ECA National Conference: Children at the Centre, educators at the heart

I acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people, the Traditional Owners of the land on which we are gathered today. 

I want to thank Early Childhood Australia and Sam Page for inviting me to speak. 

It is also great to follow the Minister for Education, Jason Clare, who I know was here yesterday.

Most importantly, I want to thank the early childhood educators, teachers, leaders and advocates here today for everything you do to give children a great start in life.

When I visit early learning centres around the country, I see the benefits of your work in the children I meet.

The quiet children who take time to find their confidence.

The curious children who’ve already asked a hundred questions before I arrive and have a hundred more.

The cheeky children – usually the first to say hello and show me their centre.

The ones with big feelings, and big behaviours.

The children who need extra support.

I see the benefits of your work in all of these children.

I see how brilliant play-based learning is as a pedagogy for lifting children up and helping them grow, learn and shine.

And I know that every child deserves the chance to reach their full potential with the support of quality early education and care.

The Albanese Labor Government wants to turn that chance, and that potential, into reality for more Australian children.

And if we are serious about creating a universal early education and care system, we have to start with a simple question: Who is the system for?

For too long, the answer wasn’t always clear.

So to be clear, universal early education starts with children and must always keep children at the centre.

Because the early years are not simply preparation for what comes next.

They matter in and of themselves.

These are years of rapid brain development.

Years of cognitive, social and emotional growth.

Years when children develop their sense of identity, belonging and possibility.

Children never get these years back.

And those who start behind too often stay behind.

That’s why the early years matter.

And if you believe the early years matter, you build a system around that belief.

You make sure early education is high quality and safe.

You make sure it’s affordable for families.

And you make sure it’s available where children need it most.

And that is exactly the universal system we are working to build: high quality, affordable, and where it’s needed. With children at the centre.

Because children don’t choose whether their parents work. 

Or how much their parents earn.

Or where they live.

They don’t choose whether a provider has built a centre in their community.

And children should not miss out because of circumstances beyond their control.

That is why we established the $1 billion Building Early Education Fund – delivering more centres where families need them, not just where providers have already invested.

We now have Building Early Education Agreements signed with all the States and Territories.

And we’ve just announced the first tranche of successful grants through our large provider round of that Fund.

Already, we have committed to build 46 centres across the country in suburbs and regions where children are missing out today.

Quality not-for-profit centres. 33 of those are co-located with schools.

Because when children are at the centre, we think of their entire educational journey.

Co-location can help make the transition to school more familiar and less daunting for children.

They can see the older children in their school uniforms through the fence.

Maybe they’ve already done a few excursions to the library or the oval with their educators.

And they may have already begun building relationships with the children and adults they will see at school.

It’s also good for parents – helping them avoid the double drop-off, so mornings and afternoons are simpler.

This is common sense.

And when you see early learning as education – not just child-minding – it also becomes increasingly important to recognise that different children have different needs.

Previously, some of the children who would benefit most from quality early learning were cut off by the former government’s cruel Activity Test.

We’ve changed that with our 3 Day Guarantee.

Because access to early learning should be about a child’s rights.

Not how much their parents work or study. 

Because of our change, more than 90,000 additional families are now eligible for at least three days of subsidised early learning.

Comparing the June quarter of 2025 with the June quarter of 2026, there was an 11.7 per cent increase in families entitled to at least three subsidised days a week and using early learning.

That included a 23 per cent increase among low-income families.

And a 22.5 per cent increase among single-parent families.

This does not mean every child used every hour available to them.

But this is opening the doors of early learning to more children – including those who stand to benefit most.

This is a powerful reform. And it puts children at the centre.

Children like Florence, a 3-year-old at Gowrie Broadmeadows.

With the 3 Day Guarantee, Florence has gone up to three days of early learning instead of two.

Her dad, Sheldon, says she’s so much more settled and comfortable at the centre now.

She’s more ready to learn. 

And her language development and speaking have come a long way.

Supporting children like Florence is what the 3 Day Guarantee is all about.

Alongside this work, we’ve made child safety and wellbeing the paramount consideration across the sector.

And we’ve put that principle into law.

Because children should be at the centre of everything we do in early learning.

Children at the centre.

And educators at the heart.

It makes sense.

You can’t have children at the centre if you don’t value the people who educate and care for them.

That is why our historic 15 per cent pay rise for early childhood educators matters so much.

Just a few weeks ago, the Parliament passed legislation that locks it in. 

It’s a recognition of the role you play and the work you do.

And I know it is making a real difference. 

I met with a Canberra educator, Mel, in the week we passed the legislation.

She started out in this sector studying at TAFE as an 18-year-old.

Without giving away her age, she’s not 18 anymore.

And she’s one of the many workers who has been fighting for this pay rise for years and years.

It means so much to her to finally see it come to fruition.

But what meant even more to her was knowing that a new generation of educators could start work in this sector on the foundation of everything she’d fought for.

That a new generation is being valued from day one.

As they should be.

This is a struggle we’ve seen in other sectors too. 

To put it bluntly – often in sectors dominated by women.

For too long, essential caring professions were undervalued because they were seen as ‘women’s work’.

Nurses challenged that.

Teachers challenged that.

And now, early educators have challenged it too.

Because caring for and educating young children is not babysitting.

It is skilled work.

Professional work.

Essential work.

And this generation of educators has won that argument. 

This generation has changed the game forever.

It took years of advocacy.

It took your Big Steps campaign.

It took changing the Government.

And then it took changing the law.

But you got there. 

Your generation has won the battle that nurses and teachers fought before them.

And with this pay rise – and more pay rises to come through the Fair Work Commission – educators can no longer be ignored.

That’s not to say this is “job done”.

But it is a turning point.

Because early learning is education.

It’s about development.

And it must be high quality.

Play-based learning isn’t “just play”.

When children negotiate whose turn it is, when they work together to solve problems, when they explore the world around them – they are developing skills that will stay with them forever. 

And none of this happens by accident.

Behind that play is a skilled educator. Observing, planning, encouraging.

Knowing when to intervene, and when to allow children to discover something for themselves.

That’s why educators are at the heart of our reforms as we build a universal early education and care system in Australia.

The reforms I’ve spoken about today are making a real difference for children.

The question now is how we continue that work into the future.

At the next Education Ministers Meeting, we’ll discuss establishing an Early Education and Care Commission, to help guide that path forward. 

Because ultimately, Australia’s future isn’t just built in schools, or universities and TAFEs – important as those institutions are.

You have to go back further – to the foundations. To the early years.

And that means investing in and valuing the work done in early learning services across the country every day – where our youngest Australians are just getting started in life.

It means building a universal early education and care system that is high quality, affordable and where it’s needed.

With children at the centre. And educators at the heart.