Kim O’KEEFFE (Shepparton) (15:43): I rise today to speak and make a contribution on the Education and Training Reform Amendment (Early Childhood Employment Powers) Bill 2024. The bill is for an act to amend the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 to provide for the employment of persons at, or for the purposes of operating, government early learning centres and to consequently amend the Long Service Leave Act 2018 and for other purposes. The bill gives effect to the government commitment to open 50 new government-owned early learning centres by employing staff and setting charges and fees for parents. The bill comes off the back of the Victorian government’s Best Start, Best Life reforms, where the government has committed to building 50 new government-owned and -operated early learning centres across the state to deliver child care, kindergarten and pre-prep. The Education and Training Reform Act 2006 will enable fees to be fixed and charged to parents of children enrolled in early childhood education and care-of-government early learning centres. Division 2 of part 2A.2 of the bill sets out fees for services and other matters of government learning centres.
Every family has a right to quality education and care services. It is important for every child and their parents, carers and communities to have the support they need. We know that the first few years of a child’s life play a significant and critical role in their learning development. That is when the foundations for the future are laid.
The lack of centres, available places and staffing shortages is having a significant impact on communities and those seeking child care. Regional communities are being disadvantaged. As the member for Euroa passionately pointed out, there is a significant shortage in regional Victoria. A major concern is the fees: 50 hours of centre-based day care in Victoria is around $626 a week. This is the highest cost of any state in the nation, and for many this is beyond their ability to afford. In addition, out-of-pocket childcare costs for Victorian parents for centre-based day care after subsidies were the equal highest in the nation across all but one income level. Victorian families and constituents right across my electorate know that the costs of child care are continuing to grow and becoming a significant barrier to accessing this critical service. We also have a significant waiting list.
With the significant increases in the cost of living, rising interest rates and households trying to make ends meet, affordable and accessible child care is becoming harder. Children deserve to have the best start in life, and we need to support parents’ return to the workforce in a way that they can afford and that works for them and the needs of their families. We must have a process in place that gives choice for parents in quality and affordable child care and education for all Victorian children.
Strong foundational skills in early years are vital to every child’s future and education. As a former business owner and a working mother when I was raising my two daughters, the availability and cost of child care played a significant role in the opportunity for me to go back to work. However, even back then there was still a significant out-of-pocket cost which impacted significantly on our income. I know families who are struggling to cover the cost of child care or cannot get a place at a centre. I know a young mother who makes very little after paying her part-time child care, but she wants to stay active in her current workplace. She enjoys the interaction outside of the home and she also wants her only child to mix with other children in a positive environment. There are many who cannot access child care. Lack of access to child care takes almost 27,000 women entirely out of the workforce in Victoria and costs our economy about $1.5 billion per year in lost earnings.
The early learning and childcare sector is plagued by a severe workforce shortage. In 2023 the Australian Childcare Alliance surveyed over 600 childcare centres, and over two-thirds of them said that they had capped enrolments because they were unable to recruit enough workers. They estimate they will need some 700 educators and over 100 teachers, not to mention the dozens of centre directors, admin support and in-house staff that will be required. The government has no plan to increase workforce capacity to support the new government-run early learning centres without taking away from existing centres.
Under Labor, childcare and school costs are rising, with Victorian childcare centres now the most expensive in Australia. Child care is a very low-paid industry. I have a friend who works in child care, and she sees firsthand the battle to get trained staff and then to retain them. Families with a child starting in 2024 will pay more than $108,000 for 13 years in Victorian state schools. This is 17 per cent higher than the national capital city average and more expensive than in Sydney. In addition, the total cost of government education in regional and rural Victoria will be close to $80,000 over 13 years. Furthermore, schools right across state are experiencing teaching shortages, as we know, with many schools without teachers, an issue that is having a significant impact on the learning outcomes of students and causing significant disruption in Victorian classrooms, especially in regional and rural schools across the state. Nine in 10 government school principals have declared teacher shortages across the state.
The bill discusses how the Secretary of the Department of Education may employ persons in the government early learning centre workforce. The secretary may employ any persons that are necessary to operate government early learning centres, and in addition the secretary, on behalf of the Crown, has all the rights, powers, authorities and duties of an employer in respect to employees in the government early learning centre workforce. The minister may declare the terms and conditions of employment in the government early learning centre workforce, including salaries, wages and allowances; position classifications and duties of persons employed in the government early learning centre workforce; eligibility and suitability criteria for employment in the government early learning centre workforce; qualifications or experience necessary for appointment, transfer or promotion to any position, class or grade in the government early learning centre workforce; the processes of the recruitment and selection of persons employed in the government early learning centre workforce; conduct requirements and processes for the discipline and management of unsatisfactory performances of persons employed in the government early learning centre workforce; grounds for a termination of employment in the government early learning centre workforce; and any other matter necessary to provide for the employment of persons in the government early learning centre workforce.
The Allan government must address the ever-increasing costs of early childhood. Affordable and accessible child care supports parents to return to the workforce in a way that works for them. It is wrong that this should cost parents more in Victoria than it does anywhere else in the country. Victorians already know the costs will continue to grow, and they are becoming a significant barrier to accessing this critical service. The government needs to do more and needs to act now to support families in Victoria. The coalition supports measures to increase supply of childcare and early learning places, but it is vital any moves in this space are carefully considered and precisely implemented to ensure they do not distort the market. I thank the member for Kew as the lead speaker, and I support the reasoned amendment.