In continuation from my speech during the last session of parliament: that's 900 local people who will receive this 15 per cent pay rise for another two years, and, for the first time, employees in all child-care-subsidy approved services will be eligible for the payment—and that includes the family-day-care and in-home sectors, which, I know, is really welcome news for local families who value choice when it comes to their children's care.

The Albanese Labor government announced the worker retention payment in 2024 and we saw immediately the impact that this had on the sector, particularly when combined with fee free TAFE. There are around 20,000 more early childhood education and care workers than before our announcement. That's an eight per cent increase. Job vacancies have decreased by almost 31 per cent, and the percentage of services operating with a staffing waiver has fallen from 8.9 per cent to 4.3 per cent.

At the same time, staff surveys are showing an increase in the number of workers who intend to stay in the sector, as well as improved educator wellbeing. That's really encouraging, and it's making a difference to services on the ground.

Not only are we paying early childhood education and care workers more, but we're also helping them to get trained for free. Since fee free TAFE began in 2023, there have been more than 65,000 enrolments in early childhood education and care courses across the country. Certificate III in early childhood education and care is now Australia's second-most-popular free TAFE course, representing six per cent of all free TAFE enrolments. In New South Wales, these students can save up to an estimated $1,930, thanks to the investments by our Labor government. As the Minister for Early Childhood Education, Senator Jess Walsh, said:

Free TAFE has been a game-changer for growing the ECEC sector.

It's clear that our suite of policies to attract and retain high-quality early childhood education and care workers is paying dividends.

Another key thing that we have done through this worker retention payment grant is to ensure that services can only receive the payments if they commit to limiting fee increases. Fees at centres receiving the payment have grown at half the rate of centres that don't, showing that this link has been effective at keeping costs down for those 75 centres receiving the payment across Cunningham, and I know that this is incredibly important for local families.

I often hear from parents who are struggling with childcare costs. One parent recently told me that their centre had increased the family's fees by around 30 per cent over the last 2½ years. This mum told me how the repeated and significant increases in their fees were making it difficult for families like hers to remain in the workforce. Stories like this are exactly why we have linked this payment with commitments to keeping fees lower to help support local families with childcare costs. We want to ease the cost-of-living pressures at the same time as delivering better early learning care for children and families.

When we came to government, we came with a clear commitment to making child care cheaper. Now more than one million families across Australia have benefited from our increases in the Child Care Subsidy. For a family earning $168,000 with one child in care 30 hours a week, cheaper child care cut out-of-pocket costs by around $7,440, and we expanded the Child Care Subsidy by replacing the punitive activity test with a guaranteed three days of subsidised care for all eligible children no matter what their parents do. This guarantee expanded discounted care to 100,000 more families across Australia because we knew the importance of early education and we value those that are delivering it.

There's another important condition on the worker retention payment grants that I want to touch on. This condition is around safety. I'm not going to repeat the absolutely abhorrent stories we have heard through the media in recent times about serious safety failures in centres across Australia, but what these stories have shown is that we absolutely must do more to protect children in early childhood education and care settings. From July 2027, if services don't meet the national quality standard on children's health and safety, then they won't be eligible for this grant. At the moment, around 95 per cent of services meet this standard, which is more than ever before. But we want that number to be higher, so we're providing another incentive for services to meet that standard because every family deserves to know that their children are safe.

It was recently Early Learning Matters Week, and I had the absolute pleasure of visiting two of my local services to see firsthand the amazing work going on across the Illawarra. After being out and about in our community, I was delighted to return to my office to be greeted by a very special and unexpected gift. The children and teachers from ECTARC Smith Street Education and Care Service had stopped by to deliver me a gorgeous purple card covered in sparkles and rainbows—personal favourite of mine—to tell me about their preschool. Inside were three questions: why do you like to come to ECTARC Smith Street? What did you learn at preschool? Why is it important to come to preschool? The answers were absolutely delightful. Ashton said, 'I like to go to preschool, because I find creatures.' Flossy said, 'We learn to look after plants.' Again from Flossy was, 'We learn to be nice, play with each other, help each other and get ready for big school.' Luci said, 'We do experiments to find things out.' Malu said, 'I just like to learn things.' Levi said, 'I like riding bikes.' Harriet said, 'I like to play mums and dads with my friends.' 'Playing with my friends' was also a very popular answer, including from Tom, Miggy, Winnie, Isla, Samaira and Carter. Aypars said, 'I learn puzzles and numbers and letters and songs.' Hari said, 'I like eating lunch.'

I decided to pop into Smith Street to say thanks. Hearing their excitement and seeing their pride in what they had created for me was a lovely reminder of why early learning matters so much. For children, these early years are about discovering who they are, building friendships, developing confidence and learning through play and exploration. There was yet another present waiting for me. Sacha and his older brother Tristan had drawn me their dream playground, which they want to see built next door to Bellambi Public School. Sasha said the one that he wants the most is the flying fox, so I promised them I would ask Wollongong City Council about that because even inside a preschool I am still representing my constituents, both big and small. The lord mayor, Tania Brown, has said she's really keen to visit, so watch this space on that playground.

It was also wonderful to meet the lovely educators from Smith Street who bring such passion to their work. Their dedication creates an environment where local kids feel safe, supported and encouraged to learn at their own pace. Thank you to general manager Kathryn Barker and all of the educators for welcoming me to your wonderful service. I'll also add that ECTARC celebrated its 40th birthday late last year, a remarkable milestone. Congratulations to CEO Anita Kumar and everyone who has worked to make ECTARC the beloved local service provider that it is today.

I also had the pleasure of visiting Kids' Uni Innovation Campus this Early Learning Matters Week. The centre has a warm and welcoming atmosphere, and it was clear that the educators are deeply committed to the children in their care. The staff talked about their commitment to play and relationship based learning, and shared the centre's unique history. For a fun fact, the Kids' Uni at the Innovation Campus is actually located inside one of the surviving Nissen huts from the Balgownie Migrant Workers Hostel, built in around 1950. It's a really interesting part of local history. The children engaged enthusiastically, and the staff were passionate about the work that they do. It was a wonderful example of the difference dedicated early-childhood professionals make every single day.

It was also really valuable to hear directly from staff about the positive impact of the worker retention payment, supporting fair pay and improving retention of staff. We also discussed some of the challenges, and I will keep working with them through that process as well. It was really encouraging to hear of their desire to expand the service and offer more places to help meet the growing needs of our Illawarra families. I want to sincerely thank Kids' Uni head of early education and safeguarding, Louise Windisch, and her entire team for taking the time to speak to me as well as for their work supporting local families.

