Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Gallagher, thank you for your acknowledgement and words in relation to BBFs. I appreciate that; and I appreciate the discussions I have had with Ms Ellis and many others in relation to that, as indicated before.

As I have said, the government agrees that we should see young children in circumstances of disadvantage being able to access two sessions of care a week under our reforms and we are confident that the reforms enable that to be the case. We do not support this amendment, though, because we do not believe that it is necessary for that to be the case.

I think the Senate should, firstly, step back from the 12 hours as opposed to 15 hours and again remember how the activity test works. The activity test necessitates only four hours of activity per week. That four hours can encompass working, studying and volunteering. It encompasses other activities such as looking for work, as I indicated before. So it is a very light-touch activity. The volunteering elements can be accessed through parents engaging in volunteer activities through their school, enhancing areas of parental engagement across the community, with the educational benefits that come from that. So it is not hard, or a high barrier, for families to meet the activity test.

Nonetheless, we have indicated that there are safety net provisions in a number of circumstances. Firstly, there is the safety net provision in terms of additional childcare support and subsidy for children who are at risk. Senator Hanson Young, in moving this amendment, said that sometimes an early education or childcare service is the safest place to be; sadly, sometimes it is. But in those cases those children can be identified by the centre and verified by the different state bodies. As I indicated before, that does not mean they have to be children who are in the formal protection or care of the state; they can be identified because of mental health circumstances—for example, in the home environment involving a parent, a sibling or the child themselves. In those circumstances, they will not be eligible for 12 or 15 hours per week; they will be eligible for 50 hours of care per week, essentially for full-time attendance in an early education or care setting. And it will not be 85 per cent of the fees that will be paid; it will be all of the fees that will be paid. So there is a strong safety net there in place for children who are identified as being at risk.

That leaves the remaining element of the safety net, which is for children who are not identified as being at risk but who are in low-income families that do not meet the activity test requirement of four hours of activity per week. Under our reforms, those families will be eligible for 24 hours a fortnight, or 12 hours a week, of care. As I indicated in my second reading contribution, the government believes that that can and should be delivered as two sessions of care by service providers who have expressed a desire and commitment to early education opportunities and facilitating those early education opportunities. At present, many service providers are providing a number of hours in a session of care that are simply not utilised. That means taxpayers and parents are making contributions that are not actually resulting in care or education benefits for the hours that are being paid for. We believe that this tighter alignment can ensure two sessions of care are provided without services being in the position of being able to take advantage of the system by charging longer hours of sessions of care for people who are not in the workforce, who are not engaged in the activity, and therefore not requiring those 10- or 12-hours sessions of care for their children.

It is for those reasons that the government does not support this amendment. As I have indicated, there will be a post-implementation review of this act and the overall changes. In that post-implementation review, we absolutely commit to ensuring that the application of these measures is considered. As Senator Gallagher acknowledged, I also commit to making sure that, as widely as possible, the 12 hours is delivered as two separate sessions of care.

The CHAIR: The question is that the request for an amendment on sheet 8109, of schedule 1, item 41, be agreed to.