Page 101 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 25 February 2014
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are committed to both the long-term sustainability of the sector and providing more childcare spaces for our growing population in the city, and for the growing demand which Mr Hanson mentioned in his remarks.
In summary, I would simply say that affordable child care is important. There is certainly agreement in the chamber on that today. When fees are too high, people are discouraged from returning to the workforce. This particularly is an issue for women, although not exclusively for women. The consequence is either not returning to the workforce or perhaps having to rely on less suitable or lower quality child care. They are all issues that are of concern. When services are not accessible, families face challenges in managing their work and home lives, they have reduced flexibility and they are left juggling family schedules. None of these things I have mentioned are good outcomes; we must strive to avoid them whilst ensuring that we have a sustainable sector and one in which the staff are paid a fair salary for the very important work that they do.
MS BERRY (Ginninderra) (4.51): I am very happy to talk today on this very important public issue. As we have already heard from Minister Burch, the ACT government recognises just how important it is to the working families of the ACT that they can access quality education and care services for their children. We know that difficulties in accessing services can be a major stress for families when parents are seeking to return to the workforce.
I was very happy to hear Mr Rattenbury say that it is more than just being about having affordable child care in the ACT and that there are two other factors that need to be taken into account—accessibility and quality. In turn, this means we should look at what workers in the sector are paid, so that we can attract and retain quality early childhood educators and carers to the sector.
With respect to accessibility and affordability, we have heard much from Minister Burch about the extensive efforts by the ACT government to establish new places in areas of need. The ACT government has been proactive in helping families to access education and care services and to provide advice to help families make informed choices about their children’s early education. In the past we have provided access to information about services through publications, including Choosing Childcare in the ACT. These information sources have been replaced with national registers introduced by the national quality framework—a framework that was, as Minister Burch said, adopted by not just the ACT but the whole country, and, indeed, the sector. The registers include information about a service’s location, contact details and its quality rating.
The ACT government also supports accessibility through the provision of its emergency childcare program. The program supports the ACT’s most vulnerable families during times of family crisis. The program funds a number of emergency care places in education and care services across the ACT for families who need immediate access to care for their children. These places provide a valuable support for families in need.
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