Back in May, I also visited Big Fat Smiles Stanwell Park early learning centre to see how they've been going since the transition to new management. I know a lot of parents felt really strongly about this at the time, and it was wonderful to see how well local families and the centre staff had managed that transition. Once again, the commitment from the lovely staff to quality care and a strong relationship with local families was absolutely clear. I loved seeing the large, open outdoor environment surrounded by native gumtrees where the children often take part in 'bush kinder', exactly the kind of place where children can run, rest, wander and grow. I want to give a big thank you to CEO Kim Bertino and centre director Sasha for the tour.

These are the amazing people moulding the next generation of Illawarra leaders, and we are so grateful for their continued passion and dedication to that incredibly important role. Quality early education gives children the change to learn, to play, to make friends and to develop skills for the future. When children have access to high-quality early learning, families are supported to work and study and children are given the foundations they need to thrive both at school and throughout their lives. We'll continue to do everything we can to support our early educators, ensure families can access high-quality, affordable care and give children the safe and nurturing environments that they deserve.

This bill extends a government grant to subsidise childcare workers wages called the worker retention payment. The grant has been around since the end of 2024, and it's helped many childcare workers across the country receive a decent wage for the important work of caring for our smallest Australians while capping fees for families. I will be supporting its extension in this bill—a $3.65 billion extension out to 30 June 2028. I also support the government's decision to attach the grant to quality and safety conditions.

It's very important to note that, first of all, the worker retention payment was originally introduced as a temporary mechanism to deliver a quick wage increase and stabilise the childcare workforce. It's not a substitute for the kind of wider, systemic reform of the childcare sector that we so desperately need. This bill doesn't answer the question that this sector has been asking the government for years: what is the actual long-term plan for reforming the childcare system?

Early childhood educators do some of the most important and undervalued work in our community, and no member of this House should vote against a bill that keeps money flowing to their pay packets. The government reports that, since the grants began, the sector has added around 20,000 more educators—an eight per cent increase in the workforce. It reports that job vacancies have fallen by almost a third and that the rate of services relying on staffing waivers has more than halved.

The grant has made a difference for many educators and providers and, in turn, the children they support, but it hasn't fallen equally across the sector. Much of the benefit has gone to larger for-profit operators who have adjusted well to the administrative requirements. When it comes to the not-for-profit and community based providers—the providers who often take on the children other services turn away, who staff above ratio and who invest properly in professional development—they have carried the heaviest burden and have been least able to benefit from the grant.

To access this payment, a provider must sign up to a fee cap from the day they apply, but the payment itself is delivered in arrears on a payment cycle that can run months behind. For a large, well-capitalised operator, that cash flow gap is manageable, but, for a small community centre operating on thin margins, it just may not be a viable business decision. Additionally, despite their extra expenses, many of the small community centres have deliberately kept fees lower than average, but, once they signed up for the worker retention payment, they were barred from making even modest or deserved changes to their fees due to the fee cap. Many of these not-for-profit providers want to do the right thing by their staff, but they're prevented from doing so by a scheme that was designed without them in mind. The result is that some of these providers never apply for the worker retention payment at all or can't make the settings work for their organisation.

The sector broadly supports extending this payment, and I understand why. A government grant is certainly better than nothing, But broad support for an extension is not the same thing as proof that this mechanism is capable of addressing the systemic challenges facing the sector. Workers need wage certainty and a durable wage increase, but the bill leaves them only a temporary payment—a rolling, time limited grant that the provider can choose whether to apply for. It sits on top of an award wage that the Fair Work Commission is separately working to lift, potentially, on some estimates, into alignment with this payment by 2028. But it's unclear whether the payment has helped stabilise workforce shortages in areas of need, whether childcare deserts have shrunk or whether the nonpay reasons educators leave the sector, like burnout, undervaluation or inadequate support for children with extra needs, have improved at all.

More than half of all childcare jobs still last less than one year, according to the Mitchell Institute. Turnover across the sector still runs well above the national average, according to the Front Project. Over a quarter of qualified educators are still employed casually, compared to a fifth in the general workforce, and 110 services remain stuck at lower quality ratings, disproportionately for-profit providers, small providers and providers in disadvantaged and remote communities.

We see these systemic issues playing out on the ground in Bradfield, which is one of the most expensive electorates for child care. ECEC workers often can't afford to live locally, exacerbating workforce shortages, and providers face higher locality based operating costs, including rent, insurance and wages. Families face substantial out-of-pocket costs, while daily fees frequently exceed the maximum fee covered by the childcare subsidy, creating spiralling economic disadvantages to workforce participation and reducing demands for services. We're seeing for-profit providers exit the local market in Bradfield, as parents pull children out because of high fees. At the same time, we see in-demand, not-for-profit providers closing their doors because they can't make ends meet, despite being at capacity and with long waiting lists.

If we are serious about genuinely sustainable and universal early learning systems, we need to move towards needs based, supply side funding. Existing childcare funding through the childcare subsidy needs to flow through to parents rather than to services, and the costs need to not vary when caring for a baby versus a school-aged child or with a service in a remote community versus a capital city. Instead, we need a baseline level of funding tied to the community a provider serves, with additional loadings for regional, remote and additional needs settings.

I acknowledge that the government is doing work on this. It has commissioned Deloitte to do a comprehensive study of what safe, quality child care actually costs to deliver. So, while I vote for this bill, I ask the government to do two things. Firstly, direct the department to ensure that low-fee, community and not-for-profit services can access the payment and are not adversely affected by the fee cap rules. Secondly, guarantee that this extension of the worker retention payment will be accompanied by a firm timeline and road map toward a needs based, supply side funding model. Another grant can buy the sector time, but what it really needs is new architecture to underpin its future. This bill is a welcome step, but it's a stopgap, and it should not be mistaken for the finish line.

Every parent knows the feeling of leaving a young child in someone else's care. There is often a quick hug at the door, a little hand held tight and a child who needs some extra reassurance. To our reassurance, an educator then kneels down, remembers their favourite book and helps them settle into their day. As a mum, I know the trust that parents place in our early educators. We ask them to care for the people we love the most. We trust them to notice a worried face, celebrate a new word, guide a friendship and keep our children safe. This is deeply skilled work. It asks for training, judgement, patience and care. And it deserves fair pay.

Earlier this month, Australia marked Early Learning Matters Week. This week celebrates the role of early learning in a child's life. Education starts long before the school gate. Young children develop language, curiosity, confidence and relationships through play and close attention from skilled educators. A tower of blocks teaches shape, balance and persistence. A shared painting teaches patience and expression. A story can help a child understand feelings that they cannot yet name. Early Learning Matters Week gives us a chance to say thank you. Respect must reach further than kind words. Educators need wages that reflect their skill and let them build a life of their own.

