← Education and social services

ANZSCO 4211Skill level 4Education and social services

Child care worker

Care for and supervise children in long day care, family day care and outside-school-hours settings.

Registration: Working With Children Check

Salary

Cited figures from Job Outlook and QILT. ExamExplained does not publish predictive earnings or projections.

FigureAUDSource
Full-time weekly earnings$1150Job Outlook (2025-06-01)

How far does this stretch in each city?

What a child care worker actually does

Child care workers (also called educators) are in the room with children all day, every day. A typical centre runs 6.30am to 6.30pm and most staff work a rostered 7-8 hour shift somewhere inside that window. Mornings open with arrivals, breakfast for some children, then free indoor or outdoor play. Mid-morning is a group experience led by the room teacher (an ECT) followed by morning tea and outdoor play. Lunch and rest happen around midday. The afternoon is more play and parent pick-ups. Educators do regular observations and post short notes or photos to a parent app, toilet and nappy routines, room cleaning and resetting, and lead small-group experiences. Out-of-school-hours care (OSHC) staff have a split shift: before school (roughly 6.30am to 9am), then late afternoon (3pm to 6pm), plus pupil-free days and school holidays. The work is physical (bending, lifting, sitting on the floor) and the noise is constant. Award rates in long day care are improving with the Workplace Relations Plan for ECEC, but they still sit at the lower end of community-services pay.

Typical tasks

  • Implement educator-planned activities.
  • Maintain children's safety and hygiene.
  • Communicate with families and lead educators.

Skills you'll use

  • Early Years Learning Framework and My Time, Our Place (school-age care)
  • Supervising and engaging children safely
  • Observation and short documentation of children's play
  • Working with families at drop-off and pick-up
  • Hygiene routines, nappying and food safety
  • Behaviour guidance and conflict resolution between children
  • Working in a team led by an early-childhood teacher

How to become one

  1. 1Finish Year 10 at minimum. A Cert III in Early Childhood Education and Care (CHC30121) is the entry-level qualification
  2. 2Complete the Cert III through TAFE, an RTO or as a school-based traineeship. It includes 160 hours of supervised work placement
  3. 3Get a Working With Children Check (NSW), Blue Card (Qld), Working With Vulnerable People (Tas, ACT, NT), or your state equivalent
  4. 4Complete Provide First Aid in an Education and Care Setting (HLTAID012), CPR, asthma and anaphylaxis training
  5. 5Apply for educator roles in long day care, family day care, council preschools or OSHC. Many centres recruit Cert III students before graduation
  6. 6Complete a Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care (CHC50121) within 5 years if you want to lead a room or progress to room leader
  7. 7Optionally, articulate into a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) to become an ECT

Where you can work

  • Long day care centres (large providers and independents)
  • Family day care schemes (educator at home)
  • Outside-school-hours care (OSHC) and vacation care
  • Council and community preschools
  • In-home care for families with specific needs
  • Workplace and university childcare centres

Career progression

Typical stages and salary bands. Salary figures are sourced from Job Outlook, QILT or industry bodies; brackets are 25th-75th percentile not absolute floors or ceilings.

  1. Trainee educator
    0-1 years
    Typical roles: Cert III trainee, Assistant educator
    Salary band: $50,000 - $58,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  2. Qualified educator
    1-4 years
    Typical roles: Cert III qualified educator, Diploma educator
    Salary band: $58,000 - $70,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  3. Room leader or educational leader
    4-8 years
    Typical roles: Room leader, Educational leader, 2IC
    Salary band: $65,000 - $80,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  4. Centre management
    8+ years
    Typical roles: Centre director, Nominated supervisor, Area manager

Is this for you?

You might love this if

  • You genuinely enjoy being around babies and small children for hours at a time
  • You can stay calm when one child is biting another and a third is crying
  • You're physically up for a job on your feet and on the floor all day
  • You're happy to work in a team and follow someone else's programme early on
  • You can connect with parents at the door even when you're tired

This might not suit you if

  • You can't physically handle bending, lifting and noise all day
  • You want a job that's mostly intellectual or at a desk
  • You can't tolerate frequent illness from being around small kids
  • You want a salary that scales fast in the first 5 years
  • You don't want responsibility for other people's children

Three ways in

Uni, TAFE and trade routes for child care worker. Not every career has all three; we only list pathways that actually lead to this occupation.

University

Bachelor degrees that lead to this career.

No direct undergraduate pathway. Consider postgraduate study after a related bachelor degree.

TAFE / VET

Nationally accredited Certificate and Diploma qualifications.

Apprenticeship trade

Earn while you learn through an Australian Apprenticeship.

Not an apprenticeship trade.

Sources

ExamExplained does not publish predictive salary figures. For current Australian earnings data check Job Outlook directly. Career classifications follow the ABS ANZSCO 2022 release.