Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026

Mr REPACHOLI (Hunter) (13:06): Every morning across the Hunter you see parents juggling bags, wrangling toddlers and handing over their little ones to early educators with a mix of relief and trust. You see educators kneeling down to tie a shoelace, reading stories on a mat or comforting a child who's missing their mum or dad. It's a scene that plays out in centres across our region.

From Singleton to Cessnock, all around the lakeside suburbs and all the way to the vineyards and the bush towns, educators in the Hunter are there day in and day out to help our kids learn, grow and get ready for school. And let's be honest. It's one of the most important jobs in the country.

It's also one of the toughest. Anyone who has tried to keep a room of three-year-olds entertained for more than five minutes knows exactly what we're talking about here, because it is a challenge. It takes patience.

It takes skill and a heart the size of the Hunter River. But for too long early childhood educators have been asked to do this vital work with pay that simply does not match their responsibilities. For too long families have been squeezed by rising fees, and services have struggled to keep good staff.

That's not fair on anyone—not the educators, not the families and certainly not those beautiful kids. That's why the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026 matters. That's why we're locking in a pay rise for early educators for another two years, which delivers on the government's commitment from June this year.

It's about fairness and respect. It's about making sure every child in the Hunter and right across this beautiful country gets the best possible start with their education. Let's get the facts on the table.

On 8 August 2024, the government announced a 15 per cent wage increase for early childhood education and care workers. That made an immediate difference. Services that were delaying expansion plans, closing rooms or turning families away because they couldn't find staff started to see hope again.

Since the worker retention payment was announced in 2024, we've seen about 20,000 more ECEC workers join the sector. That is an eight per cent increase. Job vacancies have dropped by nearly one-third.

The proportion of services operating with a staffing waiver, which means they didn't have enough qualified staff, has fallen from 8.9 per cent to 4.3 per cent. More importantly, fees at the centres receiving the payment grew at about half the rate of those that didn't sign up. Those aren't just numbers on a page; that's more rooms open, more kids getting a place and more parents able to get back to work while knowing their children are in safe hands.

That's educators who can finally afford to stay in the job they love instead of burning out and moving on. Let's take Jess, who is an educator in Cessnock. She told me that before the pay rise she was seriously considering leaving the sector.

She loved her job and loved the kids, but she just could not make ends meet. Now she's staying put and the kids in her room get to keep the educator that they trust. Or take the Singleton centre that was struggling to fill vacancies, running on skeleton staff and worried about having to close a room.

Since the worker retention payment came in, they've been able to hire and keep the people they need. That's 20 more families who don't have to scramble for care. The Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026 does a few things.

Firstly, it amends the existing act to credit the special account with an extra $3.6 billion. That's not just a big number. That's money that'll keep wages higher for early educators for another two years.

It extends the act's sunset date of 30 June 2028 to 31 December 2029, giving certainty to services, staff and families. Secondly, the special account is the engine room for the early childhood education and care worker retention payment grant. That's the grant that goes straight to the ECEC providers so they can pay higher wages to eligible workers.

And this is not a handout; it's an investment in people who look after our kids. Thirdly, and importantly, the funding extension is tied to a commitment from services to limit fee increases for families. That means the average family will save well over $1,500 over the next two years.

In a time where every dollar counts, that's a big deal for families in the Hunter—families already feeling the pinch from rising rents, grocery prices and power bills. Fourthly, the bill strengthens quality and safety in early learning. From July 2027, services will be required to meet quality area 2 of the National Quality Standard, the part that deals with children's health and safety.

If they don't, their funding can be cut or suspended. Around 95 per cent of services already meet this standard, but we want that number to be even higher. We want to see 100 per cent of those services meet that standard.

Every child deserves to be safe, every parent deserves peace of mind and every educator deserves to work in a quality environment. Finally, the bill includes technical amendments to make sure the worker retention payment grant can be made to all approved providers, even if they're not a legal person like a partnership. Let's bring it back to the Hunter now.

We've got 67 centres participating in this scheme currently. More than 900 staff are receiving the payment. That's 900 people who can pay the mortgage, put food on the table and keep doing the work that they absolutely love.

