Last week a Galaxy Poll found that parents with children are the most likely to vote for a candidate who supports affordable child care and early learning (43 per cent).
This weekend Labor announced a suite of new early childhood policies in a $3billion pitch to address affordability for families.
Labor has committed to increase the Child Care Benefit by 15 per cent for all families and raising the cap on the Child Care Rebate to $10,000, starting from 1 January 2017.
This Government is relying on its $3billion Jobs for Families Child Care Package, which would introduce a new single Child Care Subsidy, but delayed implementation until July 2018 (in the May Budget).
Both parties should not lose sight of the long-term reform task. We have a system of child care subsidies that is not adequately meeting the needs of families, services or children. This was underscored by the 'Productivity Commission’s Inquiry into Child Care and Early Learning' which was informed by years of consultation.
The Government needs to address the impact of its tighter Activity Test and ensure that vulnerable children aren’t denied access to early learning. Labor will need to provide more detail on how it would proceed with reform if they win government.
For many parents, the central issue they want fixed is finding affordable quality care for their children when they need to return to work. In our biggest cities this is a huge problem, but out in the suburbs and country areas many services struggle to fill places.
But the reason we should all care about fixing the early childhood system is that by investing early, while children are at vital stages of development, we improve children’s life and education outcomes and avoid future costs.
That’s why Early Childhood Australia wants to see the major parties commit to improving the system so that every Australian child has access to at least two days per week of quality early learning that boosts their development.
By Ros Cornish , National President of Early Childhood Australia