I have been lucky to spend time with early educators across my community of Griffith. Avenues Early Learning Centre in Camp Hill is filled with wonderful educators and delightful little people. I was delighted to visit, joined by Kieran, to not only see how the centre creates space for children to explore but also provide the centre with a new set of flags. Its outdoor areas are filled with gardens, sandpits, herbs and vegetables. Children can dig, grow, create and learn about the world around them. The centre also has an artist in residence. Miss Alice holds an art qualification and a diploma in art therapy. She gives children rich opportunities to extend their creative skills. I thank Kieran for the invitation and every educator at Avenues Early Learning Centre for the care they give to little learners.

I also had the pleasure of visiting Goodstart Early Learning in Hawthorn, where nature and the local environment are a wonderful part of the children's learning. During my visit, the children were delighted to discover a little bee. They had recently been learning about bees, so there was great excitement. With the gentle guidance of their educator, the children safely relocated their tiny visitor to a nearby garden that was close to the centre's bee-drinking station. It was a lovely moment and it captured early learning at its best. The children observed carefully, put their new knowledge into practice and showed real care for a living creature. The educator helped turn a moment of curiosity into a lesson in kindness and caring for our natural environment.

At Tugulawa Early Education in Bulimba, I caught up with Karen and Lauren to discuss the workforce pressures facing the sector. They spoke about the challenge of attracting educators, keeping experienced staff and giving children the consistency that they need.

At Goodstart Early Learning's head office in Murarrie, I met Dr Ros Baxter and her wonderful team. Ros told me about the day the first government funded pay increase reached educators bank accounts. She was with a group of educators as they checked their phones and saw the extra pay sitting there. Those educators already knew the value of their work. For the first time in far too long, their pay began to show it. The increase gave them more room in the household budget and more confidence about staying in a job that they loved. It sent a simple message from their government: we see your skill, we respect your work and we value what you give our children. Goodstart has seen practical benefits. Its use of agency staff fell by 69 per cent in the first year of the payment. More permanent educators stayed in their centres, and more children saw familiar faces every day.

During the last campaign before my election to this place, I had the honour of welcoming the Prime Minister to our very own Morningside Panthers. There, Labor announced the biggest investment in early childhood education and care in Australia's history. It included the $1 billion Building Early Education Fund and our three-day guarantee for subsidised child care. Labor had committed that we would build more services, expand access and give every child a fairer chance to benefit from early learning, and we were delivering on that promise. We knew, though, that building new centres alone would not be enough. A centre needs skilled educators in every room. Those educators need wages to let them stay. I carried a small reminder of children at the heart of that announcement with me on the stage that day. I wore handmade earrings created by two local girls Milla and Skye, which I had bought at a Christmas market at the Coorparoo Christmas carols. Their parents were delighted that their daughters' handiwork joined me on stage with the Prime Minister.

Labor came to government amid a workforce crisis in early education and care. Educators were leaving jobs that they loved. Service providers were limiting enrolments. Some centres lost up to 40 per cent of the workforce in a single year. For these workers, the responsibility was high, but the pay was incredibly low. Many educators could earn more leaving the profession they are incredibly skilled in by taking up a job outside the sector. In 2024, the Albanese Labor government funded a 15 per cent wage increase for early childhood educators and care workers. Combined with Labor's backing for minimum wage increases, this means $255 more per week for a typical full-time educator and $410 more per week for an early childhood teacher compared to December 2024 when the government first implemented the pay rise. That extra pay changes the weekly budget. It brings relief at the checkout, helps meet the rent or mortgage and gives people another reason to stay in the careers that they love.

Hieronymus, an early childhood educator from Coorparoo, told me:

This pay rise has helped me be able to take early childhood education as a serious career option.

This is just the first step of changes this industry sorely needs.

If you want to put children first, then you need to support their educators.

Barbara, another educator from Coorparoo, described the difference in her centre:

The pay rise has made such a difference to us.

Educators now feel more valued, and this has also assisted in improving the quality of care for our children.

Happy educators = happy children!

Fair pay gives educators a future in the profession and gives children more stable and experienced care. More than 215,000 educators now receive the payment. The workforce has grown by about 20,000 people, and vacancies have fallen by more than 31 per cent. Those numbers mean a centre can keep a room open, a parent can accept an extra shift and a child can stay with an educator that they know and trust.

The Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account)(Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026 locks in the wage increase for another two years through a further $3.6 billion investment, and the funding comes with clear rules. Services must limit fee increases for parents. That rule has been working. Fees at centres receiving the payment have grown at around half the rate recorded at centres outside the program. The extension will save the average family about $1,500 over the next two years. For families with young children, every week brings more bills. A $1,500 saving can cover weeks of groceries, school costs for an older child or several power bills. The bill protects educators from carrying the costs through low wages and parents from carrying it through higher fees. This is practical cost-of-living relief for workers and families. Reliable early learning also helps parents return to work, increase their hours or study.

The workforce in early education and care is overwhelmingly female. Women make up about 97 per cent of early childhood educators. For too long, work performed mainly by women has attracted lower pay and less respect. Early educators carry qualifications, legal duties and immense responsibility for children's learning and safety. Their wages have not properly recognised that skill. Whenever I speak about the gender pay gap on social media, the same comments appear. Someone will say that women and men doing the same job receive the same pay, so the gender pay gap cannot be real. That's true. Equal pay for equal or comparable work is a legal requirement in Australia. Paying a woman less because she is a woman is unlawful, but equal pay and the gender pay gap are two different measures.

The gender pay gap, as defined by Workplace Gender Equality Agency, is the difference between the average or median pay of women and men, expressed as a percentage of men's pay. Put simply, you subtract women's average pay from men's average pay, divide the difference by men's average pay, and express the result as a percentage. The same calculation can use median pay, which compares the person in the middle of each group. By doing so, the measure can show where women sit across a workplace, an industry or the whole economy. It captures who works in high paid industry, who reaches senior roles and whose professions have been historically undervalued.

Another familiar comment says that men earn more because they work more paid hours. Different official measures account for hours in different ways. WGEA converts the earnings of part-time and casual workers into annualised full-time equivalents. The ABS measure compares the weekly base salaries of full-time workers and excludes overtime. Both measures still find a gender pay gap. Women still perform more unpaid caring and domestic work compared to men. They are more likely to work part time or take time out of the workforce. Those patterns reduce earnings, career progression and superannuation over a lifetime. That is part of what the gender pay gap exposes.

