Media release
27 March 2025
The Early Learning and Care Council of Australia (ELACCA) has welcomed today’s statement from the Albanese Government, for increased national consistency and action to improve safety and quality in the early learning and care sector.
‘We welcome the joint statement from Minister Aly and Minister Rishworth, highlighting action to improve safety and quality in the early learning and care,’ said ELACCA CEO Elizabeth Death.
‘ELACCA and ELACCA members are committed to a high-quality early learning and care sector for all children, regardless of the location or type of service they attend.’ Ms Death said. ‘There is nothing more important than the safety and well-being of children in our care and their educators.’
Ms Death also stated that predominantly children in our sector receive high quality early learning and care from dedicated, skilled early learning professionals who work for quality providers. However, the small number of providers behaving in an unscrupulous manner, should be held to account by all levels of Government.
ELACCA supports measures announced by the Albanese Government today to explore strengthening the Commonwealth’s powers to:
- prevent providers that persistently fail to meet minimum standards and repetitively breach the National Law from opening new Child Care Subsidy (CCS) approved services.
- take compliance action against existing providers with egregious and continued breaches (this includes potential to remove access to CCS funding)
- increase capacity to deal with providers that pose an integrity risk.
ELACCA and ELACCA members support measures that are aimed at improving quality and increasing safety for children and educators in our sector, and look forward to the opportunity to work with governments and sector colleagues. We value the Albanese Government’s intention to consult closely with the sector to ensure these changes address unacceptable behaviour and do not negatively impact families and quality providers.
ELACCA also supports efforts by government to investigate ways of preventing unscrupulous operators from switching across care sectors, including between early learning and care, aged care, disability care and veterans’ care. We would also support implementing a National Working with Vulnerable People Check across all states and territories, for people seeking to work and volunteer in early childhood education and across the care economy.
It is ELACCA’s vision that all children in Australia have access to inclusive, high-quality early learning and care, delivered by a skilled, valued workforce.
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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.
