Page 1523 - Week 04 - Thursday, 7 April 2011
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In this regard, it is recognised that there is a skill shortage of qualified early childhood educators across Australia and actions continue to be taken to support the sector to meet the new qualification requirements.
The Australian government has removed regulated fees to attract more people to the industry and to encourage those already involved to up-skill. As a result, here in the ACT we have seen a marked increase in students enrolled in the various courses available at tertiary level through the Department of Education and Training and the Canberra Institute of Technology. The Australian Catholic University and the University of Canberra continue to offer access to the early childhood teaching degree.
The ACT government is also contributing through investment in capital upgrades and maintenance to assist services who may wish to modify their premises to meet the new educator to child care ratio. Recently I announced a childcare grants program to support eligible services in their planning for the implementation of the national quality framework. The services will able to access up to $10,000 for planning and design purposes, equipment or fit-out and fittings.
Madam Assistant Speaker, we know that such a significant reform, a reform that will ensure that the children of the ACT enjoy quality education and care, will come at a cost. In 2009 Access Economics was commissioned by the Council of Australian Governments to undertake economic modelling of the cost impacts for implementing the national quality framework. It was found that the estimated additional increase in childcare fees in the ACT would be in the order of $2.75 per week in long day care in 2012, up to $11.39 by 2015. This equates to 55c per day in 2012 and $2.39 per day in 2015.
Those modellings remain valid. The Australian government will continue to pay at least 50 per cent of the out-of-pocket expenses of families that claim the childcare rebate. For some families the Australian government will, through its combined childcare benefit and childcare rebate, cover the majority of the cost. The Australian government estimates that these benefits and rebates have resulted in childcare costs to parents dropping from 13 per cent of disposable income in 2004 to seven per cent currently.
These changes are significant and are driven by the vision that, by 2020, all children have the best start in life to create a better future for them and the nation. We know that parents want high quality care for their children. We know they want meaningful and caring relationships between the educators and the children and parents. Few would disagree that children deserve the very best education and care, and we recognise and accept the increasing volume of evidence that early learning is critical to a child’s development and that education and care services play an important role in this regard.
Quality early childhood education, provided by qualified, well-trained educators, gives children the best start in life by helping develop children’s literacy, numeracy and social skills in the years before compulsory schooling. Quality early childhood education ensures that children during their early years are able to learn and grow in positive, nurturing environments. Under the new national laws, parents will be able to have consistently high education and care wherever they live in Australia or the ACT.
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