Pay & Wages
G8 Education Pay Rates 2026: Educator, Room Leader & Director Pay
What G8 Education workers should be paid in 2026 — the Children’s Services Award floor by classification, casual loading, penalties, and where the G8 Education enterprise agreements sit.
Who covers G8 Education workers — award or agreement?
G8 Education is the largest listed childcare operator, running more than 400 centres under brands including Community Kids, Kool Kids, Kinder Haven, Great Beginnings and Pelican Childcare. Its workforce is educators at every qualification level, early childhood teachers, centre managers and support staff.
G8 centre staff are covered by the Children's Services Award 2010 (educators) and the Educational Services (Teachers) Award (early childhood teachers). Our corpus holds no federally registered G8 enterprise agreement, so the award educator ladder below — plus the government-funded wage supplement G8 has signed up to — is the benchmark for your payslip.
The federal awards relevant to G8 Education roles:
- Children’s Services Award 2010 (MA000120)
- Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2020 (MA000077)
Workforce snapshot. In its 2024-25 report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, G8 Education Limited declared 9,332 employees — 18.7% casual and 95.6% women, with 537 in management roles. Source: WGEA 2025 Public Data File, data.gov.au (CC-BY 3.0 AU).
Children's Services award floor — educators (1 July 2026)
The Children's Services Award 2010 (MA000120) educator ladder, after the FWC's early childhood work value restructure, is:
| Classification | Permanent | Casual (incl. 25%) |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 — Introductory Educator | $28.81/hr | $36.01/hr |
| Level 2 — Educator | $29.69/hr | $37.11/hr |
| Level 3 — Qualified Educator | $32.47/hr | $40.59/hr |
| Level 4 — Experienced Educator | $34.65/hr | $43.31/hr |
| Level 5 — Advanced Educator | $36.57/hr | $45.71/hr |
| Level 6 — Room Leader | $38.25/hr | $47.81/hr |
| Level 7 — Assistant Director | $40.00/hr | $50.00/hr |
| Level 8 — Director | $46.12/hr | $57.65/hr |
The government-funded educator wage supplement is paid on top of these award rates by centres that have opted in — it is not part of the award floor. Early childhood teachers sit on the Educational Services (Teachers) Award instead.
Source: Fair Work Commission modern awards pay database, current-operative rates (1 July 2026 annual wage review). Casual figures add the 25% casual loading.
Children's Services award floor — support workers
Cooks, cleaners, administration and other support workers in a centre sit on the award's support worker ladder:
| Classification | Permanent | Casual (incl. 25%) |
|---|---|---|
| Support worker Level 1.1 (on commencement) | $26.44/hr | $33.05/hr |
| Support worker Level 2.1 (on commencement) | $26.93/hr | $33.66/hr |
| Support worker Level 2.2 (after 1 year) | $27.82/hr | $34.77/hr |
| Support worker Level 3.1 (on commencement) | $29.45/hr | $36.81/hr |
Source: Fair Work Commission modern awards pay database, current-operative rates (1 July 2026 annual wage review). Casual figures add the 25% casual loading.
Does G8 Education have an enterprise agreement?
As at 6 September 2026, our corpus of 14,141 federally registered enterprise agreements holds no current agreement for G8 Education. That usually means one of three things: the employer pays on the award (or on individual contracts above it), the agreement covering you is registered under a different entity name (check the employer name on your payslip and search our agreements database), or — for state public-sector employers — pay is set by a state award or agreement outside the federal register. If you have a copy of an agreement that names G8 Education, it beats the award figures above.
Early learning pay issues worth checking on any payslip
General award-compliance issues that come up across the early learning sector. This is a checklist for your own payslip, not a finding about G8 Education:
- Qualification not matched to level — a Diploma educator paid at the Cert III level, or a room leader paid as a floor educator.
- Funded wage supplement not passed on in full to eligible educators.
- Unpaid programming and documentation time, and unpaid time before opening or after close.
- Casuals under the minimum engagement or without the 25% loading.
What to do if your pay looks wrong
Match your payslip to your classification in the agreement (or the award tables above), and price any gap with our back-pay calculator. Raise it in writing with payroll or your manager first — most underpayments are fixed at that step. Unresolved, the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) recovers underpayments at no cost, up to six years back, and your union can run the claim for you. Not sure which instrument covers you? Ask our AI advisor with your role and location.
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FairWork Mate is an independent Australian publisher of workplace-rights information. Our content is prepared with AI assistance and draws on primary sources — the Fair Work Act, modern awards, and Fair Work Commission and Fair Work Ombudsman material. It is general information, not legal advice.