Page 4074 - Week 09 - Thursday, 26 August 2010
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year and if the Gillard Labor government is able to form government, which would be terrific, families will receive the rebate fortnightly.
Let us compare this with what I have heard from the federal Liberal Party. Tony Abbott and the federal Liberal Party are on record that they will not proceed with the quality rating system introduced by Labor governments. What a backward-looking position. What a shocker of a position for families and kids in childcare across Australia. It is no surprise that when the former coalition government was in office Australia was 13th out of 14 OECD countries in terms of public expenditure on early childhood education.
The other thing on affordability is that Mrs Dunne referred to the ROGS data. It is quite clear that the ROGS data measures the ACT, which is a city-state, against states and territories, which have regional areas. Mrs Dunne did, I think, go to this. If we are compared to other urban areas, it provides a more accurate comparison. The commonwealth government’s mychild website indicates that the most recent weekly rates for centre-based care for children in inner city Sydney ranged from $370 to $520 per week, and in Wollongong and Newcastle they ranged from $300 to $375. This compares to the cost in the ACT of $325 per week, as reported in the Report on government services.
Her other comment was—and I have the comment here—that fee setting is a matter for individual centres. I am wondering now whether she is proposing that government policy comes into actually setting fees for childcare centres. I am not quite sure, and I would ask her to qualify or to explain that.
But this government knows that accessibility and affordability of childcare is very important for families. Of course, this government also understands that families value the quality of care being provided to their children.
A recent study by Early Childhood Australia about the concerns of pregnant mothers found that childcare quality was the most important issue for them when they considered which childcare centre to send their children to. It is unfortunate that the public debate from the Liberals in this place has focused solely on the availability and affordability of childcare while totally ignoring quality.
On quality, I share with those opposite the fact that the ACT received the highest result across Australia for quality in long-day care services. This was received from the National Childcare Accreditation Council. This was in relation to health, nutrition and wellbeing of children indicators. I think that is something that our services in the ACT should be very proud of.
But the fact is that research shows that quality childcare leads to better developmental and cognitive outcomes for our children. According to a European Commission report in 2009, in economic terms investment in early childhood brings greater returns than investing in any other stage of education, although the size of the effect and its continuity into later schooling may vary considerably. Early childhood education and care services can enhance children’s subsequent school performance and development only if the care is of high quality. The report concludes that poor quality childcare can do more harm than good, especially to children from poorer backgrounds.
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