Female dominated professions play a major part. We see the same pattern across early childhood education, nursing, aged care, disability support, teaching and social work. These professions educate our children, care for people when they are sick, and support families through some of life's hardest moments. They require qualifications, skill, patience and immense responsibility, yet work performed mainly by women has too often attracted lower wages and less recognition. The concentration of women and men in different industries and occupations is a key driver of the gender pay gap. When women are concentrated in essential but lower paid professions, the effect appears in their weekly wages, career earnings and retirement savings. Early childhood education is a clear example. The people caring for and teaching our youngest children have carried extraordinary responsibility on wages that did not reflect the value or complexity of their work.

This government is choosing to make an investment in early childhood educators because an essential, highly feminised and underpaid workforce was in trouble. Better wages help services recruit and retain skilled educators. We limited fee growth because educators should not have to choose between fair pay and affordable care for families. Raising wages in this sector tackles a recognised driver of the gender pay gap directly. Higher weekly pay gives educators greater independence and security. It lifts superannuation and gives women—a lot more women—a chance to remain in the profession. Affordable and reliable care also gives mothers more freedom to return to paid work, increase their hours and build their own superannuation. The gender pay gap is worth measuring because it shows a combined effect of decisions made across our economy. It tells us whether women's work receives equal value and whether women have the same economic choices over a lifetime. Closing it requires action in undervalued, female dominated professions, and women should not pay a financial penalty for choosing a career devoted to children.

Parents have worked hard for these changes, and organisations like the Parenthood have carried their voices into the national debate. Last year, I welcomed Jess and Georgie from the Parenthood to my electorate office, where we spoke about the belief we share. Every child deserves a strong start, and every family deserves early education and care that they can trust.

Bills like this reflect the values that brought me to the Labor Party. Work deserves fair pay, and every child deserves a strong start in life. Families deserve support during the busy and expensive years of raising children. The coalition and One Nation have described this public support as a waste of money. I find that deeply out of touch, and it shows how little value they place on the work of our amazing early childhood educators. There is no waste in paying a skilled educator fairly, helping a family manage childcare fees or giving a young child a stable place to learn. Labor sees early education as part of public education and family support. We funded the 15 per cent wage increase, created the three-day guarantee and established the Building Early Education Fund, and, now, we are locking in the pay rise for another two years.

I think again of those educators checking their phones and seeing the pay increase land in their accounts. It meant greater security for their families, recognition for years of skilled work and a better chance to stay in the profession that they love. For Hieronymus in Coorparoo, it meant being able to see early childhood education as a sustainable career. For Barbara in Coorparoo, it meant educators feeling more valued and children receiving better care. For parents, this bill means lower fee growth and more stable services. For children, it means familiar educators and stronger relationships. For women, it means fairer wages, stronger superannuation and another step towards closing the gender pay gap. Early educators give so much of themselves to our children. Their work deserves more than thanks. It deserves fair pay and a government prepared to stand beside them. The Albanese Labor government stands with early educators, children and families.

I rise today in support of the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026. This bill is rightly called 'Wage justice for early childhood education' because it recognises the essential and skilled work that early childhood educators do to help our children learn and grow and thrive. It is one of the most important jobs in the country, and for too long that has not been properly recognised. This bill addresses that. It shows that we value our early childhood educators by providing them long-term security and pay that reflects the important work that they do.

Like a lot of people, when my children were younger, they attended kindergarten and child care—Starfish Early Learning Centre in Nunawading and Tunstall Square Kindergarten close to my house in Donvale. I was incredibly grateful to be able to leave my children with early childhood educators who were skilled and caring and knew my children really, really well. It's hard for every parent when you drop your children off at child care or at kinder and they're a bit tearful. My youngest in particular was a bit of a barnacle. It was always hard to get him off our necks and with the early childhood educators, but the fact that he knew those teachers and workers meant that we were able to go out and do our jobs without as much guilt. There's still some guilt for parents, but I could be confident that my children would be well cared for and safe and also that they were being well prepared for school. No matter what our job is, and no matter how important our job is, if any of us got a call on our phone saying, 'Your child's been injured,' or 'Your child's unwell,' we'd drop everything and go and pick up them up. That just reflects how important is the role that early childhood educators and kindergarten teachers play.

Parents in my community, in places like Doncaster, Box Hill, Surrey Hills and Mont Albert, know the early childhood educators at their centres and they can also have that confidence of knowing that they're leaving their children with a trusted carer. They know that teacher who calms their child when they drop them off. They know that an educator is there to notice if their child is struggling or not developing in their speech or in their fine motor skills as much as some of the other kids. Sometimes it's those early childhood educators that will bring that to the attention of parents and make sure that they get those early interventions that they need. They're not easy jobs. They're not unskilled jobs. For some of us, standing up in parliament and speaking publicly might be intimidating. But, if I had to go and look after a classroom of three-year-olds and four-year-olds, I'd find that much more intimidating. These are jobs that require patience, skill, qualifications and enormous emotional labour for years. Anyone who's spent a day, let alone five days or seven days a week, looking after a toddler knows how much hard work it is. If you had a room full of toddlers, that'd be even harder work.

We're fortunate to have 900 early educators in my community of Menzies. We have nearly 29,800 children under the age of 15 in our electorate, and many of those children would have spent their earliest years in some of our fantastic childcare centres and early education institutions before setting foot in the classrooms. Recently, we've had the opportunity to celebrate some of our early childhood educators, and it's a very well deserved recognition that we're able to pay them.

A few weeks ago, during Early Learning Matters Week, I visited Creative Play in Doncaster to see the reforms that we've put in place in action. Early Learning Matters Week is organised by Early Childhood Australia. It brings educators, families and communities together to celebrate the difference that quality early learning makes in a child's life. There's no better place to see this than in a room full of kids in Doncaster as they interact with the educators that look after them. I sat with the team at Creative Play and heard what this pay rise has meant. It's meant that they can stay in a profession that they love and consider it as a career in the longer term, and it also means that they don't have to go and work in another profession or retrain, because they know that they're going to be properly remunerated and that they'll be able to pay the bills, the rent or the mortgage.

I also sat with some of the kids in some of those very small chairs that they have at early education centres, where your knees are up around your ears. It must be how the member for Leichhardt feels when he's sitting in a regular sized seat! I served some of those kids some food. We received some very important feedback from those stakeholders. Corn chips were a big hit; cucumbers and carrots were not so popular. It was nice to be able to spend some time with the kids and see just how happy they are and how much fun they have playing with their early educators and playing beside their peers.

I was also lucky enough to visit Starfish Early Learning Centre in Blackburn last week for Early Childhood Educators' Day. I met with the educators there. They were incredibly engaged and committed to their work. The centre's director, Cathy, spoke to me about how important it is that we recognise the skilled work that early educators do. With some of the reporting that there has been on early education, it's important that we show how much we value early educators. The overwhelming majority of early educators are committed to child safety and to caring well for the young people that are in their charge.

