Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026
Ms COKER (Corangamite) (13:21): Every Australian family deserves access to high-quality early childhood education and care, and every child deserves to learn and grow in a safe environment, surrounded by educators who have the time, resources and support to do their jobs well. But, for too long, early-years educators were not properly recognised. For years, these workers were undervalued and underpaid.
I remember the Big Steps campaign—catching the bus to Melbourne with early-years educators and walking with them to Flinders Street Station to urge the coalition government to invest in our educators. It was to no avail. But, when Labor won government, we acted, and we continue to act, unlike the coalition, who have no members here to speak on this very important issue, the education and safety of our youngest Australians.
The 15 per cent pay rise delivered by our government was a significant step towards properly recognising the work of early childhood educators and teachers. It is a significant pay rise that helps pay the bills and acknowledges that, when we properly value a profession, people are more likely to stay in it and more people are willing to join it. This bill, the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026, builds on that progress.
It locks in the government's investment in the early childhood workforce and makes sure the benefits of that investment continue. The Albanese government has committed $3.6 billion over the next two years to continue this historic pay rise for our early childhood educators and teachers. This bill delivers on that commitment.
From talking to the educators in my electorate and visiting early-years centres, I know how much they value this pay rise and what it means to them. It extends the arrangements that allow the government to provide funding to early childhood education and care providers to support higher wages and, importantly, it strengthens the conditions attached to that funding, because when taxpayers are investing in higher wages we should expect that investment to reach the workers it's intended to support.
But this bill is not only about workers; it's also about families and giving them the support they need to get ahead and know their children are getting the care and education that will set them up for their future. Anyone with young children knows the cost of early childhood education is a significant part of a family's budget. Families are making decisions every day about work, study, caring responsibilities and household expenses.
They need certainty, they need affordability and they need to know that, when governments invest in the childcare system, those benefits are not simply absorbed through higher fees. That's why the conditions attached to this funding matter—conditions that ensure providers receiving the worker retention payment must limit fee increases. We know this makes a difference.
Over the first year of the program, fees at centres that receive the payment increased by around half as much as the fees at centres that did not participate. That is a real saving for families. If this legislation does not pass, the advice provided to government is that fees could increase by around 17 per cent.
That would put significant pressure on families who are already managing the cost of living. Our government's approach is straightforward. We want to support the workers who deliver early childhood education and care while making sure families are not simply asked to pay more for it.
That's good policy and it is what responsible reforming government should do. For families in my electorate this matters. I do regularly speak with parents and young families about the pressures they are facing.
Ensuring their children can access quality early childhood education is not an abstract issue for them. It is part of their household budget. It can determine whether a parent can return to work, it can determine whether someone can increase their hours, it can determine whether a family can manage the transition from parental leave back into employment, and it can determine whether parents feel they have a genuine choice between balancing work and family.
When parents can access reliable early childhood education and care, they can participate in the workforce. When parents are able to work the hours they want, families are better off, businesses have access to more workers and our economy is stronger. When we support early childhood education and care, we are not simply supporting one sector.
We are supporting Australian families and Australia's workforce. It is a time of great uncertainty and it is a time to give parents and workers the support they need. It is also important that we support families during this period to ensure that the family unit remains strong.
This is the foundation for a healthy, productive, thriving nation. There is another part of this bill that is just as important, and that is the safety and quality of the services our children need. Every parent should be able to drop their child off at an early childhood centre knowing that their child is safe.
That should never be something parents have to worry about. This bill strengthens that principle by making quality and safety a condition of receiving this funding. Services receiving funding will need to meet the relevant standard for children's health and safety under the National Quality Standard.
If they do not meet that standard, their funding can be reduced. Around 95 per cent of services already meet this standard, but 95 per cent is not 100 per cent, and, when we're talking about the safety of children, the standard we should be aiming for is clear. We should always be working towards better.
Our government has already taken significant action to strengthen safety and compliance across the sector. Last year, legislation gave the Commonwealth greater powers to respond when operators fail to meet quality, safety or compliance requirements. Since then, the department has taken compliance action against 119 centres.
More than half of those centres have now addressed the problems they had previously failed to fix. That demonstrates why strong enforcement powers matter. Rules only protect children if they are followed, and standards only mean something if there are consequences when they are not met.
We've also strengthened the ability of authorised officers to conduct unannounced visits to childcare centres. More than 1,300 unannounced visits have been conducted since November last year. State and territory regulators are also stepping up their compliance activity.
These are important changes because the safety of children has to come first. We have also seen the introduction of the National Early Childhood Worker Register. This is an important reform because we need to know who is working with children and we need to have the ability to track workers across services and jurisdictions.
Mandatory child safety training has also been introduced. Importantly, that responsibility extends beyond the person working directly with children. It includes senior leadership, CEOs and boards.
Everyone who has a role in running these services has a responsibility for child safety. That is the culture we need. Child safety cannot be the responsibility of one educator or one room.
It has to be everyone's responsibility. The Albanese government has also acted on the use of personal mobile phones in centres. It's undertaking a national CCTV trial and is working with law enforcement and child protection experts to strengthen safeguards.
Taken together, these reforms represent a significant investment in making early childhood education and care safer. The Commonwealth is investing— The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Claydon ): This debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 43. The debate may be resumed at a later hour, and the member will be granted leave to continue speaking when the debate is resumed.