Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1)   acknowledges that:

(a)   90 per cent of the brain develops before the age of five;

(b)   nearly one in four Australian children—22 per cent—start school without the foundational skills to be successful learners; and

(c)   those children who are missing out on early education are children from disadvantaged backgrounds and are the ones who would benefit most from a preschool program;

(2)   agrees that:

(a)   according to the Lifting our Game report prepared by early education experts for state and territory education ministers, two years of preschool is a key recommendation to achieving educational excellence in Australia; and

(b)   age appropriate early learning programs have been proven to have a positive impact on children's outcomes through school;

(3)   notes that:

(a)   the Government has left parents and providers in limbo with its refusal to provide funding certainty;

(b)   without ongoing funding to four year old preschool/kindy, providers are unable to plan ahead;

(c)   since Labor introduced Universal Access to Early Childhood Education in 2008, preschool enrolment for four year olds has increased from 77 per cent to 93 per cent; and

(d)   the Government's lack of commitment has left us falling behind other OECD countries in early education; and

(4)   calls on the Government to properly fund four year old preschool/kindy and follow Labor's commitment to provide ongoing funding to four year olds and extend this to three year olds.

I'm very pleased to be moving this motion in the House on early-learning funding. This is a critical issue, with massive impacts for our children and for the health and wellbeing of our communities and the broader economy.

Despite what some on the government benches fervently believe, where you end up in life isn't just the result of hard work; a lot of it has to do with where you start, including where you were born, your social and economic environment and the dynamics of your family life. The social determinants of life outcomes are very real. The experiences we have in our early years have a profound impact on the course our lives will take. Kids whose childhood is marred by family breakdown, poverty, domestic violence or neglect have a dramatically increased risk of long-term disadvantage. Close to one in four Australian kids start school unequipped for successful learning.

But there is a way to improve life outcomes—in fact, it's a well-known pathway, and it's called education. Education can help kids map a path out of disadvantage and give them the best chance of achieving their full potential. Ninety per cent of a child's brain development happens in the first five years, so it's not surprising that children who access quality early-childhood education go on to achieve better results throughout school.

The former Labor government's preschool program has been a great success, with more than 90 per cent of four-year-olds enrolled. But the number of three-year-olds in early childhood education is still way below the OECD average. That's why Labor has committed to extending funding to provide 15 hours of subsidised preschool for three-year-olds as well. This will create a quality two-year program to support the most important years of a child's development.

This is no trivial thing. In fact, it is the biggest investment in early childhood education in Australia's history, and it is set to help some 700,000 children. In my electorate of Newcastle alone, I'm pleased to say that close to 2,000 three-year-olds will benefit.

This plan is good for children. It's good for families managing cost-of-living pressures. And it's good for the economy. Indeed, a recent EU study found that every dollar spent on early childhood education for three-year-olds returns $4 to the economy. Other countries, like the UK, New Zealand, France, Ireland and China, understand this and have already expanded their early-childhood programs to include three-year-olds. It is time for Australia to catch up.

Regrettably, we have a government that fundamentally fails to understand the critical importance of education. It's a government that has already savagely cut funding from schools, TAFEs and universities, while backing in exorbitant tax breaks for property investors. It's a government that spends billions of dollars on tax breaks for the wealthy rather than investing in the future of our children.

Now it's a government that is prepared to leave parents hanging in limbo, with their failure to extend preschool funding for the four-year-olds beyond the next school year. So, while Labor has committed to funding a world-class two-year preschool program for three-year-olds and four-year-olds, this government is too busy fighting its own civil war to ensure funding for this program next year. The former education minister announced the agreement on rollover funding back in February, so why are we still here, eight months later? What's worse is that, when the officials were specifically asked during Senate estimates if the government will continue to fund preschools at the current levels, senators were simply told: 'That's a matter for government.'

The fact that this government's own department is unable to confirm whether the government will continue to support this critical investment in education, one month out from the new year, is truly appalling. The government's failure to confirm the funding demonstrates enormous disrespect for our children, for their families and for the early-childhood-education providers alike. This chaotic Morrison government needs to stop focusing on itself and get that agreement signed to guarantee preschool funding for four-year-olds. But I would also call on the government to match Labor's commitment to provide universal access to preschool for three-year-olds so we can give every Australian child the opportunity to have the very best start in life.

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