The Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Workforce in Early Childhood Education

Findings From a National Survey of Australian Centre‐Based Services

Bibliographic Data

ID11228403
AuthorsSene Gide (0000-0002-5534-7867, Macquarie School of Education, Faculty of Arts Macquarie University Sydney New South Wales Australia, corresponding author), Lincoln J Harrison (0000-0003-3835-6283, Macquarie University), Linda Harrison (Macquarie School of Education, Faculty of Arts Macquarie University Sydney New South Wales Australia), Sandie Wong (0000-0003-3246-0717, Macquarie School of Education, Faculty of Arts Macquarie University Sydney New South Wales Australia), Frank Pre (0000-0002-8980-5096, Griffith University), Frances Press (School of Education and Professional Studies Griffith University Brisbane Queensland Australia), Belinda Davis (0000-0002-5377-2296, Macquarie School of Education, Faculty of Arts Macquarie University Sydney New South Wales Australia)
Year2026
Publication date2026-03-08
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Journal of Social Issues (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0157-6321 • E-ISSN: 1839-4655
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajs4.70098
OpenAlexW7134280911
LanguageEN
References cited17

Culturally responsive early childhood education (ECE) environments can increase child and family participation, enhance service quality, and improve developmental outcomes for children. Educators from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds contribute to inclusive ECE and are crucial for addressing workforce shortages. The National Children's Education and Care Workforce Strategy (2022–2031) (ACECQA, 2021) promotes workforce diversity, including efforts to attract overseas‐trained educators. However, limited national data on CALD educators has hindered targeted policy and support development. This study conducted a national survey of ECE directors to profile the CALD workforce in centre‐based services. Results showed that 77% of the 502 participating services employed permanent CALD staff, 49% employed casual CALD staff, and 18% reported no CALD employees. Metropolitan and for‐profit services reported higher proportions of CALD educators than regional/rural and not‐for‐profit services. CALD educators were well‐qualified relative to the 2021 National Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce Census, but were less likely to hold leadership roles as centre directors. The findings underscore the need to recognise CALD educators in national workforce data and policy frameworks. Targeted strategies are needed to support career progression and retention, critical to fulfilling the goals of the National Workforce Strategy for a culturally diverse ECE workforce

Casual · Early childhood · Early childhood education · Project commissioning · Service (business · Workforce · Workforce development · Workforce planning · Early Childhood Education and Development · Family and Disability Support Research · Parental Involvement in Education

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Open DOIOpen Access