Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

The first years of a child's life set them up for success. By the age of five, a child's brain is almost fully developed, with vision, hearing, vocabulary, personality, social skills and cognitive function all growing exponentially during the early years. Studies show that children who attend quality early-childhood education during these years are twice as likely to reach their developmental targets once at school. Early-childhood education is a critical factor for our future productivity and equality of opportunities for all. But it is also critical for women and economic empowerment, because, despite the progress we've made, the care role continues to fall to women, with 35 per cent of women citing caring for children as a reason for not being in the workforce or for not taking on more hours compared with only 7.5 per cent of men. This plays out through lower financial outcomes, including lower superannuation, and greater dependence on male partners. Ensuring access to childcare sounds like a no-brainer, and while some parents do prefer to care for their children themselves during these precious early years, the reality for many is that it's not a matter of choice.

There are real challenges across Australia and on the ground for families trying to access quality and affordable early-childhood education, including in my community of Wentworth. In Paddington, just a few weeks ago, I spoke with several young families who told me that mothers were thinking of leaving the workforce or not going back as fast as they would like to because of childcare costs. Some were even contemplating not having a second child. Many families in my electorate of Wentworth pay up to $200 a day for child care, which, for a family with two children, costs about $60,000 a year even for part-time care. Waiting lists can be several years along, even if you enrol your kids before they're born, and you're not even guaranteed a place before their first birthday. Subsidies are available, but they taper out, so it's many educated women with strong professional careers who are making those decisions not to engage in the workforce as much as they would like to. That is a problem for everyone, because Australia has, as the member for Goldstein mentioned, some of the highest-cost early-childhood education in the OECD, with childcare costs being a critical cost-of-living issue in this country.

But, speaking to educators, it's no wonder it's so hard to find affordable child care. Working conditions can be tough, the days are long, and it's hard to retain good quality staff despite the demand, because childcare workers remain some of the lowest-paid workers in Australia, with an average salary of just over $60,000. It's not just the cost. Childcare workers get into the profession because they love dealing with children. But the current regulatory settings mean that I constantly hear from childcare centres in my electorate that the box-ticking in the paperwork is taking our childcare workers further and further away from the work that they do with the kids and more into the paperwork. That is not something they want nor what is best for the quality of care for our kids.

These are systemic problems that can't be solved overnight. I want to acknowledge the significant progress that has been made during this term of parliament and which myself and others really pushed for. Workers' childcare costs were reduced for about 1.2 million families last year through the increase in the child subsidy rate. This is an area I strongly supported. Childcare workers are soon going to receive a welcome and long-overdue 15 per cent pay rise—again, something I strongly support and that is highly deserved. These are positive steps forward, and it's no coincidence they've come at a time when there are record numbers of women in parliament, although notably not on all benches in the House.

We are being tentative in an area where the economic case, the social case, the case for opportunity and the case for women's empowerment is so clear. My country and my community want us to be a country where every Australian family can access early education and care that is affordable, and that's what this motion today is all about. I urge the government, who have said good words about universality and affordability of child care, to set out a timeline and a pathway to achieving this goal. It will reduce the financial burden on families, building on the experiences of Quebec and places where the cost of this sort of policy has been offset by the increase in women's tax payments. That ensures that our early educators are properly paid for the amazing work they do and reduces the burden of red tape and bureaucracy, which actually drives some really good people out of early-childhood education and care, because that's not what they got in there for; they got in there for the kids. It is time to take real action in this parliament.

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