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Advocates respond to the release of the Productivity Commission’s report
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Freya Lucas
Sep 19, 2024
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As many in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector are aware, the Productivity Commission released its highly anticipated report yesterday, with Federal Minister for Education Jason Clare naming the three pillars of the report as Access, Quality and Inclusion.
In releasing the report Minister Clare told a packed auditorium of advocates and ECEC professionals that the report was not an announcement of what the Government planned to do for ECEC, but rather an opportunity for the sector to provide feedback.“I am releasing it to seek your advice on it. What you think we should do and what we shouldn’t, and how we can do it,” he said.
Core recommendations
A number of ECEC peak bodies and advocates, including The Front Project, Early Childhood Australia (ECA), the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA), Goodstart Early Learning, the Early Learning and Care Council of Australia (ELACCA), the Community Child Care Association (CCC) and Community Early Learning Australia (CELA), the United Workers Union (UWU) submitted responses to the report immediately after its release, sharing observations and insights on its recommendations.
Core recommendations of the report which drew their attention include:
- Fully subsidised ECEC for families earning under A$80,000 from 2026
- The removal of the activity test from 2025
- OSHC for all children 5-12 years of age in public schools
- Targeted funding to support OSHC and ECEC provision in areas where there is not sufficient demand to sustain services
- Accelerated qualifications for the ECEC workforce
- Consistent registration requirements
- CCS in dedicated preschools providing ‘wrap around care’ from 2025
“It is so exciting to see deep recognition of the importance of early learning, not just for its long-recognised benefits for workforce participation for parents, but of the immeasurable benefits for children,” Goodstart CEO Dr Ros Baxter said.
“The Government set the Productivity Commission the ambitious task of charting a path to a universal early learning system on par with the introduction of Medicare and superannuation, and the Productivity Commission has delivered,” she continued.
“This report provides a blueprint to deliver historic reform for our nation - a truly universal early learning and care system that puts children first.”
Future focused long term thinking welcomed
Respondents noted both the vision of the report and its noting of the need to both act now to address immediate issues, and also to create a robust system which ensures the needs of children are met well into the future.
Including a provision in the report to increase the number of children who arrive at school ‘developmentally on track’ was welcomed.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get the model right, and we need both big ambition and thoughtful policy design,” The Front Project CEO Dr Caroline Croser-Barlow said.
Commitment to workforce celebrated
The inclusion of significant recognition of the value of the existing workforce was a highlight for many respondents, with UWU spokesperson Carolyn Smith, early education director, noting that “what this report also makes clear is that the Federal Government’s recent decision to lift educators’ wages is not happening in isolation.”
“The wage rise provides the foundation of universal care by ensuring the sector can attract and retain the necessary workforce,” Ms Smith said.
“You can’t have high-quality early childhood education and care if you have exhausted educators who can’t wait to leave the sector.”
ELACCA concurred, with Ms Death saying “we know that access to tailored training options, mentoring and professional development will make a significant difference to the existing and future early learning and care workforce.”
"Valuing, growing and upskilling our dedicated workforce, including with clearer career pathways and professional recognition, will help the early learning and care system to continue to expand, and enable more children to thrive, and parents and carers to participate in work,” she added.
Universal Access noted
The report’s title - A path to universal early childhood education and care - signals its intent - to present the Commission’s analysis and assessment of progress towards policy goals under the current policy, regulatory, funding and governance settings, and to present recommendations to improve upon these settings as a pathway forward to achieve a universal ECEC system.
This focus on universal ECEC was welcomed by many respondents.
ELACCA CEO Elizabeth Death said that the long-term reform agenda provided by the Productivity Commission demonstrated that “the opportunities and concerns highlighted by ELACCA and others in our sector had been heard,” noting recommendations proposed by the Productivity Commission “will help make quality early learning and care in Australia more inclusive, more accessible and more affordable.”
Need to consider funding mechanisms carefully
“We need a model that ensures the best start in life for all children. This report advises that increasing access and availability cannot come at the expense of quality, and that entirely resonates with ACA’s approach,” ACA Vice President Nesha Hutchinson said.
Despite this, Ms Hutchinson noted that the Commission had warned that models such as a low-cost flat fee “will come at an excessive cost and won’t deliver the outcomes for children and families - and ultimately won’t achieve the government’s goals.”
“We acknowledge that working through all of the recommendations will take time, to ensure long-term successful outcomes,” she continued.
“Quality Early Childhood Education and Care needs to be affordable and equitable for all Australian families. Historically, changes to funding have sometimes had unintended consequences so we welcome recommendations for a considered and evidence-based approach which delivers the best outcomes for every dollar spent.”
Selecting the path through which universally accessible ECEC is made available will need to be considered carefully, Dr Croser-Barlow agreed.
“The Productivity Commission report looks at a number of different models that might achieve this – from tweaking the Child Care Subsidy to moving to a fully supply-side funded model with parents paying $10/day,” she explained.
“In making a choice between funding models, it is important that the Government prioritises affordability, ensuring quality, and promoting equity.”
“Currently, services for wealthier families can charge more and therefore can invest more in quality. However, services in more disadvantaged areas can’t afford to charge families any more than the subsidy rate cap, and therefore have limited means to further invest in quality.”
“As the Government becomes the primary funder of ECEC, it needs to start thinking forward about the inequity baked into the Child Care Subsidy scheme, which impacts which children access quality services.”
Inclusion support measures highlighted
The establishment of the ECEC Inclusion Fund in 2026 was noted with interest by the respondents, who welcomed not only the establishment of the fund, but also the immediate increase of funding for the Inclusion Support Program and streamlined requirements of the program to expand its reach.
“Effective and adequately funded inclusion support has been a significant issue for families and children requiring additional support, and for early learning and care services seeking to meet their needs,” Ms Death said.
“Every family, regardless of their level of social capital, should be able to access a seamless support net for their child. Access to inclusion support should not be determined by postcode, family background or capacity to navigate a system.”
Need for cohesion amongst all tiers of government
To deliver on such ambitious reforms, respondents noted the need for Commonwealth and States and Territories to work together to strengthen the ECEC workforce, boost inclusion, and ensure that no child is left aside when it comes to access to early learning.
ECA called on the Government to develop “enduring solutions to ensure that families can enrol their children in quality ECEC services wherever they live, with the confidence that the service will be open, operating and staffed to ensure quality provision.”
A resounding note of hope
For CCC Executive Director Julie Price the report represents “the final piece of the reform puzzle” required to deliver long overdue reforms to ECEC.
“The Federal Government now has the road map to create an early education system that is truly inclusive for all children and families,” she said.
To read an overview of the report from The Sector’s Jason Roberts please see here. For the report itself, see here.
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