Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Gilmore for introducing this really important motion to the House. One of the great pleasures in this job is being able to visit our wonderful early learning centres in the electorate and meet some of our youngest citizens. I recently had the pleasure of joining the Prime Minister in Mount Waverly at an early childhood education centre, and I visited Glen Iris with Minister Anne Aly. It was truly a wonderful experience, learning from the children and seeing how they learn, and that their minds are being sharpened through play. It was great to read stories with the children and share in singing with them too.

Our government, of course, recognises the transformative benefits of early childhood education and care for children and families. I want to thank families, and I want to thank educators at this point too, for their incredible advocacy in pushing governments, like ours, to take steps to properly recognise and remunerate the work that gets done in the sector every day. We're working to build a universal early childhood education and care system that is accessible for all families, no matter their circumstances or background. We've already taken some critical first steps in this regard, including making early childhood education more affordable for over a million families through our cheaper child care reforms. Our government also recognises that early learning educators and teachers do a vital job, making it possible for millions of other Australians to do their jobs too and supporting young children's early learning and development.

As the Productivity Commission report has stated, we must prioritise the early learning workforce before any major reforms, and that's exactly why we have made a historic announcement of a 15 per cent wage increase for early childhood education workers. Since coming to government, the early childhood education and care sector has grown by more than 30,000 workers. That's because our government is working with the sector to develop and deliver practical solutions to retain staff, while continuing to develop and strengthen work recruitment and training pathways. We already have provided more university and fee-free TAFE places for early childhood education teachers. We have helped deliver a 4.6 per cent pay rise from July 2022, a 5.75 per cent pay rise from July 2023 and a 3.75 per cent pay rise from July of this year. We commissioned the ACCC and Productivity Commission inquiry into the early childhood education and care system.

We've also invested $72.4 million to support the skills and training of a quality and sustainable early childhood education and care sector. Our workforce package is helping to build skills and strengthen the supply of qualified early childhood education and care workers, including through supporting professional development opportunities and paid prac placements. This investment means high-quality early learning educators remain in the sector, and makes it easier for educators to progress their careers.

Don't just take my word for it. We have heard from educators right around the country. Lisa, who's an early childhood educator in New South Wales, has said: 'This is a monumental, history-making moment. This means I can stay in the job that I love and know that it's going to change a lot of lives, not just my own.' Here are some words from Karen, an early childhood educator in Queensland: 'The changes that the Albanese Labor government are bringing in mean that early childhood educators who've been relying on Foodbank to feed their families won't have to do that anymore, and those that worked two or three jobs just to make ends meet will be able to spend more time with their families.' Here are some words from Sia, an early childhood educator from my home state of Victoria: 'Instead of searching for a second job, this pay increase will help me now pay rent and put food on my table.'

The work that educators do is not just important for themselves—putting a roof over their head—but for our communities. It enables more parents to participate in the workforce. Of course, we know the first five years of a child's life are so vital to their learning, so this is setting up the youngest people in our communities with the very best start in life. I'm so pleased with the efforts of our government to recognise the importance of this sector.

Kylea Tink (North Sydney, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's pretty much universally agreed in my electorate of North Sydney that those working in the early childhood education and care sector play a vital role in supporting families and parents right across our community.

In 2021, 93 per cent of workers in the early childhood education and care industry identified as female, adding this profession to a long list of female dominated work environments that are not properly valued by our society or by governments in general. As I stand to speak to this motion, then, today, I think the real question for this parliament is: has it done enough to fundamentally shift our nation's mindset to one which truly values those working in the care economy? After all, following a decade of coalition governments, many would argue this sector and the families that rely on it have never been so pressed as cost-of-living pressures close in on everyone and professionals in the area leave in droves because both their salary and career progression prospects are so poor.

