Not For Profit CEO’s urge the NSW Government to act on key recommendations from the Upper House Inquiry into Early Childhood Education and Care 

Not For Profit CEOs of early childhood education and care (ECEC)organisations have urged the NSW Government to implement key recommendations of the Upper House Report to continue the work it is doing to make early learning and care safer for children across the State. 

“We thank the Committee members for the detailed and thoughtful report they have released.  Implementation of some of its key recommendations will help keep children safe and improve the quality of early learning that they receive,” the CEO’s said. 

“As the report notes, the National Quality Framework remains the foundation on which all  improvements to the early learning and care sector can be built. It provides the right standards for centres to meet, built on consultation and evidence. It is the bedrock of a safe and high-quality national system. 

“The NSW Government has already acted to ensure its regulator has the resources it needs to assess centres more often, a vital first step in ensuring all early education is of the highest possible quality. 

“We said in our evidence the things that keep children safe in early learning are centres with the correct number of qualified teachers and educators, with a strong culture of safeguarding and reporting. To ensure services are appropriately staffed with well-trained professionals the NSW Government should now focus on strengthening workforce professional learning and improving wages for teachers and educators working in ECEC.

“We are also encouraged that the Committee supports stronger sector stewardship through the creation of a new National Early Education Commission. All levels of government must do more to manage supply so that high quality providers are able to operate where the children need us, not  just where it is profitable to do so. 

“In our evidence we also urged action on inclusion, noting that NSW is falling behind leading states like Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, and welcome the report’s recommendation for improved funding from both levels of Government to support children with additional needs.

“We thank the Committee for their steely focus on children’s rights and safety and for shining a light on the changes needed to ensure that every child who attends early learning and care has access  to a high quality inclusive program. 

“We look forward to working with the NSW Government to ensure that the important recommendations made in the report are understood, carefully implemented, embedded in practice and robustly evaluated to raise the quality and safety of early learning for all NSW children.” 

Ms Kim Bertino, Chief Executive Officer, Big Fat Smile 

Dr Ros Baxter, Chief Executive Officer, Goodstart Early Learning  

Mrs Nicole Jones, Chief Executive Officer, Gowrie NSW 

Ms Christine Legg, Chief Executive Officer, KU Children's Services 

Ms Kay Turner, Chief Executive Officer, SDN Children's Services