CPD creates briefing paper Starting Now to offer roadmap for ECEC reform

The Centre for Policy Development (CPD) has created Starting Now, a roadmap for State and Commonwealth cooperation to secure the benefits of early childhood reform. 

• Action to give parents the confidence to balance work and home by ensuring education and care is available and affordable. This includes: accelerated changes to subsidy arrangements; the introduction of an ACCC mandate to ensure additional funding flows through to families and workers; and, smarter spending coordination between governments to address child care deserts. 

• Action on rewarding, secure early childhood careers so children and families can work with early childhood professionals they know and trust. This includes appropriate valuation of early educators’ work, making early childhood careers a priority at the national jobs and skills summit, a tripartite dialogue between unions, employers and government, investment in training  for early childhood professionals.

• A national mission for a universal early childhood guarantee for young children and families. This includes a formal agreement between First Ministers to work together on a universal early childhood system, with a reform taskforce to design it; a special commissioner to lead the Productivity Commission review to support the delivery of a universal system and long-term funding agreements with reform-ready leaders; and, to commence work on the national early years strategy by bringing all critical portfolios together to improve outcomes for children and families.