Productivity Commission final report on Early Childhood Education and Care

Today the Productivity Commission released their 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 three 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.

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.

In addition, the Government’s Cheaper Child Care changes have cut the cost for more than one million Australian families.

The report is the result of a comprehensive inquiry, co-led by Professor Emerita Deborah Brennan AM. It was informed by a consultation process over 16 months which included 329 written submissions and 11 days of public hearings.  

The Government will 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.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Education Jason Clare:

“The Albanese Government’s Cheaper Child Care changes have made early childhood education and care more affordable for more than one million Australian families.

“We’ve also announced a 15 per cent pay rise for workers and capping fees at 4.4 per cent for families.

“The report makes clear that more needs to be done to make sure children from poor families, who would benefit the most from high quality early education, are not missing out. 

“I thank the Productivity Commission, Dr Brennan and everyone who has contributed to this important report. The report is a significant input into our work to chart the course to a universal early childhood education and care system.

“The Government will consider these recommendations alongside the findings of the ACCC.”

Quotes attributable to Minister for Early Childhood Education Dr Anne Aly:

“All children should be able to access the transformational benefits of quality early childhood education and care, no matter their background or postcode. 

“Quality early childhood education and care can improve developmental outcomes for children, particularly for children experiencing disadvantage and vulnerability.

“Accessible and affordable early learning is critical for supporting more people, especially women, to have a choice when it comes to undertaking study, re-entering the workforce or increasing their hours of work.  

"Significant work has gone into this important report, I thank Professor Brennan, the Productivity Commission, the sector and all those who have been involved over the last 16 months.

“This report, together with the ACCC inquiry, will help us build the early childhood education system our children deserve.”