Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Hansard source

This has been a pretty tough week for Australia and the world. There's a lot of tough news out there, so I'm pleased to stand up and update the Senate on some good news for Australian families and Australian children.

Yes, the Albanese Labor government is delivering practical solutions that families need to thrive. We know quality early learning gives children a great start in life and helps parents, especially mums, return to work when they're ready. We're backing Australian families. We're backing them with more access to quality early learning with our billion-dollar Building Early Education Fund, delivering more centres in the outer suburbs and regions where families need them most. We've announced four agreements with the states and territories to deliver almost 2,000 new early learning places for families, and 80 per cent of those places will be co-located with schools. That's the practical support parents need, helping them to avoid the double drop-off and replace it with a one-stop drop.

I saw the benefits of our fund when I visited the remote town of Derby, in the Kimberley, a fortnight ago. We are building a new early learning centre with the Western Australian government and Minderoo to be run by the local Ngunga women's group. One mum, Casey, told me her children, Lawrence and Freya, have thrived at the local play group. They like the reading time and learning through play. With another baby on the way, Casey is excited about being able to send her next child to a quality local early learning centre. This is a great example of the difference that access to quality early learning can make for parents, children and a community, and we are proud to be delivering it.