Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

(1) Clause 5, page 3 (after line 19), after the definition of approved provider, insert:

Fair Work Commission has the same meaning as in the Fair Work Act 2009.

(2) Clause 17, page 9 (lines 22 and 23), omit the clause, substitute:

17 Sunset provision

This Act ceases to have effect at the later of the following times:

(a) the end of 30 June 2028;

(b) the end of the period of six months beginning on the day the Fair Work Commission makes a determination in relation to each of the following modern awards (within the meaning of the Fair Work Act 2009) as part of the review known as the Gender undervaluation—priority awards review:

(i) AM 2024/19 (Pharmacy Industry Award 2020);

(ii) AM 2024/20 (Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2020);

(iii) AM 2024/21 (Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010);

(iv) AM 2024/22 (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services Award 2020);

(v) AM 2024/23 (Children's Services Award 2010);

(vi) AM 2024/25 (Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010);

(vii) AM 2024/27 (Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010).

This government has an opportunity to put forward a bill to address one of the key issues facing our broken childcare system—that is, acute workforce shortages. Instead, the government has put in place a two-year grant, not a pay rise. We know that delivering high-quality universal early-years education and care requires investment in a sustainable workforce. That has been backed up by two government commission reports this year, from the ACCC and the Productivity Commission. We know that many in the early childhood education and care sector are deeply concerned about the sunset provision in this bill, which does not provide any certainty of an ongoing wage increase. That was backed up by evidence put forward at the wage justice inquiry in October. There, more than half of the witnesses stated that the sunset clause created uncertainty about who would fund an ongoing pay rise beyond the two-year period and that providers might be forced to pass the pay wage bump on to parents via fee hikes after the two-year period. We heard that this prevailing uncertainty will result in disincentivising providers from signing up for the grant and educators missing out on a much-needed pay rise. I urge the government to amend the sunset provision to extend the grant until the Fair Work Commission feminised-industry decision is operational.