ECEC Award Rise: The True Cost of 4.75% for Your Centre

Convert the rise into cost per occupied place per day

Cost per occupied place per day turns the ECEC award rise into a figure your board can compare with fees. Divide the weekly cost of the rise by the number of occupied places across the week.

The example below is illustrative only. It uses a hypothetical 60-place centre with 18 staff and average hourly costs we have assumed. They are not award rates, so replace them with your own payroll data.

Now add on-costs. If super is at 12% and other on-costs are assumed at 3%, add 15%; the weekly rise becomes about $1,404. Over 52 weeks, that is about $73,000.

Next, divide by occupied places. At 85% occupancy, 51 children attend each day, or 255 occupied place-days a week.

The same rise costs more per child when fewer places are filled. That is why occupancy belongs in the model alongside wages.

Illustrative only. These figures show the method, not industry averages. Your result depends on your rates, roster, occupancy and grant arrangements.

Five levers protect margin without breaching the award

Once you know the cost per place, test each lever against it. Every option must keep award rates, grant conditions and educator-to-child ratios intact at all times.

• Roster to ratios through the day. Match staffing to sign-in patterns by room and hour. Meet ratios at every point without paying for idle hours. Stagger start and finish times rather than cutting cover.

• Lift occupancy. Fill low-booking days, follow up your waitlist promptly, and check whether your room mix matches local demand by age group.

• Review the qualification mix. Plan recruitment and study support so each room meets the National Regulations. Always classify each person by their actual duties and qualifications.

• Reduce unplanned overtime. Track overtime by cause, such as absence cover or late closes, and fix the cause rather than the symptom.

• Review fees with proper notice. Test fee options against the 5.8% cap if you receive the payment. Give families notice under your fee policy, and at least 14 days under the National Regulations.

Check fee options against the Child Care Subsidy hourly rate cap too. From 6 July 2026, the cap for children below school age in centre-based day care is $15.19. The cap is the maximum hourly rate the Government subsidises, so any fee above it is not subsidised.

Model fee and occupancy changes together, not one at a time. A fee rise that pushes families to drop a day can cost more than it raises.

Report the rise to your board on one page

Your board needs the cost, the cause and the options, not the full payroll file. Use five headings.

1. The cost. Weekly and annual cost of the July changes, including on-costs.

2. The unit cost. Cost per occupied place per day at current occupancy and two alternatives.

3. The funding position. What the Worker Retention Payment covers, the fee cap, and the July 2027 Quality Area 2 condition.

4. The options. Two or three levers, their effect on margin and any compliance limits.

5. The decision. What you are asking the board to approve, such as a fee change with its notice dates.

Add the next known dates: award changes on 30 June 2027 and the fee cap period ending 7 August 2027. The extended payment ends on 30 June 2028, so a three-year view stops each change arriving as a surprise.