Equity is a “Fair Go”: Why 100 Hours of Early Learning Matters for Our Children

The Federal Government’s reforms to childcare and early education subsidies have the potential to significantly impact life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

From this month, the Australian Government will replace the Child Care Subsidy Activity Test with a new 3 Day Guarantee, ensuring children who need it can access at least three days of subsidised early childhood education and care each week. 

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families, this reform goes much further. It delivers access to up to 100 hours of subsidised care per fortnight. 

This is not a small policy tweak. It represents a transformative change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. It removes a long-standing barrier for families wanting to access childcare and opens the door to early learning for thousands of children who were previously locked out.

Put simply, it’s a huge win. 

At SNAICC, removing the Activity Test has been a long-held priority. 

The Activity Test unfairly targeted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families by linking access to childcare to paid work or study. Many families need affordable childcare in place before they can re-enter the workforce, not after. 

The Activity Test trapped families in a catch-22, limiting children’s access to early education at the very stage where it matters most.

While this reform is called a “3 Day Guarantee,” for our families it is a bit of a misnomer. The reform is more accurately understood as access to 100 hours of subsidised early childhood education and care each fortnight.

This is far from a handout. This change represents a leg-up for families and an opportunity for the children who are set to benefit the most from early education to get access.  

Only around one third of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are developmentally on track when they commence big school. That disparity does not exist because our children lack ability or potential. It exists because our families face systemic barriers in education, health and social systems that were never designed with us in mind. 

When we talk about Closing the Gap, we are talking about addressing those systems, not expecting our children to somehow magically overcome them alone.

This reform is Closing the Gap in action. It acknowledges that treating everyone the same will not deliver better outcomes for everyone. Equity means giving children access to the supports they need to be on a more equal playing field. Replacing the idea of a “fair go” with an equitable one is exactly what this change does.

The Productivity Commission’s report, A Path to Universal Early Childhood Education and Care, released in September 2024, was clear - the children and families who stand to benefit the most from early childhood education and care are the least likely to attend. The Commission also highlighted how the Activity Test further disadvantaged vulnerable children, reinforcing exclusion rather than opportunity. This reform responds directly to that evidence.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, access to culturally safe, high-quality early learning, particularly through Aboriginal community-controlled organisations (ACCOs), delivers better outcomes not only in the early years, but across the entire lifespan of a child. 

ACCOs provide wrap-around services that extend beyond traditional childcare models. They foster connection, accountability and comprehensive support for children and their extended families, addressing needs and providing support that sits well outside what the mainstream system typically caters for.

The benefits to access to ECEC go beyond 0–5-years-old, with studies showing that early childhood education and care interventions play an important role in reducing juvenile offending rates. As national conversations about youth justice and detention continue to look graver, we cannot ignore the drivers into those systems. And while we may not feel it in this election cycle or the next, access to quality early education and care is one of the most powerful preventive tools we have.

There are already signs of progress. Australian Early Development Census data shows that change is happening, and ACCO-led initiatives are working. 

Yet recent updates under Closing the Gap also show that outcomes around developmental readiness for school are worsening overall. That makes this reform not just welcome, but urgent.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he wants universal access to affordable early childhood education to be his legacy. Achieving that means being bold and ambitious. It means moving away from one-size-fits-all policies and toward a system that recognises difference, disadvantage and the need for targeted support.

It means a far-less marketable but far more impactful campaign for the equitable, “Fair Go.” 

This landmark change does exactly that. 

By removing the Activity Test and guaranteeing access to 100 hours of subsidised early learning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, Australia has taken a meaningful step toward a truly universal system, one that starts with our children and gives them the strongest possible foundation to thrive.

Author: Catherine Liddle, CEO of SNAICC (Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care)