This government is focused on doing everything it can to give the workforce the recognition that they deserve, and that's backed by strong wages. Good, well-paid child care is also important for gender equity and, as my friend the member for Griffith said, for closing the gender pay gap. The reality is that the early childhood educator workforce is more than 90 per cent women. This bill very directly makes sure that they're paid the wages that they deserve. The reality is also that the majority of primary carers are women and that women undertake much more unpaid work around the house and outside the house, such as running kids around. Better, more affordable child care ensures that parents—often mothers—can stay in the workforce, build careers and provide for their families. It's direct, practical, targeted measures like this that mean that our government has narrowed the gender pay gap to the lowest point in history, and that's something that we can be very proud of.

Families in my community know exactly what it means to rely on quality, affordable early education so that parents can make that choice about whether they want to work or stay home with their children. It's really important that people have that choice. With our increase in paid parental leave to 26 weeks, we've also provided flexibility so that that 26 weeks can be shared equally between parents. We do want men in couples to be taking on more of the caring burden and sometimes to be making that choice to stay home and care for their children in their early years of life. Our reforms in that area are also facilitating that.

For many families in my community, two incomes are also necessary in order to pay the bills and pay the rent or a mortgage. It only works if the person who's looking after your children while you're at work is properly trained and supported and is sticking around long enough so you can feel confident leaving your child with those early educators. When early educators leave the sector, it's not just the workers who lose out but every family who's relying on a centre that can't find enough staff, as well as every child who loses a teacher that they've started to form that connection with and that they've just started to trust.

On 8 August 2024, the Albanese Labor government announced it would fund a 15 per cent wage increase for early childhood education and care workers. At the time, there were services across the country that were delaying expansion plans, closing rooms and limiting enrolments because they simply could not find the staff. That's disruptive for local families, and that's disruptive for workplaces as well. It means that sometimes the staff can't come in and do the job they need to do. Workforce stability is also a safety and quality issue, because children and educators need consistent and stable relationships, the former in order to thrive and the latter in order to make the most of their jobs. A centre that can't keep staff because of wages is a centre that can't give children the consistency of care that they need.

The results of our reforms speak for themselves. Since the worker retention payment was announced, there are around 20,000 more early childhood workers. That's an increase of around eight per cent. That's in combination with other policies that we've implemented like fee-free TAFE for childcare workers. Job vacancies in the sector have dropped by almost 31 per cent, and the share of services operating under a staffing waiver, meaning they don't have enough qualified staff on the floor to safely meet the required child educator rates, has fallen from 8.9 per cent to 4.3 per cent. Fees at centres receiving this payment have grown by around half as much as fees at centres that didn't sign up. This policy has bolstered our early education workforce, but it's also kept costs down for families. It's a cost-of-living measure as well, and that's precisely what good policy is meant to do.

In June this year, we announced that we would lock in this pay rise for a further two years to keep it growing and to make sure that those gains continue. That extension is expected to save the average family around $1,500 each year over the next two years. This bill is what gives that promise delivery. It amends the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) Act 2024 to credit the special account with an additional $3.6 billion and extends the act's sunset date to 31 December 2029. Combined with this government's support for minimum wage increases, this means a typical full-time educator will now be earning $255 more a week and an early childhood teacher $410 more a week compared with December 2024, when this pay rise first began. Funding will continue to be tied to a commitment from services to limit fee increases, easing cost-of-living pressures on families while delivering better early learning for kids. And, for the first time, employees in every service approved for childcare subsidy will be eligible for the payment, closing a gap that left some educators behind.

This bill also strengthens safety, and that matters just as much as families. Every parent in this country was shaken by the revelations that emerged from a Melbourne childcare centre last year and by what those revelations exposed. It was every parent's worst nightmare to hear some of those reports and those revelations. Parents in my community rang my office and sent us emails, rightly asking questions about safety in childcare centres and rightly making sure that we were taking action to keep their children safe.

This bill introduces a new object and funding condition through the wage justice special account, tying continued funding to safety and performance. From July 2027, if a service does not meet the national quality standards on children's health and safety—specifically quality area 2—its funding under this payment could be cut or suspended. The safety measures that we've put in place include things like a national childcare early educator register. When I visited a childcare centre last week, I had to leave my phone at reception, and early educators also can't take their phones into the classrooms. These are really important reforms that make sure that the youngest members of our communities are safe. Around 95 per cent of services already meet that standard, but we want to make sure that every single centre around the country is meeting these standards. We want to make sure that every single child that attends early education is safe.

It's worth remembering, as well, what came before these changes. For a long time, while those opposite were in government, early education was an afterthought. Wages stagnated while educators left the sector in droves, not because they didn't love the work that they were doing but because they couldn't afford to keep doing it. There was no serious plan for a pay rise and no mechanism for trying to fund better safety outcomes. It's the same pattern we saw with Medicare—neglect. Medicare was frozen at a level that was unsustainable, that caused standards to drop and that caused bulk-billing to drop. Just as we've increased the bulk-billing rate with Medicare, we've improved funding for early educators' wages, and we've made sure that safety standards are improved as well. A Labor government legislated the National Quality Framework. They set real standards for the sector.

It took the election of this government to deliver wage justice. This government is strengthening the safety expectations attached to that public funding. Wage justice and child safety in early childhood education are essential for the growth of our country, for the growth of our economy, but also for the wellbeing of the youngest members of our community. I commend this bill to the House.

Last week I walked into a very special building. It was so special that, to be able to get inside, you had to put in a secret code. It was so special that it had a labyrinth of checkpoints and gates to be able to gain access. It was so special that the walls were adorned with bespoke and unique creations. It was so special that it houses our country's greatest assets, our children. This was, of course, my local early childhood education centre, and I was with my three-year-old daughter. When we got through all of those checkpoints, what was abundantly clear is that we were greeted by big, smiling faces. We were greeted by people who were very familiar to her. We were greeted by the people who will fundamentally shape the lives and education of our children. That's what this bill, the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026, is all about.

Early last month, from 3 to 9 August, we recognised Early Learning Matters Week, celebrating something that every parent, grandparent, carer and family understands—that early childhood education matters. On 2 September we celebrated Early Childhood Educators' Day. Quality early learning helps children develop, learn and thrive. It lays the foundation for future success not only of our kids but of our country, of our community and of our economy. It is our early learning childhood educators and carers who help our children build the social, emotional and learning skills that will stay with them for life.

