Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I can assist Senator Eggleston with that inquiry. We are going to have a fair professional development program that will assist all long day care educators, not just the ones chosen by the trade union movement. It will be the single biggest investment in professional development for long day care educators in this country. It is going to target known workforce shortages—for example, early childhood teachers and long day care educators working in rural and remote areas—and it is particularly important for a state with the vastness of Western Australia in this case. It is about giving childcare educators the additional skills that they need to meet the National Quality Framework requirements—something that Labor's EYQF absolutely, comprehensively failed to deliver. In addition to supporting staff with the education costs themselves, it is also about helping the childcare operators with their costs when they have to, for example, backfill staff who are away on training days or sitting exams. (Time expired)