Insufficient staffing ratios, low wages, jam-packed wait lists, "childcare deserts" and feeling underappreciated.
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It's a long list of items, but these are only some of the realities voiced by workers in the early childhood sector, which led to statewide strike action on Wednesday.
In Orange, around 30 current and former early childhood educators met at Robertson Park at 3pm, boasting signage that read: "I can't pay my bills with cupcakes!", and; "No more band-aids! We demand a living wage!".
At the rally to advocate for improvements, Samantha Elphick said despite their love for working with children, staff in the industry have been "leaving in droves".
Highlighting the importance of their work in children's lives, she believes the industry should be a part of the education system "where it deserves to be".
"The community has no idea the crisis that's affecting our sector at the moment and educators are leaving in droves - we're undervalued, we're underpaid and we're underappreciated," Ms Elphick said.
"We know the studies that are out there - that the first five years of a child's life are the most important - and without early childhood education, children start school miles behind.
"Similar to nurses and teachers, we need advocacy for our sector; because for too long, early education has been forgotten and we feel forgotten - our work is not considered part of the education system, which is where it deserves to be.
"So, we're here to advocate for better pay, for better conditions and to force the federal government to address the workforce crisis - which is currently affecting every childhood educator across Australia."
We're undervalued, we're underpaid and we're underappreciated ... our work is not considered part of the education system, which is where it deserves to be.
- Early childhood educator at Orange's strike, Samantha Elphick
In a bid for better pay and improved working conditions, more than 1000 of the nation's childcare centres closed their doors on September 7, according to the United Workers Union.
While the gates at Orange Preschool Kindergarten remained opened on Moad Street, a show of support for the struggling sector was evident - a visible banner from street view, external whiteboards sporting buzz words and internal signage.
All of the centre's educators donned slogan t-shirts to match the outside signage, wearing the words "Children", "Recognition", "Conditions", and "Pay" on their backs.
Director of the Moad Street centre, Sonya Murphy said that while she's "worked hard" to take care of her workers' emotional and mental health, the harsh realities of the industry still exist.
"We love working in early childhood - we're supported by our families, we're committed to this community and we feel lucky to be a part of that - but the main issues we're finding are that people are getting burned out," Ms Murphy said.
"There is so much more to this role and we want more for our industry, because we're passionate about our jobs and about understanding the needs of children.
"But, the main problem is what the sector will face in the future - that there's just not going to be enough staff in the industry."
On the books in 2022, Orange Preschool Kindergarten services 100 to 110 families per week, with 40 children at the centre on a daily basis.
With the service's demographic kids aged three to five, the staff to child ratio sits at a one to 10. Though, for many early educators at other services it's a different story.
"We're a different service in the fact that we are a preschool, whereas in a long daycare service, for example, you're going to have children that are much younger; and those children have a different ratio of adults to infants," OPK early educator, Jessica McGrath said.
"If you were talking to someone working in long daycare, they're working with one staff member to four infants; and if you've ever tried to juggle four infants with one adult - it's very difficult."
While every day can present its different set of challenges, Mrs McGrath also felt that their community-based preschool has "a good model of leadership" - where staff feel supported and part of a team, she said.
Again, though, this isn't the general case across the industry overall, where the educator said issues of burnout are impacting workers, leaving children with inconsistent care and impacting families, as well.
"In our sector, services are struggling to retain staff and staff are working under conditions that are not allowing them to have a work/life balance," Mrs McGrath said.
"Their roles are often undervalued and their pay is not reflecting the qualifications that they have and the responsibility that we have."
Based on more than 2000 salary profiles, the average hourly pay for an early childhood educator is estimated at around $26/hour.
The issue here, though, is that educators in Australia are mandated to be academically qualified, which includes additional training requirements and, often, means educators are unable to mentally "switch off" from their jobs.
"As we've become more professionally-trained, with more documentation and regulation requirements - the problem is, there's been no recognition to reflect how much we actually do," Ms Murphy said.
"And you can't have a bad day in this sort of industry; you've got to pick yourself up, you've got to come in and you've got to give the kids whatever needs they have, because that's our responsibility - to keep them safe and to keep them educated.
"There's not enough reason or incentive [being provided] for workers to stay in the sector, or to attract new staff.
"People are walking out because they don't feel valued and they're saying 'I just can't do it anymore, it's too much', because many of these workers have families of their own, so when they can't put that energy in at home anymore - it's just not worth it."
In a report titled Exhausted, undervalued and leaving: the crisis in early education, which - based on survey outcomes of 4000 early educators - the United Workers Union outlined the industry as being "on the brink of crisis".
"The message from early educators across the country is clear - they are at breaking point," UWU's early education director, Helen Gibbons said.
There's not enough reason or incentive [being provided] for workers to stay in the sector, or to attract new staff ... people are walking out because they don't feel valued.
- Sonya Murphy on the early education sector in workforce crisis
"There is no early childhood sector without early educators, and they simply can't afford to stay and hold it together anymore."
Ms Gibbons also said that COVID-19 had only exacerbated an already-existent problem in the industry with job vacancies near double that, when comparing worker levels from the pre-pandemic era.
"High workload because of increased understaffing is pushing more and more educators out of the sector, [and] services are already reporting having to cap new enrolments" she said.
"Without urgent action, this crisis will spiral out of control and children and families will miss out - losing access to crucial early learning services."
The only "fix" to the crisis, Ms Gibbons continued, is to up wages for educators, along with providing better working conditions.
"This is the opportunity for the government to provide a real solution for the sector," she said.
"By delivering a workforce strategy that provides targeted funding to improve wages."
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