Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Hansard source

In my time in this parliament, I have had the privilege of meeting children and educators and families right across the Central Coast of New South Wales. From The Entrance to Wyong, Long Jetty to Wyoming, Lake Haven to Lisarow and Warnervale to Bateau Bay, I have seen the magic of these early learning centres. I have sat in awe of the educators who bring them to life. I've visited with the minister and with my colleague the member for Robertson, Dr Gordon Reid.

Deputy Speaker Freelander, like you, I have now been here long enough to see many of those children grow up and start primary school and even to see some of them start high school, taking with them the foundational skills and capabilities learnt in those very early years. This stage of education is key to future learning and growth in everyone. It's as much about their education as it is about their personal development and their socialisation. This early stage of education is key. The evidence on that point is well and truly settled.

We in the Labor Party come to this policy area with a simple goal: how do we give every Australian child the best start in life, and the opportunity to benefit from early education and enjoy the life opportunities which flow from it? The answer, like the question, is a simple one: we reduce the barriers to early education for those who are missing out.

In my community on the Central Coast of New South Wales, where many families face these barriers, this legislation presents a big opportunity: the chance for real change. The bill before us offers a possibility for all Australian families to be guaranteed three days of childcare subsidy each fortnight. It will replace the Liberal Party's activity test, with a three-day guarantee to operate from the beginning of next year, from 2026. For First Nations children and those with parents in work, study and training, the guarantee will be 100 hours of childcare subsidy per fortnight.

The activity test didn't work. It didn't work in my community; it didn't work across the country. It did not support parents into more paid work. It just penalised children from low-income families and left them further behind. In the space of one year under the activity test, the number of children from low-income families in early education plummeted from around 32,000 to just 6,500, an 80 per cent decline in young children from low-income families being able to have the best start in life due to early childhood education. It's time to rectify this major policy mistake and the impact that it's had on young children and families.

This bill will increase entitlements to more than 100,000 families across the country, growing education opportunities and easing cost-of-living pressure for families and household budgets. It's a big step towards universal early education, building on our government's cheaper childcare policy and our 15 per cent pay rise for early childhood educators.

I recently visited some educators. I visited Woongarrah Goodstart in my electorate. It was the day after the older children had graduated. They were very excited to have been graduating from early learning and being off to start school. The educators, when I visited, just wanted to let me know the difference that some of Labor's policies in this area are making to them but more importantly to the children and families that they have the privilege of working with. This is what the centre director, Shann Crain, told me: 'The wage increase has had a massive impact for educators. Most members of the team have worked here for 10 years. This increase has meant that they can stay in their roles, continuing to provide the high-quality care and support our families have come to expect. The increase will also help to recruit and retain new staff as our community's needs expand, with a waiting list of over 530 children for our centre alone.' These are the words of the centre director, who I had the privilege of catching up with not long after, as I said, the students had graduated.

It was evident from the young children in that centre the educational opportunities, care, support and dedication provided by the early childhood educators. For a long time, they have been undervalued and haven't been properly remunerated for the contribution that they make. I'm so pleased to be part of a government that's improving that. I know it's been very well received in my electorate.

The individual stories I have heard are backed in by substantial evidence and expert advice, including through the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee report from last year and the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce before that. Going further back, the Lifting our game report of 2017 by Sue Pascoe AM and Professor Deborah Brennan offered the then government the platform to push this work forward. It's worth reflecting on. I'll quote from some of this report. It says:

Children who participate in high quality early childhood education are more likely to complete year 12 and are less likely to repeat grades or require additional support.

It goes on:

High quality early childhood education also has broader impacts; it is linked with higher levels of employment, income and financial security, improved health outcomes and reduced crime. It helps build the skills children will need for the jobs of the future.

Quality early childhood education and care is best considered as an investment, not a cost. Investment in early childhood education provides a strong return, with a variety of studies indicating benefits of 2-4 times the costs.

I know, Deputy Speaker Freelander, as a paediatrician and someone who represents a community not dissimilar to mine in terms of families and their circumstances, your strong push for the first 100 days—

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