Kylea Tink (North Sydney, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the motion moved by the member for Moncrieff calling on the government to recognise that the introduction of cheaper childcare legislation has, in many instances, increased the cost of early childhood education and care services for families, while doing nothing to increase the availability of spaces. This is because, despite the government's move in July this year to increase the early childhood education and care subsidy, the fact remains that demand for these services continues to outstrip supply, and families in my electorate and right across our country are still facing prohibitive costs to access these vital early learning opportunities. As I've stated before in this place, childcare fees in North Sydney remain the highest in the country and run substantially above the government benefit rates. In fact, families on an average household income in my electorate are having to find more than $20,000 per year—net cost after the current subsidies—to place just one child in day care for five days a week. In many instances, that's nearly 20 per cent of their average income. This assumes they can even find a space. Like many communities, availability remains a key issue in North Sydney.

Quite simply, the government's initiatives today seem to have had limited impact, and I believe it's time we explored other ways of driving change. When introduced, the government's cheaper childcare policy promised three things: to provide greater support for parents and carers to enable them to have an increased choice about their workforce participation; to make early childhood education and care more affordable for more families; and to extend to more children the benefits that early childhood education and care bring to children's school readiness and long-term outcomes. Families across North Sydney are telling me that the increase to the childcare subsidy that came into effect only two months ago has been largely, if not entirely, absorbed by increased fees. It would be easy to blame greedy operators, but the truth is that the cost-of-living crisis is not limited to households. Rather, many who are offering services in this sector are under very real pressure as well, with overworked staff needing to be paid at a higher rate to be retained in an incredibly tight labour market, energy prices that continue to skyrocket, and rent inflation that remains extremely high. One long day care centre in Lane Cove recently told my office that every service in our area and many more that they're aware of were suffering immensely in respect to the dire skills shortage and staff shortages. The shortages of educators is, in their words, 'absolutely frightening'. As businessowners, they've had to consider whether they can even continue.

Delivering cheaper childcare is only going to work if there are educators to provide the service. We know the childcare sector workforce is at a breaking point, with the current job vacancy rate in the sector being a massive 7,200 positions. We also know we need at least another 9,000 early childhood educators to ensure services can accommodate the increase in demand for places for children. With a workforce attrition rate of 35 per cent, it doesn't look like more places will become available anytime soon. Those working in this sector feel undervalued and fatigued, and they face their own escalating costs of living. Yet operators in this sector have solutions that we should consider. Our government just needs to listen to them.

One solution is to change visa requirements, with many local providers telling me that some of their childhood educators are on student visas, the conditions of which mean they must move interstate or to regional areas to extend their visas or improve their chances of permanent residency. This required move leads to a significant loss not just to the centre but also to the community in which they live. Other ideas include ensuring that workers are paid fairly and compensated for the hours they spend not just face to face but also in preparing lessons. They suggest things like temporary wage bonuses, addressing the 30 per cent disparity with primary school teachers, and moving and updating the award structure, just to name a few. Ultimately we must recognise that workers are the heartbeat of the childcare sector. People from across my electorate have consistently voiced the opinion that the idea of a profession in this space must be something that people pursue for reasons other than just the goodness of their own heart. Ultimately, as has been seen in the last two months, the affordability crisis of child care is inextricably linked to availability. In this context, subsidies alone cannot create more early childhood education places. A childcare policy that fails to address supply-side constraints, including facilitating the availability of appropriately trained staff and ensuring affordable premises, is destined to fail, as we are witnessing in this very moment.

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