Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Labor recognises the transformative benefits of early childhood education and care, not just for children but for families, communities and our economy. Early education is the foundation for a child's future and helps build social skills, supports cognitive development and sets kids up for success at school and beyond. That's why we're committed to making sure every family, no matter their circumstances, can access quality care. We understand that every child deserves access to quality early education because it's good for kids, it's good for families and it's good for the economy. That's why we fought to make child care more affordable, more accessible and fairer across the country. Our Labor policies have benefited 9,000 families in Bennelong. Since coming to government, we've cut the costs of early learning by over 17 per cent, putting money back into the pockets of families during current cost-of-living challenges. An Australian family on an income of $120,000 a year, paying the average quarterly fee for 30 hours child care per week, is approximately $2,768 better off since September 2023. That's money for groceries, rent or savings, and that's real cost-of-living support for local families.

Compare that approach to that of the former government. Under their government, they neglected the value of affordable child care, with families watching costs skyrocket by 49 per cent—twice as much as the OECD average. They refused to act and worked families to struggle while they stood by. That has changed under our government. We appointed the ACCC and the Productivity Commission to each review the early education sector, ensuring consistent reflection of progressive development towards early learning. Our government puts the needs of our communities first and is focused on how best to improve them. Our goal is for a truly universal, affordable and accessible early education system for every Australian child. But we will not get there without the incredible educators who show up every day to support our kids, and, for too long, those workers were undervalued and underpaid. To right those wrongs, Labor delivered a historic 15 per cent wage increase over two years to retain the current workforce and to attract new workers to the sector. The universal system, which is our own, will need a well-paid, well-skilled and well-staffed workforce. Our 15 per cent wage rise will mean, on average, a full-time early childhood educator who is paid at the award rate will receive a pay increase of at least $103 per week, increasing to at least $155 per week from December 2025. Already, these wage rises are attracting new workers to the sector.

For educators, these reforms will mean better wages, greater job security and the ability to focus on what they do best—supporting young kids in their early years. For families, more affordable early learning means less financial stress and greater flexibility to work, study or balance other responsibilities. And we're not stopping there. From 2026, we'll replace the outdated activity test with our three-day guarantee, giving children of 66,700 families across the country access to three days guaranteed subsidised early childhood education per fortnight without forcing parents into unnecessary trade-offs. That will save these families an average $1,370 a year. And, for First Nations families, we're making sure children can access 100 hours of subsidised care per fortnight.

We just heard the member for Casey talk about childcare deserts. He'd be pleased to know that an Albanese government will continue to expand our policies in early education through the $1 billion Building Early Education Fund, ensuring families can access quality early learning in outer suburbs and regional communities, by building childcare centres in these early education deserts.

But the approach is very different. While we've been advocating for and actually doing stuff about affordable early education, the Liberals and Nationals continue to shun evidence based reforms that put Australian families first. We had a Liberal senator in the other place making ludicrous claims that 'early education destroys the family unit' or that early educators 'infect children with a woke mind virus'. This is just crazy stuff—views that are held by members of the Liberal Party. It's absurd.

Only an Albanese Labor government will keep delivering cheaper child care, better wages for educators and a future where every child gets the best start in life.

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