Senate inquiry to examine ECEC access across regional, rural and remote Australia

Service gaps, workforce pressures and whether the Child Care Subsidy is meeting the needs of families and providers outside metropolitan areas will come under scrutiny in a new Senate inquiry into early childhood education and care across rural, regional and remote Australia.

The Senate Education and Employment References Committee has opened an inquiry into the state of Australia’s early childhood education and care (ECEC) system in rural, regional and remote communities.

Referred to the committee on 12 August 2026, the inquiry will examine the system’s ability to provide accessible, high-quality, reliable and flexible ECEC to communities outside metropolitan areas.

Its terms of reference span service availability, workforce challenges, affordability, the effectiveness of Commonwealth programs and investment, and the challenges facing Aboriginal community-controlled organisations providing ECEC.

Submissions are open until 29 September 2026, with the committee due to report by 29 June 2027.

The extent and nature of ECEC service gaps across rural, regional and remote Australia will be a central focus of the inquiry.

The committee will consider how the availability of services compares with the geographic distribution of families and the needs of individual communities.

Importantly, the inquiry extends beyond long day care.

Its terms of reference specifically include long day care, family day care, in-home care, outside school hours care and preschool and kindergarten programs.

The broad scope creates an opportunity to examine how different models operate across communities where geography, population size and local circumstances can influence the availability and viability of ECEC.

Attracting, training and retaining a qualified ECEC workforce will also be examined.

The inquiry will specifically consider the role of wages, housing, transport and career development opportunities in workforce challenges across rural, regional and remote communities.

The inclusion of housing and transport is significant because it recognises that the ability of a service to recruit and retain educators can be influenced by circumstances extending beyond the workplace itself.

The inquiry provides a formal avenue for educators, approved providers and communities to present evidence about the workforce pressures they experience and how those challenges affect the delivery of ECEC.

The effectiveness of the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) outside metropolitan areas is another significant element of the inquiry.

The committee will examine whether the CCS is effectively reducing out-of-pocket costs for families with low or variable wages in rural, regional and remote communities.

It will also consider whether the existing subsidy structure reflects the cost of providing ECEC in these areas and the models of care communities want and need.

This gives the committee scope to consider not only affordability for families, but also whether the structure of the subsidy is suited to the circumstances in which regional and remote services operate.

Existing Commonwealth programs and investments aimed at improving ECEC access in rural, regional and remote Australia will also be reviewed.

The committee will consider how effectively current measures are improving access and whether further action may be required.

The terms of reference do not prescribe particular policy solutions, with the committee expected to develop its recommendations after considering submissions and other evidence received during the inquiry.

The inquiry will specifically examine challenges faced by Aboriginal community-controlled organisations providing access to ECEC for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

This creates an opportunity for community-controlled organisations to provide evidence about the circumstances affecting the delivery of culturally responsive early childhood services.

It also ensures the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities form an explicit part of the committee’s consideration of ECEC access outside metropolitan areas.

The committee is inviting individuals and organisations to provide written submissions addressing the inquiry’s terms of reference.

For the ECEC sector, this provides an opportunity for approved providers, educators, service leaders, peak bodies, researchers, community-controlled organisations, families and other stakeholders to contribute evidence about how the system operates in their communities.

Submissions could address issues including local service gaps, workforce recruitment and retention, the viability of different models of care, affordability and the effectiveness of existing Commonwealth support.

The committee has not yet outlined the reforms it may recommend, with its conclusions to be informed by evidence gathered through the inquiry.

Submissions will close on 29 September 2026.

The Education and Employment References Committee is due to report to the Senate by 29 June 2027.

The inquiry comes amid continued national attention on the accessibility, affordability and sustainability of ECEC, but places a specific focus on whether existing arrangements are meeting the needs of communities outside Australia’s metropolitan areas.

Its broad terms of reference mean the committee will consider both sides of the access equation, whether families can find and afford appropriate ECEC, and whether services have the workforce and operating conditions needed to provide it.

For regional, rural and remote ECEC communities, the inquiry provides a formal opportunity to put those experiences before Parliament and contribute to recommendations that could shape future Commonwealth policy.

Read the Parliament of Australia announcement here.