Ash Ambihaipahar (Barton, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) commends the Government for locking in the 15 per cent pay rise for early childhood educators, investing a further $3.6 billion over the next two years;

(2) recognises that this will benefit more than 200,000 educators, who had been undervalued for too long, and the families and children who rely on them every day;

(3) acknowledges that, combined with minimum wage increases, a typical full-time educator will earn around $255 a week more since the Government's first pay-rise, and an early childhood teacher around $410 a week more;

(4) welcomes investment that helps keep early learning both affordable and safe, by linking services funding eligibility to a cap on fee increases and a requirement to meet the national safety standard; and

(5) further commends the Government for:

(a) valuing early educators who do some of the most important work in the country;

(b) helping both workers and families with the cost of living; and

(c) building the early education system children deserve.

In her inaugural Press Club address, Senator Hanson gave us a very long list of grievances. Many of them did not sit right with me, but one in particular stood out, her attack on early childhood educators. From Senator Hanson's remarks, it sounded very much like she wants to take us back to a time when so-called child-rearing and housework were seen not as essential labour but as things that women were simply expected to do by virtue of being women. Need I remind members that this is the same Senator Hanson who once said, 'You have the equipment; that's what you're here for,' when explaining why women should not be able to access paid parental leave. Newsflash, Senator Hanson—women and men can, and should, raise children. I know this because I was raised by my uncle.

Senator Hanson should also understand that a child's first five years are absolutely essential in setting them up for the rest of their lives. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has long found that early childhood education plays a very critical role in breaking cycles of socioeconomic disadvantage. It helps develop children's social skills, emotional wellbeing and confidence, and it helps prepare them for a successful transition into school. Those benefits are even stronger when children from different backgrounds are able to learn together in the same preschool program. But these benefits do not just happen by magic. They happen because of trained, skilled and dedicated early childhood educators.

So much for Senator Hanson's claim that early educators do not need to go to university. These workers are teaching our children at one of the most important and formative stages of their lives. Of course they need to be trained. Of course their work requires skill. Of course their work deserves respect. And, accordingly, they also need to be paid in a way that recognises that skill and supports talented educators to stay in the workplace and helps them pay the bills for their own families. That is why locking in the 15 per cent pay rise for early childhood educators is so important.

As this motion notes, a full-time educator will earn around $225 a week more. That is real money. It means being able to cover groceries, rent and bills without falling behind. It means a fairer wage for people doing some of the most important work in our community. And this investment does not just support educators; it supports families too. Funding eligibility is linked to a cap on fee increases, helping keep early learning affordable. It is also linked to services meeting the national safety standard, helping ensure children are learning in environments that are safe, professional and properly supported.

One comment on a post about these pay rises has really stuck with me. Sarah, an early childhood educator, said:

What's more upsetting is that people forget we are the ones teaching children the most important foundational life skills at such a young age. Sometimes we spend more time with these children than their own parents. We play such a huge role in their development, and for that reason alone, we deserve far more support, respect and recognition than we currently receive.

Sarah's right. Early childhood educators are not babysitters. They are not an afterthought. They are not people doing work that should be dismissed or diminished. They are educators. They are skilled workers. They are part of the foundation of our educational system. For too long, because this has been a workforce dominated by women, their work has been undervalued and underpaid. This pay rise helps change that. It says that caring for children is real work. It says that educating children is skilled work. It says that people who help raise, teach and support our youngest Australians deserve respect, security and a wage they can live on. That is why I'm so proud to support locking in this 15 per cent pay rise for early childhood educators.

Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Zhi Soon (Banks, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister Assisting for Fisheries and Forestry) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this motion because it asks the House to commend the government for building an early childhood education system that Australian children deserve. For families in regional Australia, that claim rings hollow. The greatest challenge in regional Australia is not affordability; it's availability. We're in a childcare drought. Across Barker, we are thousands of hours short of the child care required just to meet the current demand, and that's before we even talk about growth. No subsidy can create a childcare place that doesn't exist. No rebate opens a centre that is closed. No amount of Labor spin can help a family when there is simply nowhere to leave their child.

Across Barker, child care is no longer just a family issue. It's become a workforce issue, an economic issue and, increasingly, an issue of community resilience. Businesses are closing their doors at three o'clock each afternoon because staff must leave to collect their children. Boardrooms are being converted into makeshift crèches simply so that people can continue working. Employers are struggling to recruit staff because mothers and fathers cannot access child care. The consequences reach well beyond the private sector. Our hospitals have qualified nurses ready to work, yet shifts go unfilled because childcare isn't available. I've heard of a young senior nurse reduced to tears every time she hears the RFDS plane land at her local hospital because she knows her colleagues are facing an emergency, understaffed and without her help, simply because she can't find a single hour of child care. There are stories like that right across my electorate. In another town there is no senior paramedic working—again, because there's no child care available. And it's across the board. Doctors, dentists and teachers are all stuck out of the workforce when we need them the most. This is the hidden cost of Labor's childcare failure. It's a pity. In fact, it's putting at risk regional lives and livelihoods.

This Labor government continues to pursue city-centric improvements, ignoring rural and regional failures. Country Australia doesn't operate on a nine-to-five Monday to Friday timetable. Nurses work nights, paramedics work shifts, tourism businesses work weekends, factory workers work rolling shifts and farmers work when the seasons demand it—through seeding, vintage and harvest—often before dawn until well after dark. Yet our childcare system still assumes that every family works a nine-to-five five-day-a-week schedule, like many do in metropolitan Australia.

Regional communities are telling us what they need. They need flexibility—multitown service models that recognise small populations spread across large distances. Above all, they need governments to remove the bureaucratic barriers that prevent communities developing idiosyncratic solutions for themselves. The tragedy is that many of these ideas are ready to go. What is holding them back is not a lack of local initiative but a lack of flexibility from governments that continue to impose a one-size-fits-all policy on communities that are anything but one size fits all. Regional Australians deserve better because this isn't about child care. It's about whether a small business can stay open, whether a nurse can go to work, whether an ambulance can respond, whether a family can remain in the town they love, whether food processors have the workforces they need, whether a child has the same opportunity to thrive regardless of where they are born and, indeed, whether we want to live in a country where fertility rates are going up or where they continue to go down.

If this government is serious about strengthening regional Australia, it must stop measuring success by how much money it spends and start measuring success by whether regional families can actually access child care. Until every regional family can find a childcare option that suits them when they need one, Labor's claim about building the early education system children deserve will remain nothing more than hollow Labor spin.

Zhi Soon (Banks, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to support the motion of my very good friend the member for Barton and to both acknowledge the fantastic work of our early childhood education professionals and celebrate the momentous pay rise that they have just received.

In my first speech to the House, I spoke about how the services people use in my electorate of Banks are the same ones I utilise personally—including the early childhood education system, which my little girl, Dorothy, is currently part of. I'm proud to be part of a government that is making sure that we have an early childhood education system that works for our children but also for parents. Caring for and teaching young children is some of the most important work in our country. Early childhood is where children develop the skills they need not just for the rest of their education; it sets them up for the rest of their lives. Additionally, the availability of child care and early childhood education helps parents get back into the workforce quicker. As a result of our determination to support our early childhood education workforce, we have locked in a 15 per cent pay rise for another two years, with a $3.6 billion investment in our future. Combined with our rises in minimum wages, a typical full-time educator now earns around $255 a week more than they did before. For a full-time early childhood teacher, it is around $410 a week.

Importantly, these changes come with some strings. To be eligible, centres have to meet two conditions. The first is a cap on fees, saving the average family about $1,500 over the next two years. The second is adherence to the national safety standard.

This pay rise is working as intended. Unfortunately, some centres had yearly attrition rates north of 40 per cent prior to this change. Our early childhood teachers and educators love their work, but too many of them couldn't afford to keep on doing it. Now, we have 20,000 more workers in the sector and job vacancies are down by 31 per cent, along with a decrease in the use of casual and agency staff, making our early childhood education centres more robust for all families and communities. I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the great work of the Australian Education Union, the Independent Education Union and, particularly, the mighty United Workers Union, who have fought so hard to make this pay rise and the extension a reality.

This pay rise is far from the only aspect of our agenda for early childhood education. Our cheaper child care program is supporting a million families and has delivered an average of $11,000 in benefit over the last three years. From January this year, our three-day guarantee has given every child access to at least three days of subsidised early childhood learning and made extra hours available to 100,000 families. Our $1 billion early education fund is building new centres in the outer suburbs and regions, and our reforms are strengthening safety and making it easier to cut off funding if needed.

