Andrew Charlton (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Early Childhood Education. What is the Albanese Labor government doing to improve access to affordable early childhood education and care and to support women's greater economic participation?

Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Parramatta for his question. I know that the member has a long-ongoing commitment to early childhood education and also to women's economic equality and women's workforce participation.

The role of women and the opportunities gained from unlocking the untapped talent of Australian women to participate fully in the workforce—whether it's by them taking on more hours, whether it's by them starting new opportunities or whether it's for them to be able to progress their careers and to participate fully in the workforce—were a key theme across all of the sessions at the Jobs and Skills Summit that the Labor government held recently. Anyone with children in early childhood education and care knows just how expensive it is. Parents—mostly mothers—who are primary caregivers are forced to weigh up the costs of early childhood education against their potential earnings. Many end up being locked out of the workforce and out of the labour market because the cost is so prohibitive.

The Albanese Labor government understands that, and that's why we have taken affordable access to quality early childhood education and care as a vital part of a child's early years, as a vital part of creating that foundation for learning and play and also as a critical part of our economy, giving choice to families and helping more women to participate more fully in the workforce at their choice. That's why we have a plan for cheaper child care. That's why we took it to the election. That's why, in the October budget, we'll deliver on our $5 billion commitment to make early childhood education and care available for more Australian parents. We'll allow more women to enter the workforce, to take on more hours and more days if they so wish, and to not have that interruption to their career progression that we know for many women leads to a greater disparity between the pay of men and women and also contributes to the poverty cycle for women later in life when they're forced to take that break in their careers.

As part of that commitment to addressing the cost of living and making early childhood education and care more accessible and affordable across the country, we'll be tasking the ACCC to investigate early childhood education and care pricing. We know that to make our reforms possible we've got a bit of work to do. We have to undertake further work to recruit, to train and to retain a high-quality early education and care workforce. But this is something that the Anthony Albanese Labor government is taking seriously and something that each and every one of us on this side of the House is determined to progress.