It is not surprising that new research showing one in 10 parents have withdrawn their child from early childhood education and care, and another 16 per cent have cut back hours in the wake of horrifying abuse allegations, made headlines.
Nor is it surprising that parents are worried and making these decisions. The allegations dominating the news in recent months are horrific. Any parent confronted with them would immediately ask: is my child safe?
But here’s the uncomfortable truth: for the vast majority of families, pulling out of care isn’t an option.
Early childhood education and care isn’t a luxury. It isn’t an “extra” that can be cancelled like a gym membership or a streaming subscription. It is the infrastructure that makes providing for a family possible – the foundation that keeps households, workplaces and the economy
functioning.
And yet parents are now being forced into an unconscionable calculation: weighing their child’s safety against their family’s livelihood. That this is even happening should shame us.
That’s why the Minderoo Foundation’s new research should sound every alarm bell in Canberra. When even a small proportion of families are voting with their feet, it doesn’t just signal concern. It signals a collapse of confidence in a system that every Australian child and
parent should be able to trust.
This research has been called a wake-up call and it is. But it’s also a call to honesty. This is not a system families can simply opt out of. Nor is it one that should ever leave parents doubting their child’s safety.
The government is right to improve transparency and give parents clearer information. But let’s not pretend a better website will fix a system plagued by inconsistent regulation, under-resourced regulators and a workforce in crisis.
If we are serious about protecting children and restoring confidence, we need system-wide reform — not piecemeal patches. That means:
● A single, independent national body to oversee safety, quality, access, workforce and funding — as the Productivity Commission has already recommended.
● Investment in the workforce: better pay, training and conditions so educators are valued as the professionals they are.
● Mandatory safety measures, radical transparency and clear accountability so that breaches are never hidden, minimised or ignored.
Quality, inclusive early learning is nation-building infrastructure. Parents cannot simply walk away from it. Nor should they have to. Children deserve to be safe, supported and nurtured – and parents deserve confidence in the system.
The real question is not how many parents can pull out? It’s: what do we need to change so that no parent feels they need to? The answer? Approach quality and safety in early childhood education and care as the not negotiables they are.