Andrew Gee (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Hansard source

E () (): I rise to speak on the proposed Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Cheaper Child Care) Bill 2022. While this side of the House supports the amendment put forward by the member for Moncrieff, we won't be opposing the bill in its substantive form.

Our country is experiencing a childcare worker drought. The field is diminishing as the pay and conditions are inadequate. With this drought of workers, childcare deserts are forming across the country, and, according to the Mitchell institute, about nine million Australians, or 35 per cent of the population, live in neighbourhoods classified as a childcare desert, which are areas where there are more than three children under four per childcare place. There are currently 7,200 vacancies in the childcare sector, and many centres are capping enrolments and asking families to keep their kids at home because they don't have enough staff to operate at full capacity. An increasing number of centres are applying for waivers because they can't retain teachers, who leave the sector for better pay and conditions in the education sector. With more children set to enter the sector from July 2023, we ask: how will the government ensure there is a workforce to meet that demand? This bill is silent on that issue, yet it is a crucially important issue for regional Australia.

Alarmingly, there are also 1.1 million Australians who live in regional and remote areas where there is no child care available whatsoever. This bill does not even begin to consider the severe shortage of early childhood services in areas of rural and remote Australia, including areas that require mobile playgroups and early education programs. Remote and outer remote areas have the highest levels of childcare deserts, at 87.5 per cent and 79.9 per cent. About 453 remote towns do not have a childcare centre within a 20-minute drive.

Just as we've seen with the Building Better Regions grants and with the Distribution Priority Area classification system, Labor is once again forgetting the people of regional Australia. In that regard, we know that Building Better Regions has been cut and, with that, the opportunity for many childcare centres to be developed and built. The other side talk high and mighty about integrity in grant funding distribution, but on my reading of the budget that was handed down last night there are about $1.35 billion of grants that are only going to be available to government-held seats. Where's the integrity in that?

The Australian Children's Education & Care Quality Authority estimates that an additional 39,000 childcare workers would be needed next year to keep up with demand, and this was before this bill was introduced. According to Labor, this bill is meant to be good for careers and good for families. However, in an industry that is 39,000 workers short, I would query what it does for an already overstretched childcare worker and whether it's good for the multitude of families that have no access to child care in the first place.

While making child care more accessible is absolutely a good thing, we also need to see real change in the recruitment of, and the pay and conditions for, those working in child care. Katherine Wilson is the owner of a childcare centre in Blaney in my electorate. She recently contacted me with a desperate plea. She said:

I'm crying out for educators, but they have all left the industry because of low pay, bad conditions … the government has forgotten us. We need to know the government at least understands we are struggling. We are in crisis with no light at the end of the tunnel.

That's a plea from the heart, but this bill does nothing to answer that plea or hear those concerns.

Sadly, Ms Wilson is not alone. Lauren has also contacted my office. She's emailed: 'I have a seven-month-old son and cannot find child care anywhere. I know I am not alone here.' She goes on in her email: 'I need to go back to work for financial reasons but may not be able to because there is no-one to watch my son. I rang around this morning: 120 families before me on the waitlist and one child care has shut its baby rooms due to staffing.' Charlotte has written in, and she says: 'Our daughter is enrolled in a centre in Orange that is closed to anyone other than essential workers most weeks, and the inconsistent access to child care is making it impossible for both of us to work. As a result, we are thinking of moving back to Sydney so we can access reliable child care.'

Caroline has written to me. She's from Orange in New South Wales as well. She says this: 'I would like our parliament to be aware of the severity of this crisis in Orange and welcome any measures to encourage more staff into Orange or to encourage new staff already in Orange to join the sector, such as school leavers. This is a matter of urgency for families, mental health and the economy.' Nadia has written: 'I'm writing to see what is being done about the acute childcare crisis in Orange. I am a small-business owner and a new mum desperate to have access to child care. As a first-time mum, I am appalled at the situation for families seeking child care. I have been on a waiting list at numerous childcare facilities since my daughter was born in October last year. As a small-business owner, I have not had the opportunity to take a break from my work as labour is scarce. The current situation is holding women back from re-entering the workforce and, as such, is contributing to the ongoing gender inequality that is exacerbated in regional areas.'

