Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.

Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.

The object of this Act is to support remuneration increases for workers in the early childhood education and care sector, a sector that provides an essential service, in order to:

Another object of this Act is to implement Australia’s international obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child done at New York on 20 November 1989.

This Act binds the Crown in each of its capacities.

This Act does not make the Crown liable to be prosecuted for an offence.

The Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers Special Account is established by this section.

(2) The Account is a special account for the purposes of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

The Secretary is responsible for the Account.

The Secretary may, on behalf of the Commonwealth, make a grant of financial assistance to a person or body (including a partnership) that is an approved provider, in relation to the remuneration of workers engaged by the provider.

Without limiting subsection (1), a grant under that subsection may be made by way of the reimbursement, or partial reimbursement, of costs or expenses.

Subsection (1) does not authorise the making of a loan.

A grant under subsection (1) must not be made to a person or body unless the person or body has applied for the grant.

The terms and conditions of a grant made under section 10 must be set out in a written agreement between the Commonwealth and the recipient of the grant.

The recipient must comply with the terms and conditions.

Without limiting subsection (1), the terms and conditions must:

An agreement under subsection (1) is to be entered into, and may be varied and administered, by the Secretary on behalf of the Commonwealth.

This Act applies to the following as if it were a person, but with the changes set out in this section:

An obligation that would otherwise be imposed on a partnership by this Act is imposed on each partner instead, but may be discharged by any of the partners.

A permission that would otherwise be conferred on a partnership by this Act is conferred on each partner instead, but may be exercised by any of the partners.

For the purposes of this Act, a change in the composition of a partnership does not affect the continuity of the partnership.

Unincorporated entities

An obligation that would otherwise be imposed by this Act on an unincorporated entity or body (other than a partnership) is imposed on each member of the entity or body’s governing body instead, but may be discharged by any of the members.

A permission that would otherwise be conferred on such an entity or body by this Act is conferred on each member of the entity or body’s governing body instead, but may be exercised by any of the members.

The Secretary may, by writing, delegate any or all of the Secretary’s functions or powers under Part 3 to a person who:

In performing functions, or exercising powers, under a delegation under subsection (1), the delegate must comply with any directions of the Secretary.

This section applies to a written agreement that is:

The written agreement has effect, on and after 1 July 2025, as if it were a written agreement entered into for the purposes of section 11 of this Act for a grant under section 10 of this Act.

The Minister may, by legislative instrument, make rules prescribing matters:

To avoid doubt, the rules may not do the following: