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

It is indeed a great privilege to rise here today to speak in support of the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Cheaper Child Care) Bill 2022. I am proud to serve as the Minister for Early Childhood Education in an Albanese government—a government that delivers on its promises, a government that understands that Australian families are struggling with skyrocketing fees for early childhood education and a government that understands the importance of ensuring all families, no matter where they live, have access to quality early childhood education.

The Albanese government's early childhood education and care reforms come after years of inaction from the previous government, with fees for centre based care rising by an incredible 41 per cent in the last eight years. I note that the shadow minister in her opening remarks said, if I may paraphrase, 'You've been in opposition for nine years; why didn't you do anything in opposition?' I turn that question around to the shadow minister and say, 'You have been in government for nine years; why didn't you do anything when you were in government?'

The Albanese government's early childhood education and care reforms were an election promise. We went to the election promising to reduce out-of-pocket costs for Australian families, and this bill will do just that—cutting the cost of early childhood education and care for around 1.26 million families right across Australia. But this bill does more than that. It is about more than just increasing affordability. It's also about ensuring that we give families greater choice to participate in the workforce and give our children the best start in life.

The high costs of early childhood education and care, as those who have spoken before me have noted, can put early learning out of reach for many families and can act as a massive disincentive for people to get back into the workforce or to work more hours or more days, and that can impact on career progression for primary caregivers, who overwhelmingly tend to be women. Treasury estimates that these measures will increase the hours worked by women with young children by up to 1.4 million hours per week in 2023-24. That's the equivalent of 37,000 full-time workers. This makes a difference to the economy because this means families are generating extra income. It's building careers and the retirement savings of Australian women. The Prime Minister, in his contribution this morning, noted that Australian women are more likely to be in poverty and homelessness in their later years because of an interrupted career, because they're unable to save up that superannuation. A lot of that has to do with early childhood education being unaffordable for those women.

Early childhood education and care also play a vital role in supporting families and improving the education and health outcomes of our children. I really want to put an emphasis on that, because boosting access to early childhood education will ensure that more children experience the benefits of foundational learning, preparing them for a life of exploration and a life of learning. I emphasise this and say this very clearly: the main beneficiaries of the Labor government's reform are Australia's children.

I know how powerful early childhood education can be for children. As a single mother, I had no choice but to go back to work. In raising my two children as a single mother, I experienced just how it important it was to have access to affordable early childhood education for them. Without it, I wouldn't have had the capacity to return to work, I wouldn't have had the capacity to return to study and I certainly wouldn't have had the ability to create a better life for myself and for my children. It's no overstatement to say that I wouldn't be here today without the quality early childhood educators who were so committed to giving my children a better-quality start in their lives.

I've spoken to parents across Australia who have shared similar stories with me about the part that early childhood education played in them being able to return to work and being able to build their families. They've told me how welcomed these reforms are, particularly by women who want that ability to choose to engage with the workforce if they so wish, to add to the family income if they so wish. But, importantly, I've also seen firsthand the power of early childhood education in children's lives, in the children that I've met across this journey. Last week, as part of Early Learning Matters Week, I visited Goodstart Nollamara, in my electorate. It's a fantastic centre. And this morning we were in Queanbeyan, with Minister Kristy McBain, Minister Jason Clare and our Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. I've visited centres in electorates across the country and, in all of those visits, I've spoken to families and to educators alike about our changes, and they have all told me that they welcome the introduction of this bill and our broader plans to make early childhood education more affordable and more accessible. I know that's the message that members on this side of the House are getting from the families they represent in their electorates.

In his second reading speech, my colleague the Minister for Education, Jason Clare, outlined the key elements of this bill. I'm proud to be working closely with him to ensure that our reforms make early childhood education more affordable for around 96 per cent of Australians. One element of the bill that I want to take some time this morning to draw attention to is the changes to the activity test for First Nations families. That's an element that highlights our government's commitment to closing the gap for First Nations Australians. Access to high-quality early learning is a key measure, shown to reduce vulnerability and improve early childhood development. At the moment, only 4.3 per cent of children in early childhood education and care identify as Indigenous, despite being 6.1 per cent of the overall population of children aged zero to five.

