On Wednesday, the Albanese government introduced an early childhood safety bill into Parliament – the first step to hold the sector accountable. This is a big move towards making childcare safer. Specifically, this legislation strengthens authorities’ ability to perform surprise inspections on childcare centers. If these centers do not meet basic safety criteria, they may lose their federal funding. The federal government is putting $16 billion a year in new taxpayer dollars for []. They have set specific targets to improve access, and the quality and safety of childcare services across Australia.
Minister for Early Education Jess Walsh said the bill was a historic step. Those pernicious actors in the industry that put profit over the safety of our children,” she said. The government’s efforts is a big step in the right direction. Execution aside, they shine a spotlight on a biggest challenge facing the sector that requires deeper, systemic reforms.
Strengthening Regulatory Powers
The newly reintroduced bill would give regulators the tools to penalize childcare providers that fail to implement safety measures. This decision reflects a growing concern about the quality of care in many of these centers. Alarmingly, more than 9 out of every 10 facilities that opened over the last ten years were built for profit.
As Walsh declared, “There are some clearly repeat offenders who walk away every time, continuing to put profit over child safety.” This grim reality highlights the need for stronger action that holds companies accountable to enforce safety standards. The federal government’s current approach is focusing on the underlying cause of these problems. It gets to the root of the problems, instead of just providing band-aid solutions.
The federal government set aside another $1 billion for service expansions, focusing on areas of highest need. On the ground, this funding is moving forward a more holistic strategy. Most importantly, it addresses issues of accessibility and quality within the childcare system by guaranteeing families access to a minimum of three days of subsidized care.
Systemic Issues Within Childcare
We continue to hear from experts that systemic issues are hurting the childcare industry. Andrew Hudson of the Centre for Policy Development is hopeful that the new regulations will result in short-term gains in safety and quality. He cautions that they will fail to fix the root problems creating the boldest headlines of today’s crises.
Hudson said that safety and quality will be improved under their leadership in the short term. They will not address the deeper, more systemic problems that got us here. He called on the government to take a bolder approach. He makes the case for abandoning the idea of early learning as a market and adopting the goal of making it a universal public service instead.
Walsh emphasized that the government was serious about increasing pay for childcare workers. He knew, as many who are in the early education world, that competitive compensation is key to recruiting and maintaining a top-notch staff.
Future Discussions and Developments
Next month negotiations are due to begin between the Commonwealth, states and territories about further measures to improve the quality of childcare. The agenda tackles some really powerful paradigm shifting topics. These are the establishment of a national register for childcare workers, making child safety training compulsory and potentially placing CCTV cameras in childcare facilities.
We are at a once-in-a-generation moment when early learning has to change. We must transform our current “patchwork, profit-driven market” into an organized system that delivers accessible, affordable, high-quality care for all children. David Speers articulated this vision by stating, “This is the moment to transform early learning from a patchy, profit-driven market into a universal system — one that delivers affordable, high-quality care for every child, in every community.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called this a “revolutionary” step toward universal access to childcare. He argues that giving kids childcare should feel as commonsense as giving them a seat in a public school.
