Media release
26 October 2022
Last night’s Federal Budget delivers welcome investment for Australian families and the early learning and care sector.
‘We applaud the Government’s $4.7 billion investment to increasing affordability of early learning and care for Australian families’ said Elizabeth Death, CEO of the Early Learning and Care Council of Australia (ELACCA).
ELACCA welcomes affordability, access and accountability measures provided in the Budget including:
- Improved access for First Nations children, through the provision of a base entitlement of 36 hours of subsidised early learning and care a fortnight, regardless of hours or income level
- Greater affordability for families by increasing the Child Care Subsidy
- Increased transparency and accountability measures for large providers of early learning and care.
ELACCA calls for significant additional support to stem workforce attrition across the sector and ensure demand for increased places can be met. We know there are a range of targeted solutions to support the workforce – including an interim wages supplement for early childhood teachers and educators – as part of a longer-term package of measures. ELACCA looks forward to working collaboratively with Government to foster sensible and sustainable solutions for a robust early learning workforce.
ELACCA supports the Australian Government delivering on the commitment to provide more university places and fee-free TAFE and vocational education places in the early learning and care sector to build the skilled workforce we need now and in the future.
‘ELACCA welcomes the Australian Government’s investment to develop the future skilled workforce through provision of university places for early education teachers’ Ms Death said. These targeted higher education places complement much needed extra training places also delivered in the Budget for early education and care as part of the Government’s fee-free TAFE commitment.
‘ELACCA calls on the Australian Government to fund and accelerate the sector codesigned national workforce initiative Shaping Our Future, including wages supplement and fast tracking of skilled migration to provide immediate support to deliver services to families’.
‘We want Australian children and families to thrive. This means focusing our efforts on building greater access to affordable, high-quality early learning and care for every young child’. Ms Death said. ‘Without immediate and longer-term investment in workforce, the potential reach of these cheaper childcare measures may not be realised, dampening the affordability and access reforms’.
ELACCA launched its own national campaign – Big Roles in Little Lives – to attract more Australians to a career in early learning.
ENDS
For more information please contact:
Sally Maddison
Early Learning and Care Council of Australia
PO Box 348
Annandale NSW 2038
Mob: 0419368108
About us:
ELACCA is an association of the nation’s largest providers of early learning and care services including preschool/kindergarten, long day, outside school hours and family day care. ELACCA members comprise a significant percentageof the nation’s not-for-profit and private providers operating 2,387 services and providing early learning and care to approximately 336,000 children across metropolitan, regional, rural, and remote locations across Australia.
By leveraging its scale and reach to lead exceptional early learning outcomes for all our youngest Australians, ELACCA aspires to:
- Progress the quality of early learning and care outcomes for all children
- Enhance the development and professionalisation of the early learning workforce; and
- Improve equity of access to early learning for all children.
ELACCA brings an experienced and influential national voice to the early learning and care sector and is well positioned to provide strategic evidence-based advice and input to discussions, planning, policy development and media on all areas involving the sector in Australia.
