Changes to Children’s Services Award 2020: New Minimum Wages and Classifications from 1 March 2026

| March 2, 2026

Employers operating in the children’s services industry are reminded that from 1 March 2026 the minimum wage for employees working in children’s services and early childhood education and care will increase.

Additionally, changes to the classification structure of the Award will come into effect.

The effective period for these changes is the first full pay period that starts on or after 1 March 2026.

These changes come into effect following the Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) review of priority awards as part of the Gender-based undervaluation examination (Review). For more information on the progress of the Review see here.

The key changes are summarised below. For the full decision, please see Gender-based undervaluation — priority awards review — Children’s Services Award 2010 [2025] FWCFB 283. For ease, we have included links at the bottom of this article.

Key Amendments to Classifications and Minimum Wages

The changes to the Award include a streamlining of the classifications as well as changes to the minimum wages for employees, in accordance with the table below:

Children’s Services Employee

Classification	Minimum Weekly Rate ($)	Minimum Hourly Rate ($)
Level 1—Introductory Educator	995.40	26.19
Level 2—Educator	1025.90	27.00
Level 3—Qualified Educator	1121.80	29.52
Level 4—Experienced Educator	1197.10	31.50
Level 5—Advanced Educator	1263.30	33.24
Level 6—Room Leader	1321.50	34.78
Level 7—Assistant Director	1381.90	36.37
Level 8—Director	1593.50	41.93

Further, the determination sets out Children’s Services Employees previously classified, are to be classified into the above table on 28 February 2026. See here for more information.

Previous Classification	Translated Classification
Level 1.1	Level 1—Introductory Educator
Level 2.1 – Level 3A2	Level 2—Educator
Level 3.1 – Level 3.3 (Less than 4 Years’ experience at Level 3)	Level 3—Qualified Educator
Level 3.3 (More than 4 Years’ experience at Level 3)	Level 4—Experienced Educator
Level 3.4	Level 5—Advanced Educator
Level 4A.1 – Level 4.3	Level 6—Room Leader
Level 5A.1 – Level 5.4	Level 7—Assistant Director
Level 6A.1 – Level 6.9	Level 8—Director

For More Information, visit the following links to the Fair Work Commission’s Determination. Please note the Determination containing the new rates has been amended twice, meaning you will need to read all three documents (as linked below) together: