ACTU drives home free ECEC message in pre-Budget submission sent to Treasurer

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has again urged the Federal Government to expand its pandemic response, and adopt a comprehensive jobs plan in a pre-Budget submission sent to the Federal Treasurer this week.

Central to all aspects of the five point plan proposed by the ACTU is a national strategy for early childhood education and care including free, universal, accessible childcare, which would “support women being able to work, grow the economy and give children at the very best start in life”.

The five practical proposals put forward in the ACTU Job plan also include a training for reconstruction plan which includes 150,000 free TAFE courses and a 50 per cent Government wage subsidy that goes for the life of apprenticeship or traineeship and delivers a job at the end, a Rediscover Australia initiative to help out travel and hospitality sectors and regions recover and survive, a National Reconstruction Investment plan and a sustainable manufacturing strategy. 

ACTU President Michele O’Neil criticised the “consistently slow” response of the Government through the pandemic thus far, noting that the Australian Government has “put forward a smaller fiscal response than many other developed economies”.

“We need a comprehensive jobs plan which will put working people first and ensure that we have better, stronger rights as we recover from this crisis than we did going into it,” she added. 

To read the ACTU recommendations, please see here.