The Early Learning and Care Council of Australia congratulate the NSW Government for recognising the benefits of two years of quality early childhood education on children’s developmental trajectories, including improved lifelong education, health, wellbeing and economic outcomes.
We commend the NSW Government for striving to position NSW as ‘the first state in Australia to provide universal access to preschool for all three-year-olds’; however, the policy and funding mode presented in the 2018-19 State Budget fails to deliver on this aspiration.
Eight out of 10 families with three-year-olds at preschool will miss out on the subsidies announced in the NSW state budget. According to ELACCA CEO Elizabeth Death, “It’s a model that works for families who have one parent who is a stay-at-home parent,” but for parents who require longer childcare hours, they will get nothing.
The full open letter is available for viewing here: Open letter to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian
