Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Clearly, on the issues of skills, there are some sensitivities from those opposite. I'd feel pretty sensitive too if a decade of neglect were exposed by the current government, which I am really delighted to be a part of. I know how well we're doing in the skills sector because I actually speak to people in my electorate who are enrolled in the skills system. I know that, through fee-free TAFE—a Labor initiative—we are addressing the skills shortage with an additional 300,000 fee-free TAFE places just this year. Of course last year we absolutely exceeded our targets.

Let's talk about early childhood education and the work that our early childhood education sector carers do. I spend time listening to our educators. In fact I recently hosted a roundtable in my electorate with Minister Aly and listened to educators, parents and people in the community who really want to see the sector do well. What we heard was that our government is making historic strides in ensuring that educators and families are getting access to the kind of high-class, well-supported system that we all deserve in this country. We know how important the early years are and how important the skilled and compassionate educators are in ensuring that we're setting up our youngest community members for the future. In my own electorate we have nearly 220 education centres and 1,100 early childhood educators. When we came into government, we had the biggest skills shortages in 60 years. Despite what those opposite might want to tell people, we know that that's the case and we know that we've been making strides. Our Jobs and Skills Summit was one of the very earliest events that our government held. Of course we heard there that enhancing the early childhood system would be good not just for children, which of course it is, and not just for the economy, which of course it is, but for workforce participation of women. I'm really delighted to say that we've been globally recognised as making enormous strides in closing the gender pay gap and doing more around gender equity, partly due to the increased workforce participation of women in the economy.

We as a government are making it easier for Australians to gain the skills they need for a rewarding career in early childhood education. I've had the great privilege in my working life, both before entering this place and since, of working with and meeting with early childhood educators, including through the United Workers Union. They are such passionate workers. They care so much about the children, the families and the communities they serve, and they are the best advocates for people pursuing a career in early childhood education and training. In fact, since we've come to government, our early childhood education and care sector has grown by more than 20,000 workers. We know that this is vital for ensuring that we see improvements in women's workforce participation and that we ensure that children are able to benefit from structured education in those early years. And, of course, this is good for the economy, too.

We know that there's more to do. We are, after all, trying to recover from a decade of neglect by the previous government. Our government knows that supporting a pipeline of workers is critical to addressing shortages in this sector but also, of course, in many other sectors that were neglected by that previous government. We, as a government, understand the importance of getting wages moving, particularly in low-paid, female-dominated sectors like early childhood education and care.

We also need to do everything we can to properly value and recognise the profession, to ensure that we not only attract but retain the workers that are already in the sector. That's why our government has prioritised working with early childhood education providers and workers, to develop and deliver practical solutions to retain staff. I have mentioned the fee-free TAFE positions that we've provided, with increased wages. And, of course, workers are going to be better off under the tax cuts that our government is initiating. So, after nearly a decade of neglect and inaction from the previous government, I'm so proud to be part of a government that takes children, families and workers in the early childhood education sector seriously.

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