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New report: Universal Early Childhood Education and Care for all Australian children 

UNICEF Australia welcomes the Productivity Commission’s report, “A path to universal early childhood education and care”. The report provides government with a roadmap to achieving a high-quality, affordable universal ECEC system in Australia. This is an opportunity to better realise the enormous and compounding benefits that come with early investment in children, particularly their early learning.

We fully support key aspects of the report, which align with calls that have been made for many years by leading experts from across the sector, including UNICEF Australia. These reforms, if enacted, can be truly game changing for Australia. UNICEF Australia urges the Australian Government and all Parliamentarians across the political spectrum to support the recommendations from the Productivity Commission and work cooperatively to bring them to life, in the interests of all Australian children and families. 

Access to early childhood education and care (ECEC) offers children the best start in life by helping them learn, form healthy relationships, increase their independence, as well as assisting with the transition to school. Participating in ECEC helps shift trajectories for children, particularly those experiencing vulnerability and disadvantage, placing them on a pathway to healthy wellbeing and development which grows exponentially over their lifetime with the right support.

To ensure that every child has the same opportunities to grow and develop in their early years, the report makes several recommendations. These include:

  • Providing every child aged 0-5 years with at least 30 hours or three days a week of high-quality ECEC for 48 weeks a year.
  • Raising the maximum rate of the Childcare Subsidy to 100% of the hourly rate cap for families on incomes under $80,000.
  • Raising the higher Child Care Subsidy rate to 100% for families with multiple children aged under 5 in ECEC and with incomes under $140,000.
  • Removing the Child Care Subsidy activity test.

Achieving a quality universal ECEC system will require further investment from the Australian Government, including establishing new ECEC services, particularly in remote and regional communities, or for communities experiencing disadvantage. With Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children under-represented in the ECEC system, Aboriginal community-controlled organisations require a sustainable funding model to provide tailored, holistic, culturally appropriate support.

The report also highlights the need for government to address broader affordability barriers for children from low-income families. With the rising cost of living, affordability of childcare becomes yet another expense on top of other daily costs. One of these expenses often comes in the first weeks of a child’s life – a birth certificate.

A birth certificate is a vital document that allows children to enroll in ECEC, yet from 2017-2022 more than 75,000 babies did not have their births registered in their first year of life. UNICEF Australia has recently released our Certify Hope – Rights from the Start report which provides a roadmap towards universal birth registration in Australia. This will ensure that all children can access essential services and supports including ECEC, schooling and healthcare.

We look forward to continuing to work with the Australian Government, States & Territories to explore how the birth registration process can be made more accessible and affordable so that every child has the legal identity and documentation to access quality ECEC.

Together, universal ECEC and universal birth registration can positively shape the future for all children in Australia. Increased access to quality and affordable early learning for families will ensure all children have the opportunity to thrive and make the most of their potential.  

19 September 2024