workforce crisis in community preschools, these highly qualified professionals will not be able to continue to provide a vital service to our community. We must continue to fight to ensure community-preschool teachers and educators get the recognition they deserve.

Find the full set of Campaign Updates here

10 September 2025: Media Release: Community Preschools in crisis – Union demands action from NSW Government

18 August 2025: Urgent Call – Stand with community preschools

7 August 2025: Supported bargaining update

1 July 2025: Supported bargaining update

7 May, 2025: Supported bargaining update

2 April, 2025: Supported bargaining update

13 March, 2025: Supported bargaining update

30 October, 2024: Log of claims before the Fair Work Commission

30 September, 2024: Fair Work Commission issues Supported Bargaining Authorisation

23 September, 2024: Media Release – Fair Work Commission authorises bargaining for staff in over 100 preschools

9 September, 2024: ECEC Extra – Historic bid for better preschool pay