Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I thank all members who have contributed to the debate on the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) Bill 2024. This is a really important thing that we are doing here today, lifting the wages of some of the most important workers in this country. When my wife was pregnant with our second child, my oldest child, who'd been badgering us for a second child for a long time, was shown an image of the ultrasound of the little baby in the stomach. My colleague across the chamber would know how special that moment is. It is a really special moment. Jack, my older son, didn't know what he was looking at, at first, and we had to tell him that it was a baby. He said, 'Is it a boy or a girl?' We said, 'It's a baby boy.' His first reaction wasn't what we expected. The first words that came out of his mouth were, 'I can't wait to tell Kelly.' And you can guess who Kelly is. Kelly was his early childhood educator, the woman who cared for him and educated him when he was little before he started school.

When that happened, at that moment, I think something clicked with me. I understood just how important our early educators are. In a much more powerful way, I understood what we get told in this debate and what we get told in this job, which is that everything that a child experiences when they're little—every meal, every smile and every book that gets read to them—shapes the child that they become. So much of who we are is made in those formative years, those early years before you even start school. I want to thank members who have contributed to this debate that have told that in such a powerful way, who have told us how our early educators not only help parents return to work and help them return to study. I think my friend Anne Aly said it more powerfully in this debate than anybody. They can save their lives, change their lives, put a roof over their heads and help them raise their family. I think that's not too strong a word.

So these are important people in our own lives, in our community, for our country, but you wouldn't necessarily know that from how they're paid. The truth is that early educators are some of the most underpaid workers in this country, despite the importance of the work that they do. This bill is about addressing that. It'll deliver a 15 per cent pay rise for up to 200,000 early educators across the country. That's a 10 per cent rise in just a few weeks time on 1 December and then a further five per cent rise from December of next year.

What does that mean in real terms? It means that, for a typical early educator who's paid at the award rate, they'll receive a pay rise on 1 December this year of at least $103 a week, and that'll increase to $155 a week from December of next year. That's about $7,800 extra a year in their pocket. If you're an early childhood education teacher, you'll receive an extra $166 a week from 1 December this year—only a few weeks away—and that'll increase to 249 bucks from December of next year. That's big. That is something that will seriously change the lives of those 200,000 Australians.

It's not just about those 200,000 early educators who are educating and caring for our littlest Australians right now. The Productivity Commission report that we released a couple of weeks ago makes the point that we need them and we need more of them. There are 30,000 more early educators working in the sector today than when we came to office. We need them to stay, but we also need more of them—many more. People who might be thinking, 'I love the job, but I can't afford to do it,' will, hopefully, think, 'Well, now I can.' I remember the day that we announced this with the PM. I dropped my little guy, Atticus, off at the centre where he goes. I said to Kerry, who looks after him, 'Have you heard the news?' She said no, and I told her. She said, 'Maybe I won't have to quit now.' That's the difference that something like this can make. People who might have been early educators but left the job, not because they wanted to but because they couldn't afford to keep doing it—people who might have gone off to work at the local supermarket or somewhere else because they could earn more money—will, hopefully, see in this that they can go back to doing the job that they love—more people doing some of the most important jobs imaginable.

I thank everybody who has contributed to this debate, most particularly my friend and colleague the extraordinary Minister for Early Childhood Education and Minister for Youth, Anne Aly. Anne, you have worked tirelessly for this. This is your victory. The real heroes of this story are the 200,000 people into whose pockets we're making sure that we put more money, but the truth is that it wouldn't have happened without you and without the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese.

I also want to acknowledge the many stakeholders who have spoken in support of this pay rise that we'll be voting on in a few moments, like Goodstart, who said:

With this $3.6B commitment the Prime Minister has demonstrated he is serious about delivering a truly universal early education system for all of Australia's children and families—because the first thing a universal system needs is a strong workforce.

The Community Child Care Association called this measure 'life changing'. The Parenthood described it as 'historic' and 'decades in the making'. Sia, who works for Big Steps and was interviewed on ABC breakfast a little while ago, talked about her passion for the work that she does, and she said, 'That passion, if I'm honest, has been slowly dying, because we don't get recognised and we haven't been getting paid what we are worth. It's just like we've had it at the tip of our fingers and now we've finally got hold of it, and it's going to make such a difference for our industry.'

I also want to thank the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee for their inquiry into the bill, and I welcome their recommendation that it be passed. This an important thing that we're doing here right now. It'll benefit some of the most important and some of the most underpaid workers in our country, workers who have one of the most important tasks: to educate and to care for our youngest Australians. I commend the bill to the House.

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