In recent weeks, I've had the great privilege of visiting a number of early learning centres across the Brisbane southside electorate of Moreton. At C&K Arnwood Place Community Childcare Centre in Ekibin, I met with director Krystal and her team to talk about the crucial role they play in our children's lives and, accordingly, in this nation's future. I took the Deputy Prime Minister to the Goodstart Early Learning centre in Coopers Plains, and we chatted with director Marita about their learning through play program. I visited Play Patch in Annerly, an early learning centre led by director Ada, to see their fantastic new facilities. Of course, three days a week I visit the C&K in my local community to drop off or pick up my daughter, and director Jessica leads an absolutely wonderful and inspiring team. I know that she enjoys their fantastic outdoor nature play area more than anything.

These centres and many others like them all have something in common. Their early childhood educators and carers are dedicated, bringing passion, professionalism and care to their work and our kids every single day. They are shaping young lives. They are supporting families and strengthening our communities. In a world where our children are the most important thing, they are the ones who hold the keys to their future and them getting a flying start to life.

That's why, just over two years ago, the Albanese Labor government announced that it would fund a 15 per cent wage increase for these critical workers. This increase not only recognised the value of this work but was designed to fix issues with workforce retention. The rate of staff turnover in centres was having a detrimental effect on the capacity for educators and children to develop stable and consistent relationships, and it also adversely affected the other services on offer. Early childhood education services were put in the position of limiting enrolments, closing rooms and delaying expansion plans, all because they couldn't retain the staff that they needed.

The Albanese Labor government's worker retention payment has turned this around. When I spoke to Michelle, one of the early educators at Arnwood Place, she told me that not only was it a big boost to them and their pay packets and their livelihoods but it also made them feel valued—as our early educators should feel.

The sector has seen significant workforce improvements, with approximately 20,000 additional workers joining the industry, representing an increase of about eight per cent. At the same time, job vacancies have dropped by nearly 31 per cent. That's massive, and it indicates an easing workforce pressure across the sector. Staffing challenges have also reduced considerably. The proportion of ECEC services operating under a staffing waiver has decreased from 8.9 per cent to 4.3 per cent, reflecting improved workforce availability and greater stability within the services.

In addition, fee growth has been more moderate at centres receiving the payment. Fees at participating services increased at roughly half the rate of those at centres that have not signed up to the program, helping to ease cost pressures for families as well. We know right now that people are doing it tough. Parents are doing it tough, and families are doing it tough. What this Labor government initiative has done is not only put more money into the pockets of the people educating our greatest resource and our future; it's also been a hip-pocket relief for those who need child care in order to work with their families.

On 14 June this year, the Albanese Labor government made the important announcement that we are locking that pay rise in for a further two years. The Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026 implements this very promise. This legislation is recognition that we need to reinforce the progress that we have already made in bolstering this important sector. It is recognition that we need to back measures that will save families money—around $1,500 over the next two years—and it is ongoing recognition that Labor values early childhood education and carers. Labor values mean that there has been real change in this sector, Labor values mean that there has been real change for early childhood educators and Labor values mean that we are reforming this sector in a way that will see a better future for our children.

The bill amends the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) Act 2024 that I mentioned before, allocating additional funding of $3.6 billion to the special account and extending the sunset date to 31 December 2029. This is an additional $3.6 billion investment, building on our initial $3.6 billion investment, and what this means for ECEC workers is a significant boost to take-home pay. Combined with the government's support for minimum wage rises, this means that compared to December 2024, when we first introduced the wage increase, a typical full-time educator will earn about $255 more each and every week, and an early childhood teacher will receive about $410 more per week. This is money that helps change lives and helps give people relief when the chips are down. This funding will remain conditional on participating services committing to keeping fee increases for families at a reasonable level.

The bill also establishes a new condition for funding through the wage justice special account. It reflects this government's drive and ambition to enhance safety and quality in early childhood education and care. The new condition concerns the National Quality Standard. The standard sets that important benchmark for quality across Australia's early childhood education and care sector. It focuses on ensuring that children receive high-quality education and care through strong educational programs, safe and stimulating learning environments, and qualified and very capable educators. It covers educational programs and practice, children's health and safety, the physical environment and staffing arrangements—all of which contribute to a child's learning, development and wellbeing. The National Quality Standard also recognises the importance of building respectful relationships with children, fostering partnerships with families and the broader community and ensuring strong governance and leadership within those services. Parents deserve to know that their kids are getting high-quality care. Parents deserve to know that their children are getting a high-quality education that will set them up for the rest of their lives.

Together, these identified quality areas provide a comprehensive framework for continuous improvement. They help to ensure children are cared for in a safe, supportive and high-quality learning environment every day. From July 2027, if services do not meet the standard when it comes to safety, they may lose their funding or have it suspended. Currently, about 95 per cent of services already achieve this standard, but there is still room for improvement. The goal is to see even more providers meeting this important benchmark.

This bill continues the Albanese Labor government's commitment to the early childhood education sector and its commitment to working mums, dads and carers. Families have been benefiting from Labor's three-day guarantee since January this year. Under this guarantee, every child who needs it is eligible for three days of subsidised early learning each week, no matter what their parents do. This guarantee has meant that 100,000 more families are eligible for three days of subsidised learning. It is an investment of around $430 million over four years.

We're also investing $1 billion through the Building Early Education Fund to build or expand quality not-for-profit early learning services in locations of need, such as outer suburban and regional areas. The 2026-27 budget also included an extra $54.8 million in 2026-27 for the Inclusion Support Program. This vital program helps eligible ECEC services increase their capacity to support children with additional needs, improving access for all children.

As reflected in the new requirement to meet safety standards, our government is focused on improving safety and quality across the sector. There is $188.5 million over four years directed towards this very goal. It aims to include the establishment of a national educator register, better coordination between regulatory bodies and improved sharing of information to identify and respond to potential risks. It also provides support for educators and service staff to complete mandatory child protection training, a national assessment of the role of CCTV in early learning services and greater transparency for families through improved quality and safety information on the Starting Blocks website. This will help parents make informed decisions when selecting an early childhood education and care service for their children. There is further funding of $39.3 million to strengthen the working with children check arrangements by addressing existing weaknesses in the system. Related to this is the national continuous checking capability, which will enable jurisdictions to receive near real-time updates on the sustainability of working-with-children-check cardholders across the country.

The Albanese Labor government is committed to the ECEC sector. We're committed to making access easier for families and supporting them with the cost of childcare. We're committed to the national quality standard, and we're committed to paying the crucial educators and carers fairly for their incredibly important work. As the Minister for Early Childhood Education said, we are putting the building blocks in place right now for a universal early education and care system, and the pay rise is a critical part of that system and that vision. To the educators of Moreton and across the nation, I say thank you.

The Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026 delivers on our government's commitment to lock in a pay rise for early educators for another two years. Early childhood education and care peak bodies, unions, providers and parent representative groups advocated strongly for wage funding to be extended and are supportive of our government's commitment. This bill confirms the government's commitment to supporting higher wages in a historically undervalued, female dominated care sector.

Our government is committed to gender equality. A gender impact assessment was undertaken in relation to these changes by the Office for Women, and these changes progress gender equality by supporting higher wages for a female dominated workforce. Our government is committed to improving early childhood education and care affordability for families. Our reforms support cost-of-living relief for families, limiting fee increases in early education and care services as a condition of wages grant funding. It also complements a range of actions our government is taking to strengthen safety and quality in early childhood education and care.

Every day, early educators help children learn, grow and get ready for school. It's one of the most important jobs in the country, and early educators should be paid fairly for their work. That's why, on 8 August 2024, the Albanese government announced that we would fund a 15 per cent wage increase for early childhood education and care workers. We did this in part because services were delaying expansion plans, closing rooms and limiting enrolments because they couldn't find the staff.

Workforce retention and stability is critical to safety and quality in early childhood education and care. Since the worker retention payment was announced in 2024, there are now around 20,000 more early childhood education and care workers—that's about an eight per cent increase, which is a fantastic result. Job vacancies in early education and care have decreased by almost 31 per cent. In June this year, the Albanese government announced it was locking in the pay increase for early childhood educators for another two years to retain and grow these benefits.

This bill amends the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) Act 2024. It credits the special account with an additional $3.6 billion and extends the act's sunset date to 31 December 2029 to support the wage funding extension. When combined with the minimum wage rises supported by our government, this will mean an additional $255 per week for a typical full-time educator and $410 more per week for early childhood teachers compared with December 2024, when we first implemented these pay rises. Funding will continue to be tied to a commitment from services receiving the payment to limit fee increases for families. This will help to ease cost-of-living pressures while delivering better early learning for children.

The bill also introduces a new object and condition of funding through the wage justice special account, building on the government's commitment to strengthen quality and safety in early learning. From July 2027, if services don't meet the national quality standard when it comes to safety, their funding may be cut or suspended. Services will be required to meet quality area 2 relating to children's health and safety under the national safety standard. Around 95 per cent of services meet this standard, but we want that number to be higher.

This bill is straightforward. It aims to sustain the wage increase paid to early childhood and education and care workers beyond the initial two years in the original legislation by extending the sunset date for the grant money available to providers and services to pay their workers. This means workers will continue to be paid better for the essential skilled work they do in educating, developing and supporting the children in their care.

For too long, early education was undervalued in Australia. Like many other sectors, it was suffering from the coalition's years of neglect—years of neglect in aged care, years of neglect in disability support and years of neglect in early childhood education. Notably, these sectors are dominated by female workforces, which may explain—at least in part—why they've been undervalued by those opposite. On this side, we value the work that is undertaken by a highly skilled workforce in human services and early childhood education.

In my working life, I've been the CEO of a women's health service that had an early childhood education and care centre attached to it. I've also been the CEO of one of the largest disability service providers in Australia. I've seen firsthand the dedication and expertise of our human services and our early childhood education workforce. I know how much they deserve every dollar of extra pay that we can provide to them.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting a community preschool in my electorate of Whitlam: Koonawarra Community Preschool. There I met codirectors Sharon and Karen. Both of these exceptional women had dedicated over 30 years of their careers to educating the children of Koonawarra. These outstanding and passionate educators were running one of the most engaging educational environments I have ever had the pleasure to visit. These women are so dedicated to giving those children that they educate and support the very best start to life in one of the communities that I represent. I'm so grateful for their service, and I know that many local families are too.

Educators in early education across the nation have also told us that their jobs are very demanding. When early education workers walked off the job in 2018 to bring attention to their concerns—their third national strike in two years—the Labor Party was there with them. When the Albanese Labor government came to office in 2022, we acted on what we heard from those educators. We also acted on what we heard from parents, who needed greater access to early childhood education, and from those early childhood education services seeking to build greater quality in the system. In 2024, we acted to ensure that a strong early childhood education workforce would be an integral part of the solution to better outcomes for children, for families and for those women that make up the overwhelming majority of the early education and care workforce.

Decades of research in neuroscience, developmental science and economics has taught us that early years learning cannot be treated as an option or an add-on in a quality education system. Early childhood education is highly skilled work, and it requires significant professional judgement. The work required to help educate and support a child in their early years requires deep knowledge of emotional, cognitive and physical development. Early childhood educators make informed decisions every day about how to support each and every child.

In 2024 the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers Special Account Act was introduced by our government after significant consultation with the sector. We knew universal access to quality early learning was something that Australians wanted. Workforce sustainability across the early childhood education and care sector had to be addressed if we were to build genuine universal access. The legislation we passed in 2024 was also backed up by the Productivity Commission inquiry report entitled A path to universal early childhood education and care in September 2024. We welcomed this report as a vital step and a basis for building a universal early childhood education and care system.

The Productivity Commission report and the unions representing the early childhood education and care workforce laid bare the fact that these educators were paid significantly less than teachers in primary and secondary schools. Providers urged the government to fast-track reform and implement permanent structural funding as soon as possible. Our government understood the important reforms that were required in the early childhood education and care sector, and we resolved to act.

When we were first elected, early childhood educators were leaving the sector in droves not because they didn't love their jobs but because they simply couldn't afford to keep doing it. That's now changed because of the 15 per cent pay rise that this government delivered almost two years ago. More than 215,000 early educators across the country are now benefiting from those pay rises.

Earlier this year, two other reforms came into force. The first of those is the National Early Childhood Worker Register. It is critically important for the safety of children that government and regulators know who is working where and be able to track employees from centre to centre and from state to state. The second is mandatory childhood safety training. This is now a requirement for everyone who works in an early childhood centre, which includes the CEO and the board as well. Over 350,000 workers and staff have completed that foundational training so far. Our government has also banned personal mobile phones in centres. A national CCTV trial is now underway in more than 300 services.

All up, our government is investing an extra $226 million in child safety reforms, and the states and territories have committed more than $270 million as well. That's around half a billion dollars that governments are investing in strengthening the quality and safety of early childhood education and care.

