COAST early childhood educators have joined the thousands across the country who walked off the job yesterday to demand equal pay for their sector.

Sunshine Coast Goodstart lead educator Suzanne Enkelmann said she was sick of being treated as a 'babysitter' by the Federal Government.

"We are professional educators and we have high qualifications and are highly skilled,” she said.

"We are not getting the recognition for those skills and qualifications that we have.

"It's about stepping up, having a voice and letting the community and the Federal Government know that we aren't going to stop until something gets done.”

Early childhood educators currently earn around $21 an hour, half of the average Australian wage of $42.

Ms Enkelmann said they wouldn't be silenced until their demands for equal pay were met.

"They Federal Government need to listen and they can't keep hiding under the covers, so to speak, for too much longer,” she said.

"We don't want the title of a glorified babysitter, we are professional educators and we should justly be awarded for those efforts and be paid what we are entitled to.”

Landsborough kindergarten teacher Jane Kennedy has worked within the early childhood sector for more than 30 years and said if it wasn't for her passion for the job she would have left a long time ago.

"Many childcare workers are young women with young families and it's really hard for them to get ahead and make enough money to support their families,” she said.

"So we lose a lot of really good educators who are highly committed but they can't realistically support a family and so they move on.

"The Government increasingly shows that it wants both parents to work and the economy sits on the shoulders of the people who will be looking after the children.”

This was the third early childhood walk-off in the past year, with double the number of educators walking off nationally compared to previous ones in September last year.