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ECEC sector responds to $1 billion Building Early Education Fund
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Freya Lucas
Dec 12, 2024
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The early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector has responded to yesterday’s announcement by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that the Government, should it be reelected, will establish a $1 billion Building Early Education Fund from July 2025.
Central to the fund will be Government grants to providers, and the exploration of options for the Commonwealth to invest in owning and leasing out services. There will be an emphasis on co-locating services on school sites wherever possible and on supporting the growth of high-quality not-for-profit providers.As part of the reforms the Government also announced the 3 Day Guarantee which would replace the current Activity Test from January 2026 with guaranteed eligibility for 3 days a week of subsidised early education.
Goodstart Early Learning, Early Childhood Australia (ECA), Community Child Care Association (CCC) and Community Early Learning Australia (CELA), Uniting NSW.ACT, G8 Education, the Early Learning and Care Council of Australia (ELACCA), the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA), and the New South Wales Council of Social Service (NCOSS) all submitted responses to the the announcement, which have been captured under the core themes below.
An acknowledgement of the value of the early years
For many respondents, including Community Child Care Association Executive Director Julie Price, the Prime Minister’s announcement is an acknowledgement of the true value of early childhood education and care (ECEC) for children and families.
“These announcements recognise that every child has a right to access quality early childhood education, just like primary and secondary school,” she said.
Goodstart CEO Dr Ros Baxter agreed saying the organisation “applauded the universal guarantee to early learning,” terming it “once in a generation reform, that will give all Australian children access to at least three days a week of early learning, which evidence shows will set them up for success in school and life.”
“Goodstart has always had an ambition to see every child in Australia reap the benefits of attending high-quality early learning – and we are thrilled that the Government shares this ambition,” Dr Baxter said.
“This will change lives,” she continued.
“Goodstart stands ready to work with the Government to implement these reforms and we can't wait to welcome the children and families who have been missing out.”
“It is fair to say many of us had a tear in our eyes as we read the announcement, knowing the real difference this will make in the lives of so many children.”
Praise for 3 days
ELACCA welcomed the pre-election commitment from the Prime Minister that Australian children will be guaranteed access to three days of high-quality early learning and care. “We are so pleased to see this commitment from the Prime Minister,” ELACCA CEO Elizabeth Death said.
“ELACCA calls for the Government, and all Members of the Australian Parliament to provide non-partisan support for the reform pathway paved by the Productivity Commission in its final report”, she continued, describing the commitments made thus far as “ another step in the right direction.”
On the back of the 3 day commitment, Ms Death noted that ELACCA urges the Government to bring forward the removal of the Activity Test to January 2025, to ensure that children currently missing out on early learning and care are not locked out for a further 12 months.
Activity test removal welcomed
NCOSS CEO Cara Varian said she was pleased to see the Prime Minister commit to scrapping the Activity Test which determines the level of childcare subsidy parents receive based on the hours they work, study or volunteer in a fortnight. “The Productivity Commission recommended the activity test be abolished in September this year, so I am relieved to see the Prime Minister adopt that sensible recommendation,” Ms Varian said. “We know that access to early education is crucial to setting children up for future success, ensuring they are school ready and disrupting the cycle of intergenerational disadvantage.”
ECA CEO Samantha Page held a similar position, saying the decision has the potential to provide better access for more than 120,000 children currently locked out of ECEC.
‘The activity test was unfair when it was conceived, introduced and is still unfair today,” Ms Page said.
“It effectively locks out or limits access of children to subsidised early childhood education and care. One day a week of subsidy is inadequate, and so we see families on the lowest income paying the highest out-of-pocket costs because they have run out of subsidy—ultimately, many are forced to withdraw their children from services. While there are exemptions to the activity test, they are poorly understood and complicated to navigate.”
“The reality of the activity test for many families, particularly mothers, has translated to a persistent juggle between workforce participation, education and care, and the administrative and cognitive burden of finding some sort of compromise,” she continued.
“Access to early childhood education and care supports parental participation in the workforce, and this has important economic benefits now and into the future. Perhaps more importantly, high- quality educational experiences in the early years provide children with the foundation for lifelong education outcomes and wellbeing.”
Universal care
Ms Varian welcomed the support which the announcements represent for those families who are living in low income households. “We know that families living on a low income have been delaying sending their children to early education or reducing the number of days they attend because of the cost,” Ms Varian said. “Childcare is one of the biggest financial stressors on families across Australia. “This is particularly the case for low-income families who are forced to choose between paying their energy bills or putting food on the table.” “The childcare system has become so unaffordable that it’s cheaper to send your children to an elite Sydney private school than to daycare.”
Opportunities for further collaboration
As one of the largest providers of ECEC across Australia, G8 Education said it looks forward to consultation with the Government over the details of the Education Service Delivery Price (SDP) program and the Building Early Education Fund, pleased with the news that the Government will heed many of the recommendations in the Productivity Commission’s report.
“The Productivity Commission report provides an important roadmap for the early education and care sector, and we look forward to continuing the conversation across the Parliament about implementing the Productivity Commission’s recommendations,” G8 Education Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Pejman Okhovat said.
“The recommendations address issues beyond affordability, including addressing workforce shortages, improving access for vulnerable children and those in very remote areas, and ensuring that quality standards improve.”
ACA cautioned the need to ensure any decisions are evidence-based, with President Paul Mondo saying that overall he is “optimistic” about what the announcements could mean for the sector.
“In places where the market isn’t working, ACA has called for more government intervention to ensure adequate supply in unviable locations,” he said.
“ACA looks forward to receiving more detail about what these proposals entail, and to supporting the Government with design and implementation.”
ACA has previously called for more funding which reflects the increased costs for building and operating services in remote areas, saying that in order to target funding appropriately for centres in the outer suburbs and regional Australia, consultation with the sector and local communities will be critical, as is the need to ensure that crucial funds are allocated to “truly underserved areas with legitimate needs.”
“The Government’s promise reflects ACA’s position that future policies must recognise the complex needs of our sector, as opposed to a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach,” Mr Mondo said.
“This includes ensuring that any new funding model is designed with a strong evidence base reflecting the unique needs of each part of Australia.”
Community support welcomed
Community Early Learning Australia CEO Michele Carnegie welcomed the announcement saying the Prime Minister’s plan “recognises community managed not-for-profit services as the foundation for delivering quality early childhood education to all children, no matter where they live.”
“We’ve worked with so many communities that have been crying out for the infrastructure investment that today’s announcement delivers,” she said.
“Community managed not-for-profit services will be critical to delivering the 3 Day Guarantee, offering the greatest return for government investment with all funds reinvested into quality education and care.”
More support needed for the ‘forgotten’ 10 per cent
While acknowledging the merit of the bulk of the announcements, Uniting NSW.ACT expressed concern that one in ten children will continue to be left behind directly because of a number of non-financial barriers, including the children in families experiencing disadvantage, from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, children with disability or those with Aboriginal heritage.
“Even with fully publicly subsidised preschool, we know that the children who stand to benefit most from early learning are also those most likely to miss out,” Tamara Pararajasingham, General Manager Impact and Innovation at Uniting NSW.ACT said.
"Uniting NSW.ACT wholeheartedly supports the work the Government has announced, but we must address these non-financial barriers to ensure equity of access.” “We believe that recognising the issue of non-financial barriers is a critical piece of the policy puzzle, and providing ongoing funding for Uniting’s Links to Early Learning and similar navigation programs will help the sector to make meaningful change and ensure that no child gets left behind,” she added.
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