Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Leyonhjelm for his question and for the notice provided. I can confirm that the Australian government is a party to the National Partnership Agreement on the National Quality Agenda for Early Childhood Education and Care. The national partnership governs the implementation of a Commonwealth-state agreement for a nationally consistent regulatory scheme for child care and early learning. I should also indicate that withdrawing from the national partnership agreement would have no effect on the current regulatory framework. The states and territories have carriage of legislation and regulation in this area.

The Commonwealth is currently working through the review of the national partnership, with the states, and will be seeking to reduce the regulatory burden in the sector. The outcome of the review will be made public when all governments have considered the feedback on the proposed options, and the results of the review will be made public at that time. Finalising the review will allow all governments to move to the important task of negotiating the future of the national partnership agreement, and Minister Morrison's preference would be to see a revised national partnership agreement in place by the end of 2015.

I can also advise that the national quality agenda does not relate to funding for preschools. This is governed by the National Partnership Agreement on Universal Access to Early Childhood Education—and I am pleased that the government recently made a significant announcement on this. Earlier this month, the government announced that we will provide $840 million over two years to continue this agreement, ensuring Australian families continue to have access to 600 hours of preschool per year in 2016 and 2017. I should indicate the significant work in this area by Senator Ryan, who has carriage of this particular area of responsibility. This is just one of many examples of the government doing what it can to better support families and their needs.