Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I speak on the motion put forward by the member for Bean. In the words of Nelson Mandela, 'Education is the most powerful weapon we have to change the world.' In that context, I rise to speak about child care. Having spoken in this place on several occasions in relation to early education, I am well known to be a strong supporter of continuous improvement in the way that we deliver early preschool education and child care in Australia. We can always do better in the way we care for and educate Australian children in those formative years before they enter the school system.

Whilst this legislation does provide a childcare subsidy for some Australian families, continuous improvement in early education means more than just making child care cheaper. It is about the quality of the child care that's being provided. It's about ensuring effective school-readiness programs are in place. It's about ensuring that there is access for parents in rural and remote communities. It's about ensuring that there are places in sufficient number and of sufficient variety to enable parents to have choice in the form of child care. Most importantly, it is about empowering a sustainable, high-quality workforce of teachers providing early education that is highly valued and respected by the broader Australian community.

It is well known that access to quality childcare places significantly increases the participation rates of women in the workforce. When Australian women do well, their families do well, and our nation does well. It is, therefore, vitally important that we do child care well. Child care is a major cost outlay for families, including for those in my electorate of Hughes, where we have 7,810 childcare spaces. To that end, I support incentives that assist parents both in my electorate and throughout Australia to pay for high-quality child care.

However, with this legislation the Albanese government has missed an important opportunity to reform child care throughout Australia to foster a sustainable and high-quality workforce of early childhood educators—an opportunity missed by the Albanese government to implement the National Children's Education and Care Workforce Strategy. The development of this national strategy was endorsed as a joint partnership by all governments and the children's education and care sector in 2019. It was released in August last year. It has considerable support in this place. For example, I note that the member for Fowler is also calling for its implementation.

Contemporary best-practice childcare policy is more than providing subsidies to parents, as important as that may be. Childcare policy is not just about child minding. Childcare policy is not just about children's entertainment. It is about recognising that children's education and care is an essential public service. It is about recognising and empowering those that work in the sector supporting children's early learning, development and wellbeing. It enables parents and carers to work, including during natural disasters and national emergencies.

The National Children's Education and Care Workforce Strategy focuses on delivery of a highly skilled, well-supported and professionally recognised workforce. It focuses on leadership and building capacity, empowering those that work within the childcare sector. It addresses how to retain and attract staff within the sector. It addresses the engagement, satisfaction and wellbeing of the early learning workforce. It establishes clear career pathways for these workers. It is a strategy that needs to be implemented.

The National Children's Education and Care Workforce Strategy opens with a simple, powerful statement:

'Education has the power to transform lives'.

Let us begin that transformation in this place. I call upon the Albanese government to implement the National Children's Education and Care Workforce Strategy.

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