This bill is a sensible and necessary amendment to the legislation passed in 2024. That groundbreaking legislation recognised the need for structural adjustment to end chronic underpayment of early childhood educators. The legislation was groundbreaking not only for the real recognition of the intrinsic value of early childhood education, largely performed by women. The legislation has also helped to shape the sector and the profession by ensuring that wage-increase-grant recipients, and that's employers, provide employment conditions through a proper workplace instrument—that is, through a transparent set of conditions that could be properly agreed to by workers and employers. This was an important part of helping to build the reputation of the sector, to attract, to recruit and to retain workforce.

This legislation is significant in a sector in which over 260,000 early childhood workers are employed nationally. According to the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority, this workforce has on average just over seven years of experience, and over 70 per cent hold a certificate qualification, just over 13 per cent hold a diploma qualification and nearly 23 per cent are currently studying or upskilling. The sector is growing in strength and capability across Australia, and I'm pleased to note that in my electorate of Whitlam 68 early childhood services and at least 800 workers now benefit from this pay rise.

More Australians are seeking qualifications to work in the early childhood sector. Just last month, we released figures that showed the popularity of an early childhood qualification. Early Childhood Australia, a key stakeholder, welcomed the news of more than 65,000 enrolments in early childhood education since 2023. Of these, the cert III in early childhood education is the second most popular free TAFE course nationally, with over 51,000 enrolments, while there are almost 13,000 enrolments in the Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care. We are seeing these students through to completion, with over 15,000 course completions to date.

Everything that we are doing is working towards an early childhood education and care system that is fair. We're helping more parents into the workforce through lower childcare fees, we're helping more children get a quality start to life, and we're helping to bring wage equality to a female dominated sector.

Every Australian family deserves access to high-quality early childhood education and care, and every child deserves to learn and grow in a safe environment, surrounded by educators who have the time, resources and support to do their jobs well. But, for too long, early-years educators were not properly recognised. For years, these workers were undervalued and underpaid. I remember the Big Steps campaign—catching the bus to Melbourne with early-years educators and walking with them to Flinders Street Station to urge the coalition government to invest in our educators. It was to no avail.

But, when Labor won government, we acted, and we continue to act, unlike the coalition, who have no members here to speak on this very important issue, the education and safety of our youngest Australians. The 15 per cent pay rise delivered by our government was a significant step towards properly recognising the work of early childhood educators and teachers. It is a significant pay rise that helps pay the bills and acknowledges that, when we properly value a profession, people are more likely to stay in it and more people are willing to join it.

This bill, the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026, builds on that progress. It locks in the government's investment in the early childhood workforce and makes sure the benefits of that investment continue. The Albanese government has committed $3.6 billion over the next two years to continue this historic pay rise for our early childhood educators and teachers. This bill delivers on that commitment. From talking to the educators in my electorate and visiting early-years centres, I know how much they value this pay rise and what it means to them. It extends the arrangements that allow the government to provide funding to early childhood education and care providers to support higher wages and, importantly, it strengthens the conditions attached to that funding, because when taxpayers are investing in higher wages we should expect that investment to reach the workers it's intended to support.

But this bill is not only about workers; it's also about families and giving them the support they need to get ahead and know their children are getting the care and education that will set them up for their future. Anyone with young children knows the cost of early childhood education is a significant part of a family's budget. Families are making decisions every day about work, study, caring responsibilities and household expenses. They need certainty, they need affordability and they need to know that, when governments invest in the childcare system, those benefits are not simply absorbed through higher fees. That's why the conditions attached to this funding matter—conditions that ensure providers receiving the worker retention payment must limit fee increases. We know this makes a difference. Over the first year of the program, fees at centres that receive the payment increased by around half as much as the fees at centres that did not participate. That is a real saving for families. If this legislation does not pass, the advice provided to government is that fees could increase by around 17 per cent. That would put significant pressure on families who are already managing the cost of living.

Our government's approach is straightforward. We want to support the workers who deliver early childhood education and care while making sure families are not simply asked to pay more for it. That's good policy and it is what responsible reforming government should do. For families in my electorate this matters. I do regularly speak with parents and young families about the pressures they are facing. Ensuring their children can access quality early childhood education is not an abstract issue for them. It is part of their household budget. It can determine whether a parent can return to work, it can determine whether someone can increase their hours, it can determine whether a family can manage the transition from parental leave back into employment, and it can determine whether parents feel they have a genuine choice between balancing work and family. When parents can access reliable early childhood education and care, they can participate in the workforce. When parents are able to work the hours they want, families are better off, businesses have access to more workers and our economy is stronger. When we support early childhood education and care, we are not simply supporting one sector. We are supporting Australian families and Australia's workforce. It is a time of great uncertainty and it is a time to give parents and workers the support they need. It is also important that we support families during this period to ensure that the family unit remains strong. This is the foundation for a healthy, productive, thriving nation.

There is another part of this bill that is just as important, and that is the safety and quality of the services our children need. Every parent should be able to drop their child off at an early childhood centre knowing that their child is safe. That should never be something parents have to worry about. This bill strengthens that principle by making quality and safety a condition of receiving this funding. Services receiving funding will need to meet the relevant standard for children's health and safety under the National Quality Standard. If they do not meet that standard, their funding can be reduced. Around 95 per cent of services already meet this standard, but 95 per cent is not 100 per cent, and, when we're talking about the safety of children, the standard we should be aiming for is clear.

We should always be working towards better. Our government has already taken significant action to strengthen safety and compliance across the sector. Last year, legislation gave the Commonwealth greater powers to respond when operators fail to meet quality, safety or compliance requirements. Since then, the department has taken compliance action against 119 centres. More than half of those centres have now addressed the problems they had previously failed to fix. That demonstrates why strong enforcement powers matter. Rules only protect children if they are followed, and standards only mean something if there are consequences when they are not met. We've also strengthened the ability of authorised officers to conduct unannounced visits to childcare centres. More than 1,300 unannounced visits have been conducted since November last year. State and territory regulators are also stepping up their compliance activity. These are important changes because the safety of children has to come first.

We have also seen the introduction of the National Early Childhood Worker Register. This is an important reform because we need to know who is working with children and we need to have the ability to track workers across services and jurisdictions. Mandatory child safety training has also been introduced. Importantly, that responsibility extends beyond the person working directly with children. It includes senior leadership, CEOs and boards. Everyone who has a role in running these services has a responsibility for child safety. That is the culture we need. Child safety cannot be the responsibility of one educator or one room. It has to be everyone's responsibility.

The Albanese government has also acted on the use of personal mobile phones in centres. It's undertaking a national CCTV trial and is working with law enforcement and child protection experts to strengthen safeguards. Taken together, these reforms represent a significant investment in making early childhood education and care safer.

The Commonwealth is investing—

This debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 43. The debate may be resumed at a later hour, and the member will be granted leave to continue speaking when the debate is resumed.