The Productivity Commission has released its final report on the future of Australia’s Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) system.
The final report considers how to build an affordable, accessible, inclusive, high quality, universal early learning system.
The report includes 56 recommendations across two volumes to achieve this.
It says every child should be able to access at least 30 hours or 3 days a week of high-quality early education and care by 2036.
The report also highlights that quality early education can improve outcomes for children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, but it’s those from disadvantaged backgrounds who are also the most likely to be missing out.
The report says one of the first things we need to do to build a bigger and a better early education system, is build a bigger ECEC workforce. That’s why last month, the Government announced a 15 per cent wage increase for ECEC workers.
The Government will now consider the findings and recommendations of the Productivity Commission report, alongside those of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) inquiry.
The Final Report and its recommendations are available here.
Moreover, the Government’s Cheaper Child Care package has already reduced the cost of ECEC for more than one million families.
The government has also acted to increase the wages of the ECEC workforce through an estimated $3.6 billion to support a 15 per cent pay rise over two years.
This wage increase will be tied to a requirement for ECEC services to not increase their fees by more than 4.4 per cent for the next 12 months. The Government will then set a cap for the following 12 months, informed by the work of the ABS.
The Government’s $72 million ECEC workforce package is helping to retain the existing highly skilled early learning workforce, including through professional development opportunities and paid practicums.
Comments attributable to Libby Coker MP:
“Early childhood education and care unlocks opportunities, particularly for women and children, so it makes absolute sense for government to invest in accessible, inclusive, and affordable care for Australian families.
“All children should be able to access high quality early childhood education and care no matter where they live or their background.
“Our government will work through the findings of the Productivity Commission Report and consider them as we continue to rollout out our ambitious agenda for families.
