Early Childhood Education in Australia

Working with Children can be one of the most rewarding experiences of anyone’s life. Child Care Centre Managers direct and supervise child care workers, develop and implement programs to enhance the lives of young Australians and provide care for young children in before-school, after-school, day and vacation care centres.
Child Care Cenre Manager is currently on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) to view this list Please Click Here


Employment in this Qualification has rose very strongly in the last 5 years and is expected to keep growing. This is wonderful for anyone currently studying or thinking about studying this course because there is a very strong chance employment opportunities will exist when they have completed their course. ‘
Career Information:
The average hours worked by a person in Child Centre Managers are 37.6 hours per week compared to the national average of all occupations 41.1 hours per week.
The Average Pay for someone working in Child Care Centre Manager is $1115.00 per week.

Child Centre Manager Courses:
Certificate III in Children Services
Course Duration: 6 months (including 240 hours of practicum working in a childcare)Common Course Requirements:
Must have graduated year 11 in home country
Must have a minimum of IELTS 5 in all 4 components


Course Outcome:
Assistant in a Childcare Centre
Assistant in Family Day Care Provider
Pathways: Most Certificates in Early Childhood Education courses provide a pathway to Diploma of Early Childhood Education.
Diploma Of Early Childhood Education

Course Duration: 1 year (including 240 hours of practicum working in a childcare) Common Course Requirements:
Must have graduated year 11 in home country
Must have a minimum of IELTS 5 in all 4 components
Course Outcome:
Qualified Child Care Group Leader
Family Day Care Coordinator

Pathways: Most Diploma of Early Childhood Education courses provide a pathway to Bachelor or Bachelor of Education majoring in Early Childhood. If you complete a Diploma of Early Childhood Eduction, you may be given Recognised Prior Learning (RPL) for your Bachelor of Education and reduce the time of the course significantly.
Education Pathways:

Child Care Centre Manager (134111) is currently on the Skilled Occupation List. The current education qualification requirement to obtain a positive skills assessment is a Diploma of Early Childhood Education. By studying a package of courses that go for 2 years and result in a Diploma of Children’s Services you may be able to begin your pathway to living and working in Australia. You may even be able to do this without being sponsored by an employer and you may not need to live in a regional area. Below are some simple steps that may allow you to go down this pathway.
Step 1: Study a course or package of courses that go for at least 2 years and includes the Diploma of Early Childhood Education
Cert III in Early Childhood Education (6 months)
Diploma of Early Childhood Education (1 year)
Diploma of Management (6 months)
Step 2: By studying for 2 years and undertaking 360 hours of vocational placement during your studies (most education providers will arrange this for you), you may be eligible to apply for and receive the temporary graduate visa

The graduate visa is a work visa that allows the visa holder to live and work in Australia for up to 18 months. For more information on the graduate visa click here.
Step 3: On the graduate visa, you will be able to undertake part in the Job Ready Program.

The benefits of the JRP is that on completion you will be provided with a positive skills assessment for general migration purposes. On this program you must work for at least 12 months as a Child Care Centre Manager. The Childcare will need to have a minimum of 20 children in the 0-5 age group. Your employer will not need to sponsor your visa, as you will already be on the graduate visa. This will mean that you have a lot higher chance of finding employment as it is very easy for the employer to hire you. You may find this video on the Job Ready Program helpful.
Step 4: Once you have completed the Job Ready Program as a Child Care Centre Manager you will receive a positive skills assessment. Once you have the positive skills assessment you will be able to apply for general skilled migration visas.

If eligible, the general skilled migration visas do not require you to have an employer that is willing to sponsor your visa. Please note that you will still be required to pass the points test and health checks to apply for this visa.
Job Forecasts & Facts:
Employment in this sector rose very strongly in the last 5 years and also in the long term as well (10 years).
Growth in this industry is predicted to be very strong over the next 5 years.
This Industry is also growing in Regional areas creating more & more employment opportunities.
The most common level of Education Attained is a Bachelor Degree (49.2%).
There are currently 26000 Child Centre Managers employed in Australia.


Culled: www.pathwaytoaus.com