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About Child Care
You'll become
Average Salaries
Child Care workers may earn between $25,000 and $55,000 per year
Turn your passion for helping people into an energising and rewarding professional career by studying a child care course.
You care deeply about children and want a rewarding new career. Play a critical role in shaping the leaders of tomorrow and build in-demand professional skills by studying a course in child care.
Working closely with children and other professionals, graduates of child care courses play a critical role in the social, emotional and physical development of babies, children and young people. As a child care professional, you’ll help support and care for children in a range of ways, working hands-on to ensure their most critical development needs are satisfied.
With a highly employed population and a generous government rebate for child care services, Australia is urgently seeking skilled professionals to provide critical support and care for children whose parents work. By studying a child care course, you’ll build the essential skills, abilities and insights required to provide world-class care to children and young people.
You can study child care as a certificate or diploma course or as part of a bachelor’s degree. After completing a child care course, you may seek employment as a child care worker, day care worker or nanny, working either in a child care centre setting or in a home or private environment.
What do child care graduates do?
Child care workers play a vital role in supporting the social, emotional and physical development of young people. As a child care worker, you can expect to work in an intimate and hands-on role, performing tasks like:
- Assisting other child care centre staff to prepare materials for educational and recreational activities;
- Assisting with designing structured learning and development plans using a variety of different materials to facilitate children’s development;
- Assisting with explaining and implementing activities;
- Preparing and conducting activities with children;
- Teaching the basics of numeracy, literature and art to children through interactive games and activities;
- Supporting the development of children’s motor skills through games, sports and activities;
- Monitoring children and managing behaviour, including managing conflict;
- Supporting children’s emotional, intellectual, social and physical development;
- Entertaining children by reading, conducting activities and playing games;
- Supervising children’s hygiene and meal time routines and observing children’s nutritional needs;
- Assisting in proactively identifying and mitigating risks to children’s health, welfare and safety, and maintaining personal and organisational compliance with all relevant legislation and regulations;
- Assisting in organising, equipping and decorating a child care centre; and
- Working closely with key stakeholders, including other child care centre staff, children, families and community members to provide holistic support to children in your care.
Career Outcomes
Career Outcomes
As your career develops, you may also progress to a role in child care centre management and administration.
After completing a child care course, you may choose to work in a variety of school, crèche, child care centre and recreational centre settings. Jobs you may pursue after graduation include roles such as:
Is child care right for you?
You’ll find working in child care rewarding and stimulating if you:
- Love children and are passionate about their wellbeing
- Have excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Are curious
- Can work independently
- Like problem-solving
- Are patient and empathetic
- Have strong organisational and time management skills
- Are a confident public speaker
- Love working with people
- Are committed to supporting others
- Enjoy fast-paced work
- Can keep calm and level-headed in stressful situations
- Are a creative thinker
- Enjoy challenging yourself
Job opportunities
According to the Australian Government’s Job Outlook, the child care industry in Australia is large and growing. Job opportunities in the child care sector have increased steadily in the last decade. The sector currently employs approximately 149,600 child care workers. Job Outlook predicts this demand will continue until at least 2020, with approximately 39,000 new child care workers predicted to be needed in the next decade.
Average Salaries
According to PayScale, child care workers can expect to earn between $20,000 and $55,000 per year, with an average salary of approximately $45,000. While salary does increase with experience, PayScale notes only a modest relationship, indicating entry-level workers may enjoy earning competitive salaries.
PayScale notes that a child care centre manager can expect to earn between $45,000 and $81,000 per year, with an average salary of $63,000 per year. Job Outlook observes that managers may earn up to an additional 50 per cent of the weekly salary of a child care worker, stating that workers take home on average $800 per week, while child care centre managers earn on average $1,160 per week.