Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

All great people were children once—something that we should all keep in the forefront of our minds as we commit to implementing comprehensive reforms to the early childhood education and care sector. I am sure all of you in this chamber would agree that we want to see our children, our next generation, achieve their full potential. With that in mind I want to share with you tonight some of the insights I have gained into the early childhood education and care sector, ECEC, through the United Voice Big Steps in Child Care campaign.

The United Voice Big Steps in Child Care campaign is a sector-wide effort to address structural problems within the funding system for the ECEC workforce. The United Voice campaign articulates the challenges faced by the 100,000 Australians who are working as early childhood educators and carers. Those 100,000 workers are looking after an estimated one million Australian children who are attending government supported early childhood education and care programs. We know it is imperative that we ensure children in early education and care centres are receiving the highest standard of care and have the best formative learning experiences. Naturally, we want our children to have the best start in life and we invest a great deal in those early childhood education and care professionals who mentor and care for our kids while we are at work or studying. To give the Senate a sense of why the United Voice campaign has been embarked upon, I will quote from the Big Steps campaign booklet a letter from Ros Cornish, CEO of Lady Gowrie in Tasmania. It says:

7 December 2009 was a defining date for Australia’s children! It was the day the Council of Australian Governments agreed and committed to the Reform Agenda for Early Childhood Education and Care. The Reform Agenda has a number of initiatives including the development of national curriculum framework for early and middle childhood, plus a new national quality framework bringing together state/territory based licensing and quality systems into one nationally consistent system.

For many who have been part of the early childhood education and care sector for many years, this commitment has been a long held vision and hope, and one which aims to improve outcomes for young children and indeed the broader community. It also promises to contribute to raising the status and standing of the early and middle children profession—one which has been undervalued by the community for far too long.

But this vision will not be realised until there is a sophisticated and capable workforce to deliver these aspirational outcomes. For quality education and care there must be a well qualified and well paid workforce which is valued and respected for the important role it plays in the most critical years of a child’s development.

The Reform Agenda demands improved qualifications and adult:child ratios as well as pedagogical understanding and leadership. The sector will not be able to meet these requirements unless there is the capacity to retain current professionals and attract new entrants to the profession. Improved wages and conditions is a key determining factor to support retention and recruitment within the sector.

Dedicated, committed and passionate professionals have borne the brunt of subsiding affordable child care by accepting inadequate wages and conditions for too long. Whilst such passion, commitment and dedication are acknowledged—alone it is not enough! A well paid professional workforce is essential now more than ever before!

Wages and conditions must be addressed immediately or the historical 7 December agreement which promises so much for Australia’s future will continue to be just a hope!

As many of you would be aware, the government has made a commitment to building a high-quality, accessible and affordable early learning and care system in Australia. We are investing $17.1 billion over the next four years in early childhood education and care, and the Council of Australian Governments has agreed to a new national quality framework which will apply to all long day care, family day care and school-age care services.

There has been the equivalent of a 112 per cent increase in government spending between 2005 and 2010. The stark increase in the government's investment in this area is long overdue, particularly since under the Howard government Australia slipped to 13th out of 14 OECD countries in terms of public expenditure on early childhood education. We are also providing $16.4 billion in direct fee assistance for Australian families through the childcare benefit and the childcare rebate—an investment which is more than double what was previously provided. Australian families have never before had more direct financial assistance for their childcare costs and they have never had more flexibility than under this government.

We have also implemented the national quality framework, which will improve child to staff ratios, set new staff qualification requirements, introduce a new quality rating system and establish a new national oversight body. The NQF also incorporates the national quality standard to ensure high-quality and consistent early childhood education and care across Australia.

Notwithstanding our investment and reforms, workers in the sector, mostly women, have come to us with a very clear message—that the early learning and care sector in Australia is facing serious workforce issues. In order to guarantee our high standard of care, it follows that we must also support and invest in those who are engaged to deliver that care.

Thanks to the work of Janette Armstrong, United Voice's Tasmanian campaign coordinator for the Big Steps campaign, and her team, I have had the opportunity to meet with early childhood educators and carers from across Tasmania. I also attended, along with my colleague Senator Singh, United Voice's 'Child care in crisis' summit held on 31 July in Hobart, one of a series of summits being held across the country. During these meetings, workers have told their stories of essential early learning and development work for low wages and with limited community recognition.

I wish to touch on the personal stories I heard as part of the summit of two women who work in the early education sector and had joined the Big Steps campaign. Firstly, Kellie, who is a centre director in Hobart, has worked in the industry for nearly 20 years. Kellie is a wonderfully passionate and articulate advocate for her sector and is a strong supporter of lifelong learning. Kellie, in her presentation, outlined her long hours of work in the role and also her working day, which involves performing a variety of skilled tasks to deliver quality care, including chairing meetings; organising rosters; writing reports; providing support and advice to parents and staff; ensuring high standards of safety, quality and hygiene; evaluating work plans; and reporting on each child's progress. These represent just some of the daily requirements and long hours worked as a centre director. Kellie believes that wonderful staff are leaving the sector because of the inadequate wages.

Secondly, we heard a very emotional and passionate story from Alicia, who has been an assistant director working in the early learning industry for nine years. Alicia talked about the stress and struggle she is under to make ends meet. Alicia is currently earning about $41,000 per year. Alicia finds it tough to make ends meet on her wage and she is working two extra jobs, one as an usher earning more than she does in her role as assistant director and the other delivering brochures and pamphlets letterbox to letterbox. Of course, working a full-time job and two extra part-time jobs in an attempt to make ends meet is extremely stressful and difficult. Alicia believes this is a situation faced by many working in the sector.

It is these personal struggles and battles faced by both women at work which have led them to join the Big Steps campaign. From what I have seen and heard as a part of this campaign so far, I have been inspired and moved. Through meeting with these workers and visiting some of their early learning centres I have gained a deeper understanding of the challenges facing those employed in the sector. Whilst the national reforms and the introduction of the Children's Services Award 2010 have increased the wages of workers across the country, these increases still see the sector among the lowest paid. That is why the United Voice Big Steps in child care campaign calls upon the government to assist educators already working in the sector to complete their degrees and asks for government to subsidise the wages of the degree-trained positions.

The research suggests that a child's experience in their first five years of life sets the course for the rest of their life. The emotional wellbeing and skills that our children develop through the early years shape the life change and social mobility of our children into the future. Whilst the government is already investing more than $181.3 million over five years to train and retain a high quality early education childcare workforce, the pressure faced by those working in the sector, including those working as centre directors, is overwhelming. We need to push beyond the 'care penalty' that exists in the sector and beyond. We have the opportunity here to break down the perception that early learning professionals are just babysitters. We know that they are much more than that. If we are serious about inspiring and equipping our young people to commence a lifelong journey of learning, we owe it to workers in this sector to ensure that they are afforded the rights and recognition that they deserve. (Time expired)