That's 67 centres that can keep their doors open, keep rooms running and keep families in our region working and thriving. I think of people like Mel in Morisset, who told me the pay rise meant she could finally afford to enrol her daughter in swimming lessons. This isn't just about wages; it's about stability and it's about relationships.

When educators stay in the job, kids get to build trust, confidence and a sense of belonging. That's what sets them up for school life and later life. When families know their centre isn't going to close a room or lose staff, they can plan their lives, go to work and get on with the things that they do every single day.

At the heart of this bill is a simple principle: if you do important work, you deserve fair pay. Early educators are not babysitters. They are not just filling in time.

They are shaping the next generation. They're teaching our kids to share, to listen, to ask questions, to be kind and to be inquisitive. They're spotting the signs when something isn't quite right, supporting kids with additional needs and working with families through some really tough times.

For too long their pay did not reflect that. For too long we've relied on their goodwill and passion while asking them to accept less. This is certainly not the Australian way.

We believe in a fair go. We believe in backing the people who do the hard yards. When you combine this funding with the government's support for minimum wage rises, it means $255 more per week for a typical full-time educator and $410 more per week for early childhood teachers, compared to December 2024.

That is life-changing money for people who've been undervalued for too long. For families, the commitment to limit fee increases means savings. It means more money in the household budget.

It means parents can get back to work knowing their kids are in good, safe hands and not have to choose between work and care. For the first time ever, all CCS approved services will be eligible for funding, providing they meet grant requirements. That means more educators in more centres getting the recognition and support they deserve.

I'm not a career politician. I'm a fitter by trade. I've worked in the mines.

I've run engineering shops. I've raised a family in the Hunter. I know what it's like to have to worry about the bills, to juggle work and family, and to know that you want the best for kids.

I also know what it's like to see good people undervalued, to see families doing it tough and to see services stretched to breaking points. That's why I'm proud to back this bill, because it delivers outcomes for real people in the Hunter. We're very practical people.

We value hard work, fairness and looking after each other. We know that, when you invest in people, you invest in the whole community. When you back early educators, you back families, you back kids and you back the future for the Hunter region and Australia.

I've seen the difference this funding makes. I've seen educators who can finally breathe a little easier. I've seen families who can plan ahead, knowing the centre isn't going to close a room or lose its staff.

I've seen kids get to keep their educator they trust, who they feel safe and supported by every single day. Let me tell you about Sarah who works in a centre in Lake Macquarie. She's been in early childhood education for 15 years.

Before the pay rise, she was working extra shifts at a local cafe just to make ends meet. She told me she was exhausted. She didn't want to leave the kids she cared for.

Since the worker retention payment came in, she's been able to drop the second job, spend more time with her own family and focus on the work that she loves most. The kids in her room are thriving, and so is she. Or take the story of the family from Singleton who struggled find to a place for their youngest when a room nearly closed due to staff shortages.

Thanks to the funding, the centre was able to hire and keep the staff that they needed. That family didn't have to drive an hour each day to another day care in Cessnock. They got to stay in their communities with the educators they know and trust.

These aren't just stories. They're the reality of hundreds of families and educators in the Hunter. They're the reason this bill really matters.

It's about making sure there are enough funds in the special account to keep paying higher wages through the worker retention payment grant. It's about certainty. It's about security.

It's about making sure the gains we've made aren't lost. If we want to keep attracting and retaining the best people in early childhood education, we need to give them certainty. We need to show them that their work is valued, that their pay is secure and that their future is bright.

At the end of the day, this bill is about backing the people that back our kids. It's about fairness. It's about respect.

It's about a fair go. It's about making sure every child in the Hunter and across Australia gets the best possible start in life. It's about making sure that we can keep our economy running, keep our jobs flowing and keep those workers that have had kids and want to get back out there in the workforce.

We want them to keep coming back and back and back again without having to worry about where their kids are and who is looking after their kids. It's about making sure educators like Jess, Mel and Sarah can keep doing the work they love without having to worry about making ends meet. It's about making sure families can afford care, can get back to work and can build a better future.

I commend this bill to the House.