Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the number of children using early learning services has risen over the past 10 years, from just below 35% in 2009 to nearly 45% in 2018,

(ii) there is inequity in access to early learning services–children living in remote areas, children who live in economically disadvantaged areas, children from Indigenous backgrounds, children from non-English speaking backgrounds, and those with disability are under-represented in early learning services,

(iii) Australia's investment in early learning is below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average, and

(iv) the Australian Government's investment in early learning per child has declined between 2016 and 2019; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to:

(i) increase investment in early learning, and

(ii) work to close the access gap and ensure disadvantaged children have equal access to early learning.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian government is investing record levels of funding in child care of $8.6 billion this year, increasing to around $10 billion a year in the coming years, including a $1.2 billion safety net program supporting disadvantaged and disabled children. The number of Indigenous non-English speaking and low-income families accessing the additional childcare subsidy all continue to increase, with non-English speaking and low-income families having higher proportions in child care than the community average. The OECD now estimates expenditure on all children aged three to five in an educational setting, and, using this measure, Australia's expenditure was the same as the OECD average.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that motion No. 364 be agreed to.