Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Monday, 5 June, I had the absolute pleasure to be invited to the Unley Community Childcare Centre, where I met with parents, committee members and some of the early childhood educators who work there. I sat and spoke with them, and they showed me the centre and also told me about their work—and how hard they work.

We know that they work hard. They told me about the long hours and their difficulties in recruiting staff. Even though it's wonderful to see families receiving cheaper child care under this government's proposals, unfortunately, there are still simply not enough educators to meet the demand. Centres are struggling, just as the Unley Community Childcare Centre is. I met with Djara Liotta-Ndiaye, the early childhood educator, and with Nica Hilditch, Kate Goodwin-Smith, advocates and parents, and they told me about their trials and tribulations.

It's great to see more training places being offered in early childhood education and care, but we need an answer for the longer term, for sustainable changes. I'm very pleased to see the workforce strategy for early childhood education and care educators in the budget, for example. We know that they do a vital job by making it possible for millions of other Australians to be able to work in their jobs, as well as supporting young children in very early learning and development. The government recognises that more must be done to attract, retain and support the wellbeing of the early childhood workforce. We all know just how crucial the first five years are. They set the foundation for a child's future life outcomes, including their learning, health and wellbeing. All the research shows that the earlier a child starts being educated then the better off they will be later on in life.

I'll begin with the recognition and professionalisation of the workforce. We need to recognise them as a workforce of educators and not childminders. This is recognition as a workforce of highly trained experts. It's also recognition that after nearly a decade of neglect and inaction by the Liberal government, changes are needed to ensure that we have a sustainable early childhood educator workforce. As I said, early learning educators do a vital job, making it possible for millions of other Australians to do their jobs. But, more importantly, they're responsible for the education of our children. I know that a supported and valued workforce is critical to making early childhood education and care more accessible and affordable for Australian families.

One way to do this is to ensure that some of these early childhood educators have reason to stay in the industry. It would be good to see wages funded through a multi-employer bargaining system. That's what those at Unley were telling me about. They also told me about the difficulties in actually recruiting and keeping staff because of the low wages. These educators do such an important job for our children and our grandchildren, so they should be valued. The way to value these people is by ensuring they get paid decently so that they can do this very professional work. The important investment that the government is making will support a quality and highly trained early childhood education and care workforce through improved access to professional development opportunities, making it easier for educators to progress their careers. This is a vital investment by the government and will ensure high-quality early childhood educators remain in the sector, that they're remunerated properly and have clear opportunities for career advancement.

The practical components will support existing staff to complete their studies within provider settings and enable them to develop their skills through practical, hands-on experience in early education and care settings. The government's measure specifically targets support to retain staff and to support skills development for educators, including those in regional and remote communities, and, of course, First Nations early education staff and services. As I said earlier, we've seen 10 years of neglect in this area. Early childhood education perhaps wasn't given the attention that was needed, so I'm hoping that we can implement this and make life easier for those people. (Time expired)