As I've said, my community fundamentally believes that every childhood educator and carer plays an essential role in shaping our society. Not only do they teach and nurture our kids in their formative years but their very existence helps drive our economy, as they enable millions of Australian parents, most often women, to return to work and pursue the careers they wish to. Despite this contribution, however, for far too long early childhood education and care workers have been appallingly underpaid, contributing to the high turnover and one of the largest unfilled vacancy ratios in any occupation in the country.

To navigate this complex problem and identify potential policy solutions, I recently hosted the North Sydney early childhood education and care deliberative democracy forum. With 40 residents from North Sydney randomly selected from a wider group of 5,000 invited, the forum was demographically representative of my electorate. The deliberations of this group drew upon both expert input and community submissions to build a community consensus on what they wanted to see me fighting for in this place. By coming to a consensus on a federal policy position that could effectively address affordability and accessibility in the sector, the forum really did unlock my community's thinking.

To help inform their views, participants heard from a range of experts, including Early Childhood Australia, the Australia Institute, Australian Childcare Alliance New South Wales, the Centre for Policy Development and the Centre for Research in Early Childhood Education at Macquarie University, with the potential solutions discussed including everything from government funded universal access to early childhood education and care places for all children from birth through to strategies to deal with the discrepancy in remuneration structures for early childhood educators employed in preschools versus those employed in primary schools.

The ultimate result of those deliberations made it really clear. My community of North Sydney wants to see early childhood education and care valued more appropriately and not just relegated to 'women's work'. Specifically, they told me they wanted to see free or low-cost access to early childhood education and care integrated into the existing education system and to see it offered universally to all families for children from birth, regardless of where the family lives or their socioeconomic status. They advocated that, while as a society we've come to value education as a basic right for young people, we haven't taken the steps to expand our universal system to cover the early years. They also told me they believe I should be advocating strongly that the early childhood education and care workforce be paid an award commensurate with that of primary school teachers. Finally, they also want to see early childhood education and care facilities built alongside new public primary schools, to ensure adequate supply.

Ultimately, communities like mine, where families pay some of the highest childcare fees in the country—an average of nearly $190 per day per child—want to see the early childhood education and care sector recognised and workers properly valued. So, while the government's recent move to raise the wages of early childhood education and care workers is welcome, it is just the first step in a reform process that is well past due. After all, the 15 per cent wage increase will still not bring the average earnings of an early childhood educator and care worker into line with primary school teachers; nor will increasing wages necessarily prevent burnout or increase retention rates, as the lure of employment in the primary school sector will remain.

Finally, although the government's 4.4 per cent fee-cap conditions are admirable in trying to ensure wage increases don't necessarily translate to increased fees for families, it does nothing to address how expensive this sector already is in my community. Put simply, early childhood education and care is essential, and people working in that area deserve the respect that is due to them.

Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It goes without saying that the Albanese government recognises the transformative benefits of early childhood education and care for both children and their families. I should say, 'It should go without saying,' but in this place we are still required to remind all members that it is a really transformative thing to do to have quality early childhood education. We know those first five years are vital. We know that on this side. We know the crossbench, by and large, appreciates that as well. We know that there are people in this place that do not hold that view. They are not listening to the science, but we are, and we are working to build a universal early childhood education and care system that is accessible to every family, no matter what their circumstances or background.

We've already taken some critical first steps, including to make early childhood education more affordable for more than a million families through our cheaper childcare reforms, but we know that there's more to do to provide long-term sustainable support to parents. I say to people who don't have children, don't think this is not relevant to you. I say to those people, early learning educators and teachers do an absolutely vital job—yes, for the families and the children involved—but they make it possible for millions of other Australians to do their jobs too. If you're a small business or a big business, your workers need to have access to quality affordable childcare.