Kelly has written in. She says this: 'I've had a dad on the phone today desperate for child care as the Hill Street centre is shut for a third day in a row. I've had families from the Albert Street service calling me in a complete mess as their service is shutting up completely, and they are left with no options. I just had a nurse from the hospital call me this afternoon saying she will have to quit her job, as the Dalton Street early learning centre has classrooms closed due to a staff shortage. I, myself, have reduced our opening hours to make things run more smoothly.' Her email goes on: 'It concerns me that the Labor government is going to make child care cheaper next year, which will only increase the number of children coming our way, and I think we need to start thinking about this now.' That's what we're talking about in this House tonight. Lucinda has written to me as well. She writes of the 'childcare crisis facing our community in Orange'. Jessie has written to me and she says this: 'The problem is staff. There are not enough early childhood educators to maintain all the current and new childcare centres in Orange. Orange is expanding with so many new families moving to the region, but, with a lack of early childhood educators, you will have skilled workers unable to return to work.' She goes on to say, 'There are so many families in the same position.' Nerine has written to me. She says: 'The government's plan to make childcare more cost-effective will make the current issue of low staff in the childcare industry much worse. Currently my son's day care is closed more often than it is open, due to lack of staff. New centres that have capacity cannot open rooms due to low staff, and waitlist are hundreds long to get a spot.'

Annual data released by the Australian Children's Education & Care Quality Authority shows 13 per cent or 163 of the childcare centres in South Australia were rated as 'working towards' the National Quality Framework standards at the end of September 2022. If there are 163 childcare centres in South Australia alone that are currently not meeting the National Quality Standards, why isn't the government proposing solutions to support existing facilities and ensure they are providing high-quality education and care? The minister for early education recently said:

Anyone who really cares about Australian children and understands just how important good-quality education is for children in their formative years can't argue with the fact this is good for our children.

Unfortunately this statement assumes, as this bill assumes, that there is an adequate number of high-quality childcare providers and educators available in the first place. This is the heart of the problem. The expansion to 36 hours of care per fortnight for eligible Indigenous families, while positive, also doesn't account for the lack of childcare availability. Unfortunately, without increasing the number of childcare workers in both metropolitan and regional areas of our country, the danger is that children will have no greater access to early education than what is available to them right now.

And then, of course, there is the issue of out-of-pocket costs. The last time Labor was in government, childcare fees skyrocketed by 53 per cent in just six years. Out-of-pocket costs are already rising, and fees will likely rise before 1 July 2023, which may erode a significant proportion of the increased subsidies before they're even in place. During our time in government, we kept out-of-pocket costs low. The latest CPI data, from June 2022, showed that childcare costs came down 4.6 per cent in the year to June 2022.

Labor has no plans to address the rising out-of-pocket costs or rising cost-of-living pressures in child care, and Australian families need relief now and, Deputy Speaker, you've seen and heard that in the emails that I've just read out to you. With early education costs set to increase under this government, Australian families deserve to know if they will really be better off under what is being proposed. It's time the government focused less on politics and more on a plan to ensure a strong economy that supports Australian workers and families and, unfortunately, one of the glaring omissions from this budget that we've just seen is a total lack of any plan to deal with the rising costs of living. And, from interest rates to power costs to gas costs, with high inflation, it's a very difficult situation for families and it hasn't been addressed properly.

Instead what we've got are inquiries. A further $10 million has been allocated for the ACCC to complete an inquiry on this issue, despite the fact that the findings of this inquiry are not scheduled to be announced until some six months after Labor's intended start date for this initiative. The concern is that the government has done no due diligence on this policy and next to no modelling to show what the outcomes of this policy will be, and it's deeply concerning to the people of regional Australia. The time for talking and inquiries is over. And I point out to those on the other side of the House that they may take great delight in blaming the now opposition—the former government—for everything, but I can tell them that the feedback that we're getting from around Australia is that the public are tired of it. They want the government to start taking responsibility for their actions. The public are not interested in the blame game. You're in government now, you've just had your budget and you need to start taking responsibility for your actions and stop passing the buck.

Stop having inquiries and start delivering policy on the issues that matter to Australians. Do something to address the chronic childcare labour shortages that Australians are crying out for you to do something about. You've heard that through the correspondence I have read to this House tonight. I urge those opposite to do something—to stop playing the blame game and take positive action to address this acute childcare and early education worker shortage that is affecting so many families around Australia. It's having a very detrimental impact, as you've heard in those emails from my electorate.

I urge all members to support the amendments moved by the member for Moncrieff and I again urge the government to take concrete steps to address the labour shortages in the childcare and early education sectors.

See this speech in context