Lin Thorp (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

There can be no question that our lifelong path of learning starts well before we step across the threshold of the school gates. It is also unquestionable that the years leading up to school are among the most influential determinants of the types of lives that we will go on to lead. We know that these early years are vital in laying the foundations in language; fine motor skills; speech; and social, emotional and intellectual development. In fact, research tells us that 80 per cent of a child's brain develops by the time they are three.

The question of how we strengthen the opportunities available to our young people in these vital years to give them the best start in life is one of the most important there is. I believe that a strong, professionalised education sector is one of the best means we have of achieving this. By helping young people to achieve their potential early, we can empower them to contribute more fully to their communities and society in later life.

But first we need to make a shift in the way we think about, and fund, education. Today I stand in support of United Voice's Big Steps campaign to compensate early childhood workers with appropriate wages. It is time we started to recognise the importance of these years and, with it, the early childhood education sector's vital contribution in developing the Australians of the future.

It was not so long ago that we used to refer to early childhood educators as 'childcare workers'. Some may say this is just semantics, but the change in title represents a clear conceptual and cultural step forward in the respect we pay to this important occupation. It is recognition of the critical contribution these workers make to the development of our young people.

The impacts of the quality of our early childhood education sector are felt throughout society. Not only do they have an obvious direct educational role and contribute enormously to the building of healthy communities, but they can have a clear impact on our workforce participation rates and productivity and, as a result, the wider economy.

We also need to recognise the capacity of early childhood education to play a great equalising role in society.

Not every child starts their educational experiences from the same point. There are myriad factors that may lead individual children to be at a disadvantage in their early ability to learn. But a responsive and stable early childhood has the power to identify and respond to these individual challenges, and to help limit the chances of a young person falling further behind. By stepping in early to help young Australians rise above inequality and disadvantage, the sector can empower them to go on to lead fulfilling and engaged lives. Unfortunately, while we are beginning to understand the crucial role our early childhood educators play in achieving these outcomes, this is yet to flow through into workplace conditions.

Despite the increased responsibilities and rightful recognition of the professional nature of the role, there has been no commensurate rise in wages. Currently, early childhood educators with cert III earn $18.58 an hour. Diploma qualified workers do not do much better, receiving only $20.86 an hour. This is almost $10 an hour less than the average Australian, and leagues behind what some similarly qualified tradespeople earn.

Recently I took part in United Voice's Walk in My Shoes challenge. It was probably one of the most exhausting days I have ever spent, with all those dear little children. My choice to work with teenagers with behaviour problems I thought was probably a brave choice to make. But after a day in the company of a room full of small two-, three- and four-year-olds, I decided: give me a room full of rowdy 17-year-olds anytime! The experience definitely cemented my insight into the daily challenges facing these educators, who are trying to make ends meet on $18.58 an hour. I can also understand how many have been forced to leave the sector because they simply cannot survive. For many it becomes a choice between the job they love and paying the bills. Many have pointed out that they would be better off stacking shelves in a supermarket—a sad state of affairs indeed.

With wages so low, I am sure it will come as no surprise to my Senate colleagues that the childhood education centres across the country are facing a crisis in trying to retain their qualified staff. In an inquiry into early childhood development, modelling found that we need to increase our early childhood workforce by 17 per cent if we are to meet our quality reforms. We also need to ensure that our current workers continue to undertake training to ensure our children receive the very best standard of education into the future. Unfortunately, far from meeting the growth that a quality education system requires, we are going backwards. In fact, a massive 180 educators are choosing to leave the sector every single week. This equates to one sixth of the entire workforce leaving each and every year, often not because they are unhappy or do not find the work rewarding but because they simply cannot afford to keep doing it. This is nothing short of a workforce crisis. The only way we will be able to turn this around is by paying appropriate wages for what is a highly specialised and vitally important role.

My hope is that eventually our education system will start at birth with no artificial break between federally funded and controlled early childhood education and state and territory funded schooling. But at the very least, we need to start paying appropriate wages for what is a specialised and highly important role. We also need to recognise that this is not just a problem affecting one group of workers. It is a problem that has impacts throughout our society, not least of which is for the 607,000-plus children currently in long day care and almost 489,000 families. Not only are our children not getting the stable and quality education they deserve in these vital years, but we are limiting the opportunities of women within the workforce. In many ways, this workforce crisis mirrors the state of the community services sector not so long ago. Both workforces have a majority of female workers. Both workforces undertake some of the most important duties within society. And both groups of workers receive pay that does not even come close to recognising their true value.

One of my proudest moments as member of the Labor Party was in February last year when we recognised the value of those working tirelessly in the social and community services sector. On this day Fair Work Australia made the historic decision to increase wages for community services workers. This meant around 150,000 low-paid workers got a pay rise of at least $7,000. We recognised the contribution these people made and we ensured that they were compensated appropriately. It is time to do so again. It is time to provide the federal funding needed to support professional wages for early childhood education and care workers. We must ensure that we do so in this May's federal budget. We have shown it can be done before. We have shown that a fair pay for important work can make a difference. And we can do it again.