Media release
11 December 2024
The Early Learning and Care Council of Australia (ELACCA) welcomes the pre-election commitment from the Prime Minister today that Australian children will be guaranteed access to three days of high-quality early learning and care, and the Activity Test will be removed as a requirement to access childcare subsidies.
ELACCA CEO Elizabeth Death welcomed this announcement, ‘We are so pleased to see this commitment from the Prime Minister today,’ Ms Death said. ‘ELACCA, together with our sector colleagues, has long advocated for the removal of the Activity Test. We firmly believe that every child should have access to high-quality early learning and care, regardless of their parent’s work or study circumstances’. Ms Death said.
On the back of the 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.
‘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’, Ms Death said. ‘Today’s commitment is another step in the right direction.’
The scrapping of the Activity Test, and a three-day early learning entitlement form part of a broader package of Productivity Commission-recommended reforms committed to by the Prime Minister, for a re-elected Labor Government. The total package announced today represents a $1.47 billion investment in early learning and care over five years, including:
- $1.03 billion for the Building Early Education Fund and business case, rolling out from July 2025
- $426.7 million for the 3 Day Guarantee (replacing the Activity Test from January 2026)
- $10.4 million to develop the Early Education Service Delivery Price, to better understand the cost of delivering services across different parts of Australia and to different cohorts of children, to inform future funding reform.
The Early Education Building Fund is a welcome commitment, and ELACCA is well positioned to support government and the sector to inform how and where this infrastructure investment can be best directed. Ensuring access and supply to high-quality early learning and care is important for every child, regardless of where they live.
ELACCA and our members are also well-placed to provide expert advice to government as part of its Early Education Service Delivery Price project. We stand ready to work with the Department of Education to inform future funding reform. ‘We look forward to the opportunity to work closely with Government and our members to inform this complex service delivery price project, to ensure we continue to build upon an innovative, affordable and high-quality early learning and care sector for all children, particularly those experiencing vulnerability and/or disadvantage.’ Ms Death said.
ELACCA and our members are committed to a vision that every Australian child has access to high-quality early learning and care, delivered by a qualified, skilled and deeply valued workforce.
Ends
For more information please contact:
Sally Maddison
Early Learning and Care Council of Australia
PO Box 348
Annandale NSW 2038
Mob: 0498 228 762
About us:
The Early Learning and Care Council of Australia (ELACCA) was established to promote the value of quality early learning and care as an integral part of Australia’s education system. Our 18 CEO members include some of the largest early learning providers in the country, representing both not-for-profit and for-profit services. ELACCA members operate 2,017 long day care services, 320 preschool/kindergarten services and 88 OSHC services, covering every state and territory. They offer one-quarter of all the early learning places in Australia. Together, our members serve 232,978 children and their families, and employ more than 59,000 staff.
As well as promoting the value of quality early learning and the need for greater public investment, ELACCA advocates for the right of all children to access quality early learning and care, particularly children facing disadvantage. We do this by drawing on the knowledge and practical experience of our members and representing their views to decision makers in government, the media and the public.