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

As someone who has worked for most of their adult life and has also had a family, I know exactly how essential access to good-quality early childhood education and care options is. It wasn't easy when my kids were little. Using a combination of great care facilities, private services and a supportive partner and family, we were able to cobble together a system that worked for us. This was important as it not only allowed me to continue to pursue my profession but also ensured that I always knew my kids were in safe hands, benefitting from stimulating and good-quality care and education. In this context I welcome the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) Bill 2024, as it introduces a 15 per cent wage increase over two years, tied to the condition that providers limit their fee increases.

Coming to parliament in 2022 as North Sydney's Independent MP, I have to confess I was frustrated that one of the government's first priorities at that time was moving on its industrial relations reform. In doing so, they consistently referenced the need for wage increases in the early childhood education and care sector to promote the multi-employer bargaining provisions that they were desperate to introduce. At the time, I spoke to the minister and advocated for an immediate review of the award system covering these workers, to ensure real-time wage increases were prioritised over widespread industrial relations reform.

Indeed, the peak body for the sector, the Australian Childcare Alliance, also stated at the time that they were concerned the multi-employer bargaining provisions of the new legislation could result in the imposition of higher wages across the whole sector, without government planning or financial support. They warned that wage rises foisted upon small operators could force them out of business and reduce access to high-quality services for families. Instead, they called for a coordinated national wage increase with a transparent mechanism to ensure the wage supplement was passed directly on to the workforce.

So it remains disappointing to me and many in North Sydney that the wage increases were not introduced by this government at that time. We have waited too long for this reform. When your pay is low and your cost of living is high, every month matters. It comes as an immense relief then for many that the government is finally acting on calls for better pay conditions for early childhood education and care workers. Undervaluing work and underpayment of wages are not unique to this industry and pervade every part of the care economy, from aged care to social services. Workers are having to deal with low wages and challenging work conditions, while the cost of living has continued to climb, but, despite this, the care economy work is fundamental.

In the early childhood education and care sector in 2021, 93 per cent of workers identified as female. The predominance of women in this and other care workforces coupled with this historic underpayment means this legislation is not just significant for the industry but for the economic empowerment of women overall. According to the 2022 report from Chief Executive Women, workers in female-dominated injuries with a bachelor degree or above earn 30 per cent less per hour than workers in male-dominated industries. For workers in these industries with a certificate III or IV, the earning gap increases to 36 per cent.

Currently, the more than 200,000 early childhood educators in Australia are among the country's lowest-paid workers. Not only do wages in the sector pale in comparison to other industries but they're well below the wages of other educators. According to the Productivity Commission, median wages for early childhood education and care workers are about 20 per cent lower than those of primary school teachers, and working conditions can be poorer than in other education sectors, with fewer leave days and greater workplace pressures. It's little wonder that more than half of the graduates of the early childhood sector seek employment in primary schools rather than the childhood education and care industry where they are so sorely needed. I've experienced it personally in the last couple of yours, as my niece has pursued a career in early childhood education to only now be in a position where she sees her only viable professional pathway to be in the school system. But it doesn't have to be this way.

In the Netherlands, there is no gap between pre-primary and primary school teacher earnings. As Australians, we need to recognise that the work our early education and care workers do is just as valuable as the work of primary and secondary teachers, as the research is clear: the early years are incredibly important for learning and for the development for children.

Additionally, workforce retention in the early childhood education and care industry is an increasing problem that, if left unaddressed, will risk facility closures and a reduction in accessible childcare options that would significantly impact families right across the nation. The severity of the problem was recently highlighted by a snap poll by the United Workers Union, which found more than 60 per cent of childhood education and care workers surveyed were planning to leave the sector within the next three years. High staff turnover and persistent vacancies will lead to a decline in the quality of education and care provided to children. This decline in quality will not only affect the immediate experience of young learners but will have ongoing effects on their development outcomes and future educational success. Indeed, many are arguing that at a time when we should be fighting for universal access for all children to early childhood education, our economic structure is such the opportunities are becoming fewer and fewer.

To be specific about what the bill before us offers, it will introduce a special account from which to pay a 15 per cent wage increase for early childhood education and care workers over two years, tied to a condition that providers limit fee increases. The first period of this bill's implementation would limit fee increases to less than 4.4 per cent in the year from 8 August 2024 to 7 August 2025. To be eligible, providers will need to increase workers' wages by 10 per cent above the current award in the first year of payment and 15 per cent above the current award in the second year. This worker retention payment aims to attract and retain workers in the sector without passing costs along to families via higher fees. The 4.4 per cent fee cap is a key measure to ensure costs are not passed onto families through increased fees, yet, while it makes sense to tie the wage increases to the fee cap to protect families from excessive price hikes, it's unknown how it will be enforced.

When you live in an electorate like mine, where families are paying over $200 a day currently to access early-childhood education and care services, this is a very real issue. I've heard from people in North Sydney who are concerned that the fees will rise regardless of this measure. To effectively limit fee increases, fees will need to be properly monitored, and early-childhood education and care providers will need to be held accountable for meeting these conditions. Interestingly, the legislation will affect early-childhood education and care providers differently depending on where they're based. Different regulations in every state and territory making wage increases contingent on a blanket fee cap of 4.4 per cent will have varying impacts. For example, in my home state of New South Wales, we have one of the highest educator-to-child ratios of any state or territory. But we will still be held to the same fee cap as other states with lower ratio requirements.

We also need to consider the impact this bill will have on providers, particularly the many small and family-owned businesses that may struggle to adjust to the changes required of them. I have heard from owners of small childcare centres in North Sydney who are concerned about the administration of this bill. They absolutely welcome the pay rise for workers, but they've expressed two key challenges that they will face due to the legislation. The first is that the impact of fee caps, they believe, will be felt more by small businesses than by big providers, as the owners of small childcare centres often operate on thin margins and higher operating expenses. In this context, imposing limits on fees could have a disproportionate impact on them. Secondly, they're concerned about the added administrative burden the legislation will place on them as privately owned centres, as they already have, in their words, 'huge amounts' of administrative work to deal with under existing laws and government programs. Arguably, large early-childhood education and care providers have greater capacity to deal with increased administration, while smaller providers, who comprise up to 79 per cent of the sector, may struggle to keep up with increased administrative burden.

Ultimately, the message I've heard from people in North Sydney is clear: we must improve wages for early-childhood education and care workers whilst also ensuring smaller operators aren't disproportionately impacted. We want a triple win. We want a win for industry, workers, and parents, carers and children who use these essential services. As a working parent, I know how difficult it is to have a career while raising children—educating them, caring for them and doing all this while working, all with a clear conscience. Parents like me rely on the incredible work of the 221,000 Australians who put their hearts and souls into childhood education and care. The work is just as challenging as it is rewarding. Until now, these workers have been underpaid and undervalued, despite their work being essential to more than a million families. As we continue these conversations around reforms in the early-childhood education and care space, I will be hosting the North Sydney community early childhood education and care deliberative democracy forum later this month. The event will bring together subject matter experts and around 30 to 40 randomly selected residents of the electorate to discuss the affordability and accessibility of early-childhood education and care services, with the goal being to arrive at a consensus on a policy approach that they would like to see the federal government pursue to ensure these services are affordable and accessible to everyone. It will be democracy in action in its truest terms. I look forward to hearing what my community has to say as a result of this event.

In closing, there is so much more to be done to ensure early-childhood education and care is valued, affordable, accessible and of a high quality for all Australians. Paying workers what they deserve is an essential first step in this journey. I welcome this bill, and I very much look forward to supporting it as it moves through the House.

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