Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, may I also take this opportunity to congratulate you on your elevation to the chair? I'd like to thank the member for Dunkley for her question. I know that it's an issue that the member has a lot of interest in, on behalf of the families and the children in her electorate of Dunkley. Like the member for Dunkley, many of us here on this side know that early childhood education is a vital investment in our children and, indeed, in our future. I've had the pleasure of visiting early childhood education centres with the member for Lalor and with the member for Bendigo and of seeing the real difference that good, quality early childhood education is making to families and to children.

It's an issue of deep concern to this Labor government that early childhood education costs more now than it ever has before, and that's why the Labor government took a plan for affordable and quality early childhood education to the last election. May I take this opportunity to pay heed to my predecessor in this space, the Minister for Social Services, who as the shadow minister, was the architect of Labor's plan and who continues to be a fierce advocate for early childhood education?

On this side of the chamber, we know that childcare costs are eating a bigger and bigger hole in household budgets and putting more financial strain on families. Almost 73,000 families are locked out of the childcare system because it is unaffordable. Now, that means that children are missing out on important early learning and parents—and in most cases mothers, who are the primary caregivers—are not able to work the hours they want, they're not able to progress their careers and they're not able to contribute to the household finances in the ways that they would like to.

Labor's cheaper childcare plan will make early childhood education more affordable for 1.26 million families by increasing the childcare subsidy rate. Now, a big part of that is a plan for the ACCC to design a price regulation mechanism that will drive down out-of-pocket costs for families. We've committed to a comprehensive review of the childcare sector through the Productivity Commission, with the aim of implementing a universal 90 per cent childcare subsidy for all families.

These reforms aren't just about the economy. They're also about increased workforce participation. They're about women being able to go back to work in the capacity in which they want to go back to work and participate in the workforce. It means that early childhood educators are valued for their vital work. But, importantly, these reforms are about ensuring all children have access to quality, affordable early learning, investing in their future and in ours.

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