STATEMENTS

Ms CAMPBELL (Moreton) (17:46): A massive avocado stain across my shirt, a scream down the hallway to see if Dad has seen her water bottle and a demand for her Toniebox just as we're headed out the door—this is a regular morning in our household. Like many of us in this place and the more than one million parents across the country, I have a child who attends child care.

When my partner and I drop my daughter off in the morning, we give her a kiss goodbye, wish her a good day and chat to her carers, who are dedicated and enthusiastic. The chaos of the morning is made calm by the always caring, deeply professional and hardworking childcare workers who look after the most precious person in our lives. We have never doubted that she will be educated, entertained and safe at child care.

However, reports in recent weeks of neglect and abuse in New South Wales and of horrific offences at childcare centres in Victoria have shocked and distressed us all. You do not have to be a parent to feel sickened by the news. As the CEO of The Parenthood, Georgie Dent, said, children being safe in early learning is the absolute baseline parents are entitled to.

I would like to express my support and empathy for the children, parents and families who have been impacted. You have been let down by institutions you should be able to trust. And what you are going through is every parent's worst nightmare.

The Early Childhood Education and Care (Strengthening Regulation of Early Education) Bill 2025 is the Albanese Labor government's urgent response to the events of recent weeks. It includes measures to strengthen Commonwealth regulatory and enforcement powers to improve safety and quality at childcare centres. Put simply, Labor are determined to do everything we can to ensure that children are safe in these ECEC settings, whether that be childcare centres, family day care, in-home care or outside-school-hours care.

The Minister for Education said funding is the biggest weapon that the Australian government has to wield here. He was referring to the $16 billion per year childcare subsidy. This subsidy is what keeps the lights on at childcare centres and keeps the doors open.

It accounts for about 70 per cent of the cost of operating a childcare centre. This legislation that is before us right now enables the government to withhold or cancel the childcare subsidy if a centre is not compliant with quality and safety standards. It applies to all centres and services that are eligible for the childcare subsidy.

Specifically, this legislation will ensure that quality and safety are primary considerations when new childcare subsidy provider approvals are lodged. It will then ensure the ongoing paramount importance of quality and safety when assessing ongoing operations. The legislation also applies a much-needed layer of transparency, expanding the Secretary of the Department of Education's remit to publicise the actions taken against providers who do not meet the standards required.

The secretary will now be able to disclose when a provider is not granted approval to operate a new service. These new powers include publicising the details of other compliance action, including when conditions are applied or an infringement notice is issued. This will give families more clarity and more confidence when choosing providers.

This is the level of transparency they deserve. Ultimately it will generate more community assurance in the integrity of this critical sector. Another key aspect of the legislation is strengthening the powers available to authorised inspectors for spot checks and unannounced visits.

There are penalties for not providing reasonable assistance to the inspector during such visits. The bill also provides for the improved financial integrity of the childcare subsidy. These measures were included in the 2024-25 budget.

From 1 January 2026 both family day care and in-home care providers will collect gap fees directly from families. This reform reduces the administrative burden on providers, freeing educators from collecting fees and allowing them to focus on what is most critical to families and our community—the care and education of children. It will enhance the provider's ability to administer the childcare subsidy and reduce fraud and noncompliance.

The legislation before us has been widely welcomed by peak bodies in the sector. There is recognition that, while Australia has a world-leading national quality framework, standards are not being enforced as they should be. Providers must be held accountable for the standards of care and must be penalised when they fail to meet them.

That is what this bill does. As Paul Mondo, from the Australian Childcare Alliance, stated: There is nothing more important than the safety and wellbeing of children—it is at the heart of the ECEC system, and we support zero tolerance for child abuse or maltreatment. I recognise the thousands of caring and committed childcare professionals who look after our children every single day in every place around this country.

You have a crucial role in both preparing children for school and enabling parents to work. We are ever grateful for your care. The Albanese Labor government is committed to bolstering the ECEC workforce.

In 2023 the government announced a package of $72.4 million to provide professional development for up to 75,000 early childhood educators; to support up to 6,000 educators to complete their professional qualifications; and to help up to 2,000 people complete placements required for their qualifications. Labor recognised the critical importance of retaining our early childhood education and care workers by implementing a 15 per cent pay rise.

We value the people who care for our children every single day. This bill is the first step in ensuring quality and safety for our children. Future meetings of education ministers will discuss options such as using CCTV in childcare centres and the development of a national education register.

This register would help to track workers from centre to centre, from state to state. We're working constructively with each and every one of the states and territories on these critical matters. The Attorney-General will also be addressing the matter of different working-with-children checks in the states and territories at a meeting next month.

Labor recognises that it is our responsibility to do all we can to make sure our children are safe when they are in care. This legislation will help ensure that providers must put child safety ahead of profit. Its purpose is not to shut centres down but to ensure that centres meet quality and safety standards.

While the states and territories hold the responsibility of ensuring quality and safety in child care, the federal government will work closely with them to implement these new regulations. For the first time since the childcare subsidy system began in 2018, the Secretary of the Department of Education will be able to consider a provider's quality, safety and compliance history before granting approval to administer the childcare subsidy and will provide ongoing approval and approval extension.

Getting this right now is a vital foundation for working towards building a universal early childhood education and care system—one that parents can have confidence in and one that will give our youngest Australians a flying start to life.