Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When I worked as a early childhood educator, I was heavily involved in union campaigns to see that educators' pay was commensurate with the demands of their profession. Decades later—in fact, over 30 years later—sadly, the same arguments are still being prosecuted. Workers in this sector are called educators rather than carers because the work they do is so much more than just care. They do not just feed children, play with them and wipe runny noses. Educators deliver an education program aligned with the Early Years Learning Framework, which requires a high level of knowledge and skill. As with other feminised industries, the rates of pay are well below what other professionals with similar qualifications receive.

The campaign is now a step closer thanks to a recent decision of the Fair Work Commission to allow educators to bargain collectively across multiple employers. The decision came in response to an application lodged by the United Workers Union, the Australian Education Union and the Independent Education Union of Australia, and the negotiations will cover 64 early learning centres with 12,000 employees. This has been made possible thanks to Labor's secure jobs, better pay legislation. This is an example of the provisions that allow for multi-employer bargaining working in the public interest. It will help attract and retain skilled workers.

A strong early childhood education and care industry is good for workers, good for parents, good for children and good for the economy, and we know from research that quality early childhood education is critical for a child's social, physical, emotional and cognitive development. Not only does it better prepare children to start school but it also lays the foundation for lifelong development and learning, directly leading to better health, education and employment outcomes later in life. It's undeniable that the long-term benefits of investment in children's early years far outweigh the cost. Access to affordable early childhood education means that parents can work, train, study or volunteer, boosting not only our economy but our social equity as well.

We were elected on a platform of getting wages moving, particularly when it comes to closing the gender pay gap, which this bargaining process has the potential to address. Should educators bargaining for better pay get a positive outcome, they will know that they have a Labor government to thank for it and that the Liberals and the Nationals tried to stand in their way.

In the time I have left tonight, I also want to speak on the topic of family and domestic violence. In late September, the Standing Council of Attorneys-General endorsed a set of national principles to address coercive control and family and domestic violence. Coercive control is a pattern of abusive behaviour that creates fear and takes away the victim's freedom and independence. It can involve both physical and non-physical abuse and almost always underpins family and domestic violence. These national principles are an important step towards understanding, identifying and responding to coercive control, which is fundamental to an effective response to family and domestic violence. I thank the Commonwealth Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus KC, MP, and state and territory attorneys-general for their efforts on this, as well as all the victims-survivors and their families and representative organisations who have helped contribute to the national principles by sharing experiences. The national principles are available online at ag.gov.au.

The Albanese Labor government is committed to ending family and domestic violence, which is why we developed a 10-year National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children. Among the measures we have implemented are 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave so victims-survivors do not have to choose between their personal safety and their economic security. Our Housing Australia Future Fund measure, recently passed by the parliament but shamefully opposed by the opposition, includes homes for women and children impacted by family and domestic violence. I was really pleased to join the Minister for Social Services, Amanda Rishworth, in Hobart recently for the announcement of $3.1 million for two programs focused on perpetrator behaviour, including a behaviour change program for perpetrators who are court mandated to attend a rehabilitation program, and an intervention program in the Tasmanian Prison Service.

These are just a few of the initiatives we are undertaking through our plan to put an end to the national shame of family and domestic violence.