A new draft bill that would guarantee three days per week of childcare for all children aged five and under, capped at $10 per day, has been launched today at parliament house.
The proposed law would also establish 52 weeks of paid parental leave shared between partners and a minimum of 10 child and maternal health checks. The bill would also make childcare free for low-income families.
An initiative of Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five campaign, the draft bill was launched in Canberra alongside independent MP Zoe Daniel and representatives of The Parenthood, Children and Young People with Disability Australia and Welcoming Australia.
Thrive by Five’s Jay Weatherill, a former premier of South Australia, said the group was calling for feedback on the draft bill and MPs to co-sponsor it and “be part of history” by making early childhood education a universal right in Australia.
“This is smart policy that would deliver on multiple fronts: it would ease cost-of-living pressures for families, it would ease workforce shortages and boost productivity, and most importantly it would enable all Australian children to thrive by five,” he said.
There have been some positive reforms in recent years, Weatherill says, citing the increase in the federal child care subsidy, the plan to increase paid parental leave to 26 weeks by 2026, and the introduction of free preschool in NSW and Victoria.
Nevertheless, Weatherill says this draft bill would enshrine a necessary national framework to ensure that positive reforms can’t be undone when governments inevitably change.
“The evidence shows the first five years of life are absolutely crucial for social and cognitive development, and high-quality early learning experiences not only set children up to do well at school, they also have life-long positive impacts,” Weatherill said.
“But too many Australian children today are not able to attend childcare and preschool because their parents cannot afford it, or they cannot get a place close to home,” he added, noting that the cost is often similar to a second mortgage and waitlists for this early education are “astronomically long”.
The cost and inaccessibility of childcare is also the main factor in keeping parents– usually mothers who take on the care responsibilities– out of the workforce.
A 2023 poll conducted by Essential Research for The Parenthood found six in ten parents said they or their partner would work different hours if childcare was not so expensive.
CEO of The Parenthood Georgie Dent said “adequate paid parental leave and totally affordable, quality early childhood education and care are critical social infrastructure that every person should be entitled to, just like primary and tertiary education, superannuation or Medicare.”
Advocates for children and young people with disability as well as those from migrant and refugee backgrounds note that the reforms in this draft bill would help break down barriers these communities face.
“Guaranteed access to inclusive and accessible early learning education and care will significantly benefit all children including those with a disability,” said Ashleigh Keating, a Lived Experience Advocate from Children and Young People with Disability Australia. “We need a national framework that brings systems together.”
Founder of Welcoming Australia Brad Chilcott AM said: “Legislating an early years guarantee that simplifies the payment system and makes access to quality early learning truly universal would go a long way to advancing our vision of an Australia where everyone has equal opportunity to belong, contribute and thrive.”
The draft bill proposes the creation of a national Early Childhood Development Commission to work with federal, state and territory governments to implement the reforms over 10 years.
A $10-a-day model has successfully been implemented in other parts of the world, including Quebec in Canada.
Weatherill said himself and the group of advocates “encourage all Members of Parliament to come on board and co-sponsor this historic piece of legislation that will make a long-lasting difference in the lives of Australian children and families.”