The fact is, we're still not producing enough early educators or keeping enough of them in the system. Since coming to government, we've seen Australia's early childhood education and care sector grow by more than 30,000 workers, and that's because our government is working with the sector to develop and deliver practical solutions to retain staff while continuing to develop and strengthen recruitment and training pathways. We've already provided more university places for early childhood education teachers, and fee-free TAFE. We've helped deliver a 4.6 per cent pay rise from July 2022, a 5.75 per cent pay rise from July 2023, and a 3.7 per cent pay rise from July 2024. We've commissioned the ACCC and the Productivity Commission inquiry into the entire early childhood education and care system. We've also invested $72.4 million to support the skills and training of quality and sustainable early childhood education and care. Our workforce package is helping build skills and strengthen supply of qualified educators, including through supporting professional development opportunities and paid prac.

All of these things are key, and as the Productivity Commission states, we must prioritise the early learning workforce before any major reforms. That's why we've made an historic announcement for a 15 per cent wage increase for early childhood workers. This is a vital investment by the Albanese government to ensure high-quality early childhood educators remain in the sector, and to make it easy for educators to progress their careers. I want to see every eligible early learning educator in Macquarie receive that 15 per cent pay rise.

I am aware of the challenges that small not-for-profit or small private providers—both long-day care centres and OOSHs—are facing in the implementation of the increase. I was very pleased to host a roundtable discussion last week with departmental officials where directors and key executives of local centres could raise their issues and ask questions frankly. I'm also grateful for the support offered by the United Workers Union to assist these small centres. We haven't solved all the implementation issues yet, and I'll continue to work with local providers across the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury and Emu Plains regions to get it right. While the 15 per cent increase is not the end of the improvements to conditions for early childhood workers, it's an interim step as other reforms take place. I don't want anyone to miss out on that $100-a-week increase before Christmas.

Overall we're talking about a 15 per cent pay rise over two years, starting in December this year—10 per cent initially, to increase by 15 a year later. The key thing for me is we want to see providers pass all that money onto the workers—that's who deserves it. (Time expired)

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to give voice to the deep concerns of families with young children across my electorate of Wannon. Accessible and affordable child care is not a luxury; it's a necessity, yet, for people in regional and rural Australia, especially in my electorate of Wannon, there is not the availability of child care that is needed. What this means is young mums, in particular, are missing out on being able to access the workforce as they should be able to. Not only are young mums missing out; businesses across my electorate are missing out because they're not able to employ these young mothers, who they need to work in their businesses. What is occurring is a double whammy.

What have we seen from both the federal Labor government and the state Labor government in Victoria? Everything that they are doing is working against childcare availability, and this means young mothers, especially, in the electorate of Wannon are missing out. We've seen the federal government do nothing about broadening access to child care. We've now had green droughts in the electorate of Wannon and right across Australia when it comes to child care, which the government has done nothing about and has not even tried to address.

In Victoria, it has got even worse. Earlier this year, the Labor state government revealed a very different reality for regional and rural families. They promised to expand access to child care and to build centres in key towns in my electorate, and what have we found out? These have now been delayed, not only delayed for months but delayed, sometimes, for up to a decade. We haven't got time to wait for those sorts of delays. The false promises we're seeing all the time from the state Labor government and now from the federal Labor government are doing nothing to improve the availability of child care in my electorate.

I say to the Albanese Labor government, please think about what you need to do to provide availability in child care right across this nation. Don't just think about the capital cities; think about what you need to be doing right across our country. If you're able to provide greater child care in our regions and country towns—in towns like Warrnambool, Port Fairy, Portland, Hamilton, Colac—what it would mean is that businesses could grow and develop there. Economies would get stronger in those communities, and those communities would get stronger. It would take some of the pressure off our capital cities; it would take some of the pressure off the growth in population that we see in capital cities, with crowded infrastructure, crowded access to hospitals and everything else that comes with that.

What you need to be doing is making sure you are focused on not only insuring that people are paid properly when it comes to providing childcare services—we're all in agreement about that—but making sure that there is that availability where young mums, in particular, need it. That is my request to this government—make sure you're putting the policies in place that will enable child care to grow.

