Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Before moving general business notice of motion No. 166, I wish to inform the chamber that Senator Bilyk will also sponsor the motion. At the request of Senators Marielle Smith and Bilyk, I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that it is National Children's Week from 19 to 27 October 2019;

(b) recognises that:

  (i) the first three years of life set critical foundations for learning, development and well-being into adulthood,

  (ii) early childhood education and care in Australia is disproportionately funded by private sources, such as parents and families,

  (iii) only one in five Australian children attend a public institution for early childhood education and care – well below the OECD average,

  (iv) childcare costs are going up for working families, who are already struggling with stagnating wages, a slowing economy and skyrocketing costs of living, and

  (v) all Australian children should have access to quality education at the start of life, regardless of where they live; and

(c) calls on the Federal Government to make early childhood education an economic priority, and take steps to provide long-term funding certainty for four-year-old preschool, and extend the program to three-year-olds.