Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I agree with the first half of that statement but not necessarily the second half. We do accept that two sessions of quality early education and care is appropriate for children in those circumstances and that is why we are ensuring that in our legislation there is a strong safety net in place that ensures two sessions per week can be delivered and ought to be delivered. It should be delivered and that is what our legislation clearly provides for.

People are entitled to have their view about the number of hours that are necessary for that to occur. As I said before, we are providing 24 hours per fortnight, which can equate to two six-hour sessions per week for providers who are genuinely committed to providing early education services. Of course that is longer, as I said before, than many preschool hours that children attend for and is analogous to a school day. There are plenty of international examples of that being an appropriate session of care for early educational opportunities.