Centre of Excellence
The TAFE SA Centre of Excellence in Early Childhood Education and Care is a national leader in vocational education and training (VET), dedicated to building a skilled, inclusive, and culturally responsive workforce that supports children, families and communities across Australia.
Funded jointly by the Australian and South Australian governments, the Centre is part of a national network of TAFE Centres of Excellence established under the National Skills Agreement. It was created to strengthen Australia’s early learning workforce and address critical skills priorities.
Located at TAFE SA’s Adelaide Campus on Wauwi (Light Square), the Centre brings together educators, researchers, sector leaders and communities to design and champion accessible, evidence informed training and resources.
Our initiatives can be grouped across three priority areas: entry pathways, career development, and retention and recognition, ensuring people can begin, build and sustain meaningful careers in early childhood education and care (ECEC).
These priorities are shaped by ongoing collaboration with the sector, industry, employers, educators and other key stakeholders, ensuring our workforce development initiatives are informed by real-world needs, emerging challenges and opportunities.
Our Pillars of Excellence provide the guiding principles that shape how we design and deliver high-quality workforce development initiatives, with collaboration and shared insight at the heart of our approach.
We are seeking expressions of interest from ECEC professionals to contribute to the work of the Centre.
Stay up to date on the latest news and events from the Centre of Excellence in Early Childhood Education and Care.
Centre of Excellence Overview Brochure
NATION AND SECTOR LEADING EDUCATION AND SKILLS TRAINING
PATHWAYS AND ACCESSIBILITY
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
ACCELERATING RESULTS WITH RESEARCH
Collaboration and listening are at the heart of everything we do.
A commitment to genuine engagement with the ECEC sector, ensures every initiative is shaped by the insights, expertise and lived experience of those who deliver and depend on high-quality early learning.
We tailor our engagement to each project, using consultation methods ranging from large-scale forums to targeted deep conversations to ensure stakeholder voices inform our work.
In a process that involves scoping, development, design and execution we create a suite of initiatives that strengthen the early childhood education and care workforce and elevate professional practice across Australia. Our current initiatives are outlined below.
The APY Lands Methodology and Translation Initiative is making early childhood education and care training more accessible, culturally responsive and meaningful for learners whose first language is Pitjantjatjara.
Consultation has informed the resources and learning experiences that reflect local language, culture, stories and community knowledge.
The project brings together bilingual learning, storytelling, visual communication and Pitjantjatjara translations of key learning concepts to support culturally responsive vocational education.
The Vocational Degree provides a flexible pathway for existing educators and new entrants to become qualified Early Childhood Teachers. It is an AQF Level 7 vocational degree, equivalent to a university bachelor degree, with multiple entry and study options designed around the realities of the ECEC workforce. Flexible pathways: Direct entry, traineeships, full-time or part-time study, face-to-face, blended or online delivery. Work-integrated progression: Role progression is embedded across the degree, supporting movement from co-teaching towards independent teaching in the final year.
A stream of work that provides tailored responses and activities to attract and retain men, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and regional populations.
A new program to build educator capabilities to mentor and strenghen professional practice that promotes quality improvement and leadership.
Following its 2025 pilot and evaluation, the program will soon be ready for national distribution.
This newly developed training supports educators to understand and respond to children's needs before formal diagnosis, fostering inclusive environments and early support. Piloted in 2025, the training is now being delivered to all TAFE SA Certificate 3 students, with plans for future national implementation.
Working closely with the National TAFE Network to determine pathways for experienced educators to gain formal recognition of their skills and knowledge, streamlining access to the Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care (CHC50125) through RPL.
Research and recommendations on the use of technology, physical resources, and virtual learning environments to inform the design and integration of authentic, real-world settings that support best-practice education delivery and ECEC training.
TAFE SA is now offering a free, self-paced online short course that gives you a taste of what it’s really like to work in this rewarding sector. Developed by TAFE SA’s Centre of Excellence in Early Childhood Education and Care, the course offers real-world insights into this rewarding career.
We acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands on which TAFE SA stands.
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