These changes are good for workers, good for kids and good for families, so it is no surprise that the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation are opposed to them. The coalition oversaw a broken bargaining system that delivered nothing for our early childhood educators and deliberately suppressed wages while also managing to let fees for families rise by nearly 50 per cent. Not only did they make this mess, but they are actively opposing our measures to clean it up, opposing our cheaper child care program, and voting against giving more families across our country—in the regions, in the bush—the three-day guarantee for all. Only one side of this House is supporting working families and early childhood education, and it is us, on this side—this Labor government.

Tom Venning (Grey, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm utterly sick of this Labor government's self-congratulatory motions. Child care in regional South Australia is in absolute crisis. Only two-thirds of families in my electorate of Grey have access to early childhood education. It is completely unacceptable.

Let me be clear from the outset: I acknowledge and commend the 15 per cent pay rise for early childhood educators. This investment of $3.6 billion will benefit more than 200,000 educators who have been undervalued for far too long. Earning an extra $255 to $410 a week is a well-deserved result of people doing incredibly important work, all while struggling in Labor's self-inflicted cost-of-living crisis. However, I cannot stand here and listen to more self-congratulatory backslapping from this Labor government while regional families are completely abandoned.

This motion paints a picture of an amazing, utopian, perfect early education system—a childcare dreamland, if you will. But if you step outside the major cities and look at my electorate of Grey, you will see a vastly different reality for regional families. Grey covers 92.3 per cent of South Australia. It is officially the electorate with the worst access to child care in Australia, and it shows. In 2024, 23 councils across the north and the west of our state formed the Regional Childcare Desert Advocacy Project. They did this to highlight a crisis. We have people with the appropriate skills and qualifications who are desperate to work. They want to teach. They want to staff our regional hospitals. They want to grow our communities. But they simply cannot do that without appropriate child care. Housing, health and child care are three of the biggest issues crippling our regions. The shortage is hindering regional growth and damaging our state economy. Child care is not just an economic necessity; it is a lifeline for mental health and community wellbeing. We must treat child care as an investment for the future, not just as a cost.

When the government rolls out solutions, they fail completely. The federal government's Building Early Education Fund, or BEEF, is entirely unfit to solve the childcare desert in Grey. Look at the Crystal Brook Community Childcare working group. They obtained conditional approval for a site at the local primary school. They commissioned plans. They found eager operators ready to go. Instead of support, they were locked out by inflexible, ludicrous red tape and guidelines. The rules demand that applicants already operate an existing centre. They prohibit community consortiums from applying and restrict eligibility to providers of between one and nine facilities. How metrocentric is that? It is absurd that a community group cannot own an asset and lease it to an operator. Furthermore, expecting volunteers to navigate a bureaucratic nightmare and fund shovel-ready business plans with an onerous two-month application window is also an unrealistic burden. The restrictive conditions of this grant program heavily favour existing metropolitan providers and simultaneously make it impossible for new regional operators to enter the market.

The Labor government made significant noise about how this program would deliver universal child care, but it is failing. It is failing in regional South Australia. It is not just in early child care where we see these issues. The recent collapse of out-of-school hours care or OSHC in Stirling North and Quorn did not just happen overnight. We saw, only recently, the Premier flaunt investment in OSHC services in Adelaide. Meanwhile, that very same week, he closed down those in Stirling North and Quorn. It's absolutely outrageous. Despite local operators working closely with the Department for Education, there was absolutely no meaningful intervention. There were no workers, no support and no solutions.

Once again, regional Australia continues to be treated as an afterthought. Families who desperately depend on these essential services have been left scrambling. In our regions, alternatives simply do not exist. People are forced to lean on grandparents, friends and family to fill the massive gap that the government have refused to fix. This is not a system. This is an unfolding national disgrace. Stop patting yourselves on the back. Look past the cities and work with the locals, the councils and the state departments to find real solutions to rescue these regional communities.

Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

I understand that the member for Pearce would like to present a copy of their speech for incorporation into the Hansard, in accordance with the resolution agreed to on 6 November 2025.

Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

() (): That's correct. The incorporated speech read as follows—

I rise to speak in strong support of this motion and to commend the Albanese Labor government for its continued investment in Australia's early childhood education and care sector—an investment that is making a real difference for families and educators in my electorate of Pearce.

Across communities like Carramar, Alkimos, Tapping, and Yanchep, early childhood centres are not just places of care; they are the backbone of working family life. They enable parents to participate in the workforce, they support children through their most formative years and they help build the strong, connected communities we value so deeply in Pearce.

And yet, for too long, the educators at the heart of these centres have been undervalued and underpaid. That is why locking in a 15 per cent pay rise for early childhood educators, backed by a further $3.6 billion investment over the next two years, is so significant. It is a reform that recognises the professionalism and dedication of more than 200,000 educators nationwide, including thousands across Western Australia and many right across my electorate.

In Pearce, I have spoken with educators who are deeply committed to their work but have struggled with the reality of low wages and rising living costs. These are people who are shaping young minds, supporting emotional development, and providing stability for children and families. But they have often had to make difficult financial choices in their own lives. This reform begins to change that.

Combined with minimum wage increases, a typical full-time educator will now earn around $255 more per week than when this Albanese Labor government first came to office. For early childhood teachers, that figure rises to around $410 more per week. For an educator in Butler or Wanneroo, that can mean the difference between falling behind and keeping up with rent, groceries and fuel. It is practical support that recognises both the value of their work and the cost-of-living pressures facing households across Pearce.

Importantly, this investment also delivers for families. In growing areas such as Eglinton, Yanchep and Two Rocks, where young families are moving in significant numbers, access to affordable, high-quality early learning is essential. Parents need confidence that they can access care that is not only safe and nurturing but also financially manageable.

That is why linking funding eligibility to a cap on fee increases is so important. It ensures that wage increases for educators do not come at the expense of families already balancing tight budgets.

And just as critically, tying that funding to meeting the national safety standard reinforces that quality and safety must always come first. Families in Pearce deserve nothing less than the assurance that their children are learning in environments that meet the highest standards.

This is thoughtful, balanced policy. It supports educators, protects families, and strengthens the system as a whole. It also reflects a broader understanding—that investing in early childhood education is an investment in our future.

When children in suburbs such as Pearsall or Banksia Grove have access to high-quality early learning, they are better prepared for school. They develop the social and cognitive skills that set them up for lifelong success. And they do so in environments supported by educators who are properly valued and fairly paid. This is how we build stronger communities. This is how we support working families. And this is how we ensure that every child—no matter where they live—gets the best possible start in life. I commend the Albanese Labor government for valuing early childhood educators, for easing cost-of-living pressures on both workers and families and for building the early education system that Australian children deserve.

Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party, Shadow Minister for Youth) | Link to this | Hansard source

It seems this government believes parliament exists to applaud its own performance, to pat itself on the back. Labor have turned the Notice Paper into a running commentary of self-congratulation. as we see time and time again. I remind them that, before they do, they might benefit from taking a closer look at the challenges parents and families face when it comes to child care in this country.

Australians will judge the government by its performance, not by its motions and its headlines. They judge it by their household budgets. We know that the myth of cheaper child care, that the Prime Minister, the Minister for Education and the Minister for Early Childhood Education promised, is not true. It is another mistruth from this Labor government. Families judge it every time they pay their power bill, fill up their car, buy their groceries and receive the child care that they have to pay with gap fees.

No-one on this side of the House disputes that early childhood educators perform one of the most important jobs in our country—taking care of and educating our littlest learners. We thank them for all their love and support. They help shape the next generation and support children's development during their most formative years. They give parents the confidence to participate in the workforce knowing that their children are being cared for in a safe, nurturing and educational environment. They deserve to be recognised, they deserve to be respected, and they deserve to be, of course, fairly paid. But recognising their value should never come at the expense of the families they serve. That is the balance this government continues to miss.

