Every child should be guaranteed at least three days per week of early childhood education for free, or at a low-cost fee of around $10 a day for households with a combined income of $80,000 or more.
That’s according to recommendations outlined by policy think tank the Centre for Policy Development (CDP).
The new report issues a policy roadmap for the Federal Government to establish universal access to quality, inclusive early childhood education and care over the next decade.
The recommended reforms aim to reposition Australia’s Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) system as being similar to school or Medicare, where all children have access and those who need greater support receive it.
And the report highlights the economic gains for Australia in pursuing such reforms, estimating around $3 billion in additional annual tax revenue and $7 billion in annual GDP increases from parents working more hour, thanks to free or low-cost early education and chair.
But there are many more reasons for doing so that go beyond the economic opportunity alone.
Moderating a panel for Family Friendly Workplaces on their launch of a survey of more than 6,000 parents and carers last week, I heard first-hand some of the challenges facing parents and carers in 2024 and the need to address such challenges now to better support children in their vital first five years of development, as well as the health and wellbeing of their parents.
While employers can and should do their bit to provide more family-friendly environments—via gender-neutral paid parental leave, real flexible work options, and other forms of leave—we must also address the social infrastructure that enables families to pursue paid work.
As Georgie Dent, CEO of The Parenthood, said on the panel, “If we don’t have the infrastructure around this care, we are making the battle for parents so much harder, almost impossible. If you don’t have access to care that is quality and suitable, works for your schedule, and is actually in your neighbourhood, it is almost impossible to combine work and family.”
Getting the care infrastructure right is critical for relieving the stress families feel and enabling more opportunities for parents, particularly women, to access paid work.
Other recommendations from the Centre for Policy Development include funding based on a child’s need to ensure more support is provided to those who need it, great investments in the Aboriginal Community Controlled Sector, and wraparound services for families of children who have higher needs to support the child’s development and family well-being.
It also calls for all actors in the system, especially governments, to take on clear roles and responsibilities to support the system. This includes a role for the Commonwealth to take responsibility for the national entitlement, with states and territories taking on direct roles as system managers, working with services on issues such as quality, access, and inclusion.
Meanwhile, support for a sustainable and quality workforce must be provided, with attractive incentives on offer to attract talent into the sector and support the retention of existing staff and leadership.
The recommendations outlined by the Centre for Policy Development require a strong commitment and courage from governments. So far, the Albanese Government has outlined a vision for universal access to early childhood education. It notes the work already been done on child care reforms and concedes that there is still more work to do.
The government can’t claim to be short of ideas or short of a compelling business case for making bold reforms to better support the needs of children and their families.