Jo Briskey (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last week we saw a huge win for safety and quality in our early childhood sector. For too long, a dangerous loophole known as under-the-roof-ratios has allowed some providers to game the system. At its worst, they counted staff in the office or the kitchen rather than educators actively supervising children. It was unsafe. It was bad practice. And I'm thrilled to say it's coming to an end.

This is a massive victory for children, for Australian parents and, most importantly, our early childhood educators. But this win didn't happen by accident. It happened because thousands of United Workers Union educators stood up and demanded better. These incredible educators shared their stories through the media, they exposed systemic risks through EarlyEd Quality Check and they sent over 2,000 messages to ACECQA demanding change. I want to thank them and I want to thank Minister Jess Walsh and Minister Clare and the state and territory education ministers for listening to our educators and standing shoulder to shoulder with them to ban this poor practice. This is a historic moment. It shows the power of collective action and the power that our educators have to hold providers accountable to ensure that every child gets the safe, quality education and care they deserve. Our educators fought for this and, under a Labor government, they won.

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