The Prime Minister promised Australians that cheaper child care would be one of his defining reforms. Instead, families are paying more—another untruth. The last data shows that childcare costs have surged by 14 per cent under Labor. That's 14 per cent extra that families have to find. Costs have increased faster than inflation over the past year, placing even greater pressure on household budgets that are already stretched to breaking point. That matters because families do not experience child care in isolation. They experience it along with higher electricity bills, higher insurance premiums, higher rents, higher groceries and higher mortgage repayments. Everything under this government has gone up because of higher inflation because this government can't help itself but to spend. It's the highest spending, highest taxing government in Australia's history. For many families, child care is now one of the biggest expenses they face. While the government celebrates spending billions more, parents are asking a much simpler question: why am I and my family paying more?

This motion speaks proudly about a 15 per cent wage increase for educators. Again, educators deserve fair wages, there's no doubt about that, but our beef is that governments cannot simply announce wage increases without ensuring there is a long-term certainty for providers and affordability for families. Providers need confidence to plan for their futures. Families need confidence that fees will remain affordable, and the sector needs sustainable policy not headline announcement. The government points to conditions placed on providers that limit fee increases while this funding is available, but families and providers alike are asking the obvious question of 'what happens after that?' Temporary funding arrangements do not solve long-term structural problems, and, without ongoing certainty, providers face difficult decisions, and history tells us those costs eventually find their way back to families.

While the government congratulates itself through motions like this, patting itself on the back, Australian families are still asking why life is getting harder not easier. Why are childcare costs continuing to rise under this government? Why is the cost-of-living pressure continuing to mount? Why does every announcement from this government seem to come with another bill for families to pay? I'll finish with this. Australians are rightly asking what the government is doing about access in those remote and regional communities. What is the government doing to actually deliver cheaper child care? How many of those promised new centres have they built? What have they done in the great electorates of Grey, of Barker and of Casey that have childcare deserts? This government is simply not delivering on choice for families. We want cheaper child care, and we want choice for families around our country. Listen now and do it.

Cassandra Fernando (Holt, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

As a new mum and a working mum, I know just how important early childhood educators are to families like mine. In Holt, almost one in four residents is under the age of 14. We are one of Australia's youngest electorates, filled with hardworking families juggling work, school drop-offs and everything in between. For those families, affordable, accessible, high-quality early childhood education isn't a luxury; it's essential. Yet, for far too long, the workforce, who are overwhelmingly women, that cares for and educates our youngest Australians has been underpaid and undervalued.

That is why I was so proud to welcome the Prime Minister, alongside Minister Clare and Minister Walsh, to Goodstart Early Learning in Hampton Park earlier this month to announce that the Albanese Labor government is permanently locking in a 15 per cent wage increase for more than 200,000 early childhood educators across our country. That includes more than 1,600 educators who call Holt home, supporting thousands of local children to learn, grow and thrive while giving parents the confidence to participate in the workforce. This $3.6 billion investment means a full-time educator will now earn around $255 more each week than before our government's first wage increase, while an early childhood teacher will earn around $410 more each week. From Clyde to Cranbourne, Narre Warren South to Tooradin, these educators help shape the next generation every single day. They nurture curiosity, build confidence and give our youngest Australians the strongest possible start in life. When we value the people who educate our children, we strengthen families, support our workforce and invest in the future of our country.

Senator Hanson's address to the National Press Club could not have made clearer the choice facing our country. While she was promoting a vision of Australia built on division, fear and the 'monoculture', the Prime Minister was with me in Holt, meeting local community leaders from across our community. Melbourne's outer south-east is one of the most culturally diverse parts of our nation. Walk through Hampton Park, Cranbourne or Clyde and you'll meet people whose families come from every corner of the world all contributing to our local community.

I know this because I am one of them. I was born in Sri Lanka and came to Australia with my family when I was 11 years old. Like so many families across Holt, my parents worked incredibly hard to build a better future. Today they can watch their daughter stand in this parliament, representing the community that gave us that opportunity. But this is not just my story. It is the story of tens of thousands of people across Holt, people who chose Australia, people who work hard, people who are raising families, people who volunteer and people who are building businesses,

Labor believe our multiculturalism is one of Australia's greatest strengths. One Nation want to divide Australians based on where they were born or where their families came from, and the Liberal Party continue to back their view. The Albanese Labor government will always stand up for multicultural Australia. We will always back communities like those in Holt, because, no matter where you were born, what language your parents speak or what faith you practice, if you work hard and contribute to this country, you belong. That is the Australia I believe in and that is the Australia this government is building.

Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.