Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Early childhood educators do some of the most fundamentally important work in Australia. For too long, they've been underpaid and undervalued. Frankly, I am disappointed that this government could not dig deeper to offer more to them and truly address the issues facing the sector.

This Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) Bill purports to support our early childhood educators, but it does fall a long way short of what is actually needed. These important foundational educators have been calling for a 25 per cent pay rise. This bill offers 15 per cent. Effectively, the offer is a two-year grant, with no guarantee of pay rises beyond 2028, and locks in a 4.4 per cent fee hike for families already struggling with the dire cost-of-living crisis. People—and I've heard from many in my electorate—are heartily sick of watching this government crow about back-to-back surpluses, as the Treasury did again in question time last time we were in this House, and then offering a pittance to workers and families while doling out massive subsidies and tax handouts to the wealthiest corporations. It's insulting. It's a kick in the guts for those who are overworked, underpaid and feeling left behind by this government.

Australian early childhood education care is in a state of crisis. Educators are doing their absolute best to educate our kids while being totally squeezed. Every educator can tell you this, but the government is tinkering around the edges of this deep problem. Across the country, families tell us the same thing: child care is too expensive and too hard to access. One in four people in Australia have no access at all to early childhood education and care simply because of where they live. Families are waiting months, sometimes years, on multiple lists just to find a place for their children. Parents are being locked out of paid work, and their kids are missing out on the critical early years of education that set the foundation for their futures. In a wealthy country like Australia, it's cruel and, indeed, it is socially and economically irresponsible that so many families are missing out on this essential service—a right, even.

The government has proposed this bill in the hope that it can address one of the key issues of our child-care system—that is, acute workforce shortages. The Greens, of course, welcome the government's long overdue recognition of the importance of early childhood educators. This recognition is a critical first step, but there is so much more to do. It's high time our early childhood educators were recognised and received the respect and the pay that they're worth. Educators have been leaving the industry in droves because their wages simply don't match the importance of the work they do. Let that sink in. Educators cannot afford to be educators, and the government's response to this crisis is a short-term fix—15 per cent for two years, if providers decide to apply for it. What happens after that? Will it be the providers or the parents who foot the bill? Or will more educators walk away because they still cannot make ends meet?

While the government boasts about a 15 per cent pay rise, let's be clear, it still leaves our educators underpaid. This workforce performs the critical role of educating and caring for our kids in their crucial early years. It's a workforce that is overwhelmingly composed of women, as the previous speaker said, who continue to take home less than two-thirds of the average adult weekly wage. Even with this pay increase, early childhood educators will still be underpaid. In fact, with the current housing crisis, it would take an educator in this country 31 years to save for a home deposit—31 years! These issues are exacerbated in regional centres and rural areas that are already childcare deserts. Centres in these areas are absolutely struggling to attract and retain staff because of the crippling housing prices, rising rents and the poor pay and conditions right across the sector. The combination of low wages and unaffordable housing only worsens the childcare drought across Australia.

If this government is serious about addressing the workforce crisis, the answer is simple: pay our educators properly. So far this year we've had two government commissioned reports on child care. Two of them, by the ACCC and the Productivity Commission, have been released, and both of them confirm what we already knew—that Australia's early education system is in crisis. We cannot fix Australia's childcare system if we cannot secure a sustainable workforce. And we cannot secure a sustainable childcare workforce unless our undervalued, underpaid early childhood educators are given a decent wage.

Educators have fought long and hard for a 25 per cent pay rise. They know that's what they need to stay in the industry. If we want high-quality, universal early years education and care we must invest in the workers. We need to make sure families are not being left behind due to lack of access and rising fees amid a cost-of-living crisis.

The Greens have long campaigned for the cruel and unfair childcare subsidy activity test to be abolished because we recognise that a genuinely universal and high-quality early education system doesn't discriminate based on a parent's income. This is a test that keeps 160,000 children locked out of an early childhood education. The same test keeps around 40,000 parents out of work. It's a test that prevents the most disadvantaged kids from accessing an early education because it is linked to arbitrary work or study requirements. This test could be scrapped with a stroke of a pen.

The Australian Greens have repeatedly asked the government if they will listen to parents and the childcare sector's calls to abolish this childcare subsidy activity test. And the government has repeatedly said it was waiting for the Productivity Commission to release its final report. Well, the Productivity Commission report released a month ago backs the Greens calls to abolish the activity test. So, Labor, what are you waiting for? Families just can't afford to wait. Educators can't afford to wait. The government is not listening to families or to educators. Our childcare system is in crisis and it cannot be fixed with bandaid solutions.

As a mature, just and practical society, if we want all kids to have the best start in life, we must invest in our educators. The Greens want to ensure early childhood educators have well-paid and secure jobs. The government should listen and respond to this important campaign for the 25 per cent pay rise they deserve and for which their unions have been calling for ages. We have a clear plan to make the transformative change needed to fix the patently inadequate system of early years education and care here.

Today the government is making a small first step, recognising educators aren't paid enough. Now it must commit to further steps to fix our childcare system and to pay our educators what they deserve. After all, early childcare educators are doing some of the most important work in our communities—educating our kids, the groundwork for a thriving future for them and for Australia.

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