This bill provides a base level, a minimum, of 36 subsidised hours of child care per fortnight for First Nations children, and this demonstrates our government's longstanding commitment to providing extra support for First Nations children and students, and our commitment to working with communities to improve outcomes for children. These simple changes will benefit around 6,600 First Nations families in care and encourage more families to access early education. Not only do these changes help ease the cost-of-living pressures, but also they provide even more opportunities for First Nations children to access the development, education and health benefits of early childhood education and care, helping to ensure that they are school-ready.

I'm also very proud to be working alongside the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, to develop the Early Childhood Care and Development Policy Partnership between Australian governments and First Nations representatives. That partnership is co-chaired by the national peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families, SNAICC, the National Voice for our Children. The partnership will work with governments to develop community-led policies and programs that First Nations families need for their children to thrive.

I note that, in her contribution to this debate, the shadow minister raised several questions regarding several programs that we're doing specifically for First Nations children and, more broadly, around workforce issues and regional access. I will answer those questions in my contribution here today.

Turning to those broader issues that are being experienced by the early childhood education sector, we know that, in order to be able to deliver our commitment to more affordable, quality and accessible early childhood education and care, we need to correct the years of neglect as to workforce issues, pay and conditions and staff shortages. That's why I've met with unions, providers, educators and peak bodies to discuss the issues that they're facing and committed to work with them. We know that ECEC workers make an important contribution in the lives of our children and families, and we recognise that they are educators, not childminders, and deserve greater recognition for the important work they do. This is something that I am deeply committed to and will continue to work on, with educators in the sector, unions and my state and territory counterparts. It's also why we're bringing forward fee-free TAFE places and funding an extra 1,469 university places for early education teachers.

We're also committed to wage growth, which is why we successfully argued for a pay rise for the lowest-paid workers in Australia—something that those opposite opposed. It's why we're committed to addressing the gender pay gap and will strengthen the ability of the Fair Work Commission to order pay rises for underpaid women workers and allow multi-employer bargaining. It's why early childhood education was high on the agenda of the Jobs and Skills Summit and we're acting quickly to implement some of the commitments made at that summit. It's why my colleague the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Tony Burke, will introduce reforms to deliver on our commitment to improve the industrial relations system. And I know these changes will be very significant for the early childhood education sector.

National Cabinet has also tasked education and early years ministers with creating a vision for the future of early childhood education in Australia, with a particular focus on the workforce shortages. We're also delivering on the National Children's Education and Care Workforce Strategy implementation and evaluation plan, which outlines 21 practical actions to support the attraction, retention, quality and sustainability of the workforce in the long term. And that includes work on recognition of prior learning, microcredentialing, credentialing and the fantastic Big Roles in Little Lives campaign to promote carers in the sector. We're also committed to working with the sector and states and territories to find lasting solutions.

The Community Child Care Fund supports early childhood education and care services to address barriers to participation in early childhood education and care in disadvantaged, regional and remote communities, something I know the shadow minister also asked about. We have committed to the CCCF, which funds around 900 services across Australia to ensure families have access to quality care where the market might not otherwise provide services. It's currently delivering approximately $533 million over four years, and over 60 per cent of grant funding supports services in regional and remote Australia.

We're also developing a market strategy which will assist us to identify thin markets and areas of need and to consider solutions to address those needs. In terms of the Connected Beginnings program, which the shadow minister also referenced in her contribution, I can confirm that since we have come into government another eight Connected Beginnings sites have been opened, which now brings the number up to 32 Connected Beginnings sites, and we are well on our way to our aim of 51 Connected Beginnings sites by 2025.

Our reforms build on a long-term legacy of Labor governments, who have for a long time focused on quality in early childhood education and supporting early educators. It was after all the Gillard government that introduced the National Quality Framework, a care reform to ensure all children across the country get quality education.

In developing this bill, our government have engaged extensively with the sector, who we recognise have substantial knowledge and experience. That is critical to our government achieving their ambitious reform—people like my good friend Sam Page, the CEO of Early Childhood Australia, and people like Jay Weatherill, the director of Thrive by Five. So don't just take my word for it; take the word of those out there, people like Georgie Dent from The Parenthood, who know that these reforms are life changing for Australian families. We're going to continue to work in collaboration with them.

Most importantly, I look forward to delivering a better future for all young Australians, no matter who you are or where you live—children like Zoe, who I met a few weeks ago in North Coburg, and Amara, who I met in Canberra. Zoe and Amara, you and children like you are this government's No. 1 stakeholder. The Albanese government wants the best for you and your future, and we will make sure that you have the absolute best start in life. I commend this bill to the House.

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