Press conference - Parliament House, Canberra
JESS WALSH, MINISTER FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: Good morning, everyone. Today is a great milestone in our work to build a universal early childhood education and care system in Australia and it's a great milestone for our Building Early Education Fund. This is a billion-dollar fund that is designed to build more quality, not-for-profit early learning services in the places where families need them most. Today we're announcing that we have concluded all eight Building Early Education Agreements with the States and Territories. We've just signed an agreement with the Northern Territory to build two brand new early learning services in Darwin and Tennant Creek. And around the country we are building 42 brand new early learning services in the places where families need them most. This agreement is so important because there are places in the country where children just don't have enough access to quality early childhood education and care. And early education and care is a game changer for children and families. We want more children in more places to get the benefits of quality early childhood education and care. That's why our Building Early Education Agreements lock in support for 42 early learning services around countries. And importantly, 33 of those are co-located with schools, and I know my colleagues here know just how important that is. Quality early learning that is co-located with schools is so great for children. It helps them see the big school up the road and helps them arrive at school ready to make friends, ready to learn and be on that journey towards a great life. And early learning co-located with schools is also fantastic for families too because we know many families this morning will have been dealing with the morning juggle and getting kids to early learning and to school. School-based early learning gives families the opportunity of a one-stop drop and we know families love that for their kids and also to get through that busy morning. We are delivering more quality early childhood education in the places where families need them most through these Building Early Education Agreements and we're really pleased to have concluded all eight agreements with the States and Territories. I'm surrounded by people here who are in communities who will have the benefit of quality early learning services, many of them co-located with schools. I've been able to visit a couple of those. I've visited the Greenmount Primary School with Trish where her community will get a brand new early learning service and also the Rosewood School in Queensland with Shayne. And we'd love to hear from Trish first and then Shayne about what these services will mean for their communities.
TRISH COOK, MEMBER FOR BULLWINKEL: Thanks, Jess. Early childhood education and care is crucial if we want to build our nation. It's the foundations of our nation. And in my electorate of Bullwinkel in Western Australia, it's a high need area, it's a growth area for families moving further out of the city, and parents have been telling us that they need it. Parents like Stacey, who we met the other day, Minister, who does want the one-stop drop and the one pick-up and the principal, Natalie Astle, is thrilled to have it on her school grounds and to know that it's going to be run by a not-for-profit association for that area where it's providing real relief for families that desperately need it.
SHAYNE NEUMANN, MEMBER FOR BLAIR: Look, think of a country town like Rosewood in regional Ipswich, where you've only got three in 10 children getting early education before they go to primary school. And that's why Principal Georgia O'Shea at Rosewood State School was so excited about this $9 million funding that we're providing this early learning centre co-located at Rosewood State Primary School. That's absolutely crucial. We want to make sure that whether you're growing up in a rural community like Rosewood, you've got the same access to early education as someone living in Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne. That double drop-off is the bane of parents’ lives in the morning. But those services make sure that kids, 75 places in this early learning centre in Roseville, those 75 children will get access to an early education that they wouldn't have got otherwise. Now, a city like Ipswich with a rural community on the outskirts like Rosewood, that's absolutely vital. I want to make sure that working class kids, kids from regional and rural communities, get access to these services. That's why we want to thank the Queensland Government for the partnership that we've got in terms of the Building Early Education Fund. That agreement across five different centres, co-located in a number of them, is absolutely vital. So, thank you very much, Jess. Thank you for the cooperation of the Queensland Government. It goes to show that we have the heart of the Government committed to early education, making sure these kids can get the best chance in life.
WALSH: Thanks, Shayne. Thanks Trish. I'm happy to answer any questions.
JOURNALIST: If there's high demand for these services and you're hitting capacity, how will places be allocated?
WALSH: So, across the 42 services around the country that we're building in areas of need, we're generating around 2,500 places. So, our Building Early Education Agreements will help families in those locations for generations to come. What we want to see is more quality early learning in places that are underserved, where there are more young families growing in the area than there are child care places today. And we know that these services will make a big difference in making sure that families in those areas, predominantly outer suburbs and regions, get access to the quality early learning that they need.
JOURNALIST: Absolutely, but if there's only 2,500 places, if the demand is higher for that, will it be first come, first served? Will it be a needs-based system? How will that work?
WALSH: So, 2,500 places is a huge injection of places when you think about the areas being disadvantaged and underserved today. And the services when they are operating quality, not-for-profit services, 80 per cent of them co-located with schools, they'll work together with families and community to allocate the places. Thank you all very much and thanks to my colleagues for coming out.