Early Childhood Educators Day 2026
Today, Wednesday 2nd September, is Early Childhood Educators Day, and services across Victoria are spending the week honouring the people at the centre of it all: Early Learning Educators.
A Day Fifteen Years in the Making
The Australian Childcare Alliance created Early Childhood Educators Day back in 2011, promoted by a simple observation; early learning educators were shaping young lives every single day, largely without recognition. The first Wednesday of September has since become a fixture in the sector’s calendar, marked with everything from children’s handmade cards to staff morning teas.
What started as a single day of thanks has become something bigger, a chance for the whole sector, and the families it serves, to reflect on just how much educators carry.
On the Ground with SmartOz Kidz
To mark the occasion, ACA Victoria’s Membership Lead, Michelle Losurdo, visited SmartOz Kidz Early Learning and Care Centres, run by Approved Providers Ellina Ong and Sophia Look, delivering treats and, more importantly, a genuine “thank you” to their educators.
SmartOz Kidz builds its service around a straightforward but demanding standard: every child should receive high-quality care grounded in trusted values, in an environment that’s both safe and nurturing. That’s not just a line in a philosophy document, it shows up in their Service of Excellence motto, and in an approach that treats each family as a genuine partner in their child’s outcomes, rather than simply a service to deliver to.
Spending time with the team was a reminder of something true of educators right across Victoria: the standards they hold themselves to are often higher than anyone asks of them.
What Early Childhood Educators Actually Do
It’s easy to describe the job in general terms; supervising play, managing routines, creating learning experiences. What everyone misses is the actual depth of what they do. Every day, Early Childhood Educators shape how a generation of children come to see themselves and the world. They’re there in the moment a shy child finds their voice, the moment a toddler learns to trust someone outside their family, the moment a child discovers they’re capable of more than they knew.
That’s not a job description. It’s a responsibility few professions carry, and one educators meet with extraordinary consistency, patience, and heart.
It’s why they deserve more than a single day of thank you: they deserve to be recognised, valued, and championed all year round. That’s the standard ACA Victoria holds itself to, and the standard our sector should never stop pushing for.
A Message of Thanks
To every educator, teacher, and service leader across Victoria: thank you. The work you do rarely makes headlines, but its impact lasts a lifetime.
Early Childhood Educators Day may be a single week on the calendar, but at ACA Victoria, our support for the people behind it doesn’t end there.
