Parliamentary Friends of Early Childhood event: Strengthening Early Learning Where It Matters Most

I begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, the Traditional Owners of the land on which we gather.

In doing so, I acknowledge we have much to learn from First Nations people and culture.

Especially the practice of putting children at the centre of community, a principle at the heart of today’s discussion.

I acknowledge the Shadow Minister, Senator Matt O’Sullivan.

I thank Senator Marielle Smith and Senator Andrew Bragg, Co-Chairs of the Parliamentary Friends of Early Childhood. And I acknowledge other Parliamentary colleagues.

Thank you to United Way and The Hive for bringing educators and advocates to Parliament House.

Your paper, Insights from a decade of place-based collaboration in Mt Druitt, tells an important story.

It shows what is possible when communities lead, services work together, and governments listen.

Your approach aligns with our three building blocks of universal early learning that is high quality, affordability, and where it is needed.

Quality starts with educators.

The Hive’s Early Childhood Educators’ Network shows what that means in practice.

It brings together educators from around 40 services to learn from each other.

They share ideas, solve problems and take effective practices back into their services.

It builds their confidence, capability and wellbeing through professional learning, mentoring and ongoing support.

The results speak for themselves.

Connections between services have grown, and educators report stronger confidence and wellbeing.

That matters because early educators support children through some of the most important years – when they’re building language, learning to manage their emotions, and developing social skills.

The Hive’s model recognises a simple truth: early educators are highly skilled professionals.

And when they are valued, supported and connected, quality improves, and more children thrive.

But for too long, they have been undervalued and underpaid.

We acted through our Worker Retention Payment, which is delivering a 15 per cent pay rise.  

And it’s working – retention is up, vacancies are down and we’ve cut the use of waivers in half.

And now we’re locking it in.  This week, the Senate gets the chance to pass our Wage Justice Bill.

Because educators deserve to be valued. And children deserve experienced educators who can afford to stay, and the stable relationships that this supports.

The second building block is affordability.

Like The Hive, we know that low-income families can face multiple barriers to accessing early learning, including affordability.

And that was particularly true under the old Activity Test.

As many people told us, the Activity Test was locking out children who could benefit the most.

So we got rid of it and replaced it with our 3 Day Guarantee.

This has given more than 90,000 additional families access to three days of subsidised early learning each week.

For families earning up to $100,000, that can save around $1,500 a year.

For First Nations children, the guarantee is five days.

Easing pressure for parents, and meaning more children are learning, and ready for school.

The third building block is early learning available where it is needed.

This is a key to The Hive’s approach: “bring services to families, not families to services”.

We are doing this through our $1 billion Building Early Education Fund.

In Derby WA, we’re investing in a $21 million integrated child and family hub as part of our partnership with the Investment Dialogue for Australia’s Children.

Families who’ve been gathering together to run playgroups in local parks and halls for years will now have their own service.

It will be operated by the Ngunga Women who advocated for it.

When I visited, I had the privilege of meeting Rowena Mouda and the other women who had the vision for this centre.

It will be a culturally safe, community-led service, trusted by families.

And in our latest IDAC announcement at Davoren Park in Adelaide, we’re partnering with the local community to deliver a new $16 million integrated early years hub.

It will bring early learning, health, and family support together.

These services are built around what their community needs.

They understand children and communities have different needs.And different needs require different responses.

The latest AEDC data shows that 35 per cent of children in disadvantaged communities are developmentally vulnerable in at least one area when they start school.

That compares with around 24 per cent of children nationally.

And the children who stand to benefit most from early learning are still less likely to attend.

And that brings me back to The Hive. Because this is exactly what you have been addressing in Mt Druitt.

You’ve put children at the centre.

You’ve connected early learning with health, family and community supports.

And you’ve doubled the number of services meeting standards.

Those are fantastic results.

And Mt Druitt’s children and families benefit not only today, but throughout what we hope are healthy and happy lives for years to come.

Thank you again to United Way, The Hive and Mt Druitt’s educators.

As we continue building universal early education, our focus remains clear.

Quality. Affordable. Where it is needed.

With children where they belong – at the centre.