The previous speaker talked about the pressure being put on our small and not-for-profit childcare providers. That is something the government also needs to look at and also needs to pay attention to. If you put pressure on those small and not-for-profit providers, what you are doing is harming the provision of child care in regional and rural Victoria, and you won't see it develop and enhance.

I'll end on this point: you also need to be able to provide emergency services quickly when needed. The Casterton childcare centre, which was hit by a severe hailstorm two weeks ago, really needs your help. You need to step in and help them at this moment as well.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Gilmore for moving this motion. I'm pleased to have an opportunity to voice my support for Australia's wonderful early childhood educators and carers and to thank them for their hard work. Moreton has some fantastic early childhood education centres. In fact, I live across the road from one of them—the one that my sons went to—so I had never had a great journey in terms of the double drop-off; I just went across the pedestrian crossing. They're all great places to visit. I'm always inspired by the educators and carers and by their dedication to and enthusiasm about their work. It's great to see the children having fun while learning.

These centres provide a rich learning environment for 1.8 million Australian children aged from zero to five—that crucial period for brain, language and social development. These years are the building blocks for good health, education and wellbeing for school and later in life. Quality early learning programs also provide children with better educational outcomes. This includes improved literacy and numeracy skills, greater engagement in schooling and completion of school and, ultimately, higher paying jobs. The best part is that the children at these centres are achieving this vital groundwork via play and having fun, the core business of childhood.

We recognise the importance of this and, in turn, the importance of supporting the workforce that makes this possible. That's why early childhood educators and carers will receive a 15 per cent pay increase over the next two years. This increase is real and tangible cost-of-living relief for early childhood education workers, as well as an acknowledgement of how much the Labor government values their work. It amounts to a $3.5 billion investment from the Commonwealth government, and it will mean an increase of between $100 and $250 per week for typical workers from December this year, just next month.

It's vital that we invest in this workforce. We need to retain experienced professionals and attract more workers. I'm pleased to say that since May 2022 the sector has grown by more than 30,000 employees. They've been drawn by more university places for early childhood teachers and the fee-free TAFE initiative. Having a thriving early childhood education sector is essential not only for our children but as a key part of our economy. After all, early childhood educators enable other Australians with young children to go out and do their own jobs, and thanks to Labor initiatives, doing this has become more economical for families rights across Australia. There are over 1.2 million families benefiting from our cheaper childcare reforms. This has reduced the average out-of-pocket cost for centre based daycare by 11 per cent. It makes it so much more affordable for mums and dads to work or to do training or study.

We've also linked the pay rise for early childhood educators to a condition that, from 24 August, early childhood education centres do not increase their fees by more than 4.4 per cent for the coming year, and we're working on a new index for the year following that. This ensures that families are not faced with fee hikes and that the funding goes to the centres' employees' pay packets. The Labor government's ultimate goal is the provision of a universal early childhood education and care system—something we're working towards steadily, methodically and with significant progress. We commissioned the ACCC and the Productivity Commission to inquire into the early childhood education and care system to guide further reforms, and these findings will be considered over the coming months.

With the goal of universal early childhood education and care in mind, we know what's required are evidence-based long-term strategies and investment. We want it to be accessible, affordable and inclusive, and we'll work collaboratively to achieve this in the city and in the bush. I'll leave my final words to the centre manager for an early childhood education centre in my home suburb of Moorooka. Karen said:

The 15% pay increase for early childhood educators is a great first step for the Early Childhood Sector in recognising and acknowledging the work that we do and supporting the retention of people in our sector. Importantly, I feel it makes Approved Providers more accountable for fee increases, providing transparency, something historically that has not occurred. It supports families with affordability in this current economic climate and truly gives back to the many Educators who work tirelessly each and every day to deliver quality care and education to our most precious little humans.

Thank you, Karen, for your words and for the great work that you and your peers and colleagues do. Thank you to all early childhood educators across Moreton and across this nation. I can't think of a group in society more deserving of that 15 per cent pay increase.

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next day of sitting.