Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026
Ms STANLEY (Werriwa—Government Whip) (16:30): Quality child care is essential, and I don't think there's anything controversial in that statement. We agree that parents should have the ability for their children to be safely looked after, and we agree this service needs to be affordable, and, at the same time, the childcare workers doing these essential services need to be properly paid.
Safe, affordable and properly paid—they are the three things that people expect from child care, and they are three things that this bill and this government deliver on. The Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026 delivers on the government's announcements on 17 June 2026 to lock in a pay rise for early educators for another two years.
The bill amends the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) Act 2024, crediting the special account with $3.6 billion and extending the act's sunset date from 30 June 2028 to 31 December 2029. The special account is used to administer the early childhood education and care workers retention payment grant to childcare providers to fund higher wages for eligible workers.
I acknowledge the concerns some may have that providers may use the higher wages for workers as a reason to raise fees. The Albanese Labor government recognised the importance of affordable child care, and that's why this funding extension remains tied to a commitment from services receiving the payment to limit fee increases for families. This funding extension will save the average family about $1,500 over the next two years.
The bill also establishes a new object and condition of funding, building on the government's commitments to strengthen quality and safety in early learning. Services will be required to meet the quality area 2, relating to children's health and safety, under the National Quality Standard. The National Quality Standard is established under the Education and Care Services National Law.
Already, 95 per cent of services meet this standard, but, of course, as a government, we want the number to be much higher. From July 2027, if services don't meet the National Quality Standard when it comes to safety, their funding may be cut or suspended. The bill also includes technical amendments to clarify that, where an approved provider is not a legal person, such as a partnership, the worker retention payment grant agreement can be made between the Commonwealth and the person acting on behalf of the approved provider.
The passage of this bill is required by the end of September to ensure that there are sufficient funds in the special account to continue funding higher wages through the worker retention payment grant, and I strongly encourage this parliament to make sure the bill is passed, to help both workers and their families. Every day, early educators help children learn, grow and get ready for school.
It's one of the most important jobs in the country, and they should be paid fairly for that work. That's why, on 8 August 2024, the Albanese government announced it would fund a 15 per cent wage increase for early childhood education and care workers. Prior to the government's decisive action, services were delaying extension plans, closing rooms and limiting enrolments because they simply couldn't find the staff.
Workforce retention and stability are also critical to quality and safety in early childhood education, enabling children and educators to develop consistent and stable relationships. Since the worker retention payment was announced in 2024, there have been nearly 20,000 more early childhood education and care workers. That's an eight per cent increase.
Job vacancies in early childhood education have decreased by almost 31 per cent. The percentage of services operating with the staffing waiver has fallen from 8.9 per cent to 4.3 per cent. Fees at centres receiving the worker retention payment grew at around half of the rate of centres that had not signed up.
The payment has worked to bolster our early educator workforce and keep costs down for families—and this bill will help solidify this commitment. When combined with the government's support for the minimum wage rises, this bill means $225 more per week for a typical full-time educator and $410 more per week for early childhood teachers compared to December 2024, when the government first implemented the pay rise.
As I already mentioned, funding will continue to be tied to a commitment from services receiving the payment to limit fee increases to families. This will help ease the cost-of-living pressures while delivering better early learning for our children. For the first time, employees in all childcare subsidy approved services will be eligible for the payment.
The bill recognises and enforces the expectations that we all have about child care—that it should be safe, that it should be affordable and that workers should be properly paid. I'd like to give out a shout-out to all the fabulous qualified childcare educators in Werriwa. Every day they strive to do their best for their little charges.
Recently I was invited to a Book Week event hosted by Organic Seedlings child care at Edmondson Park. Also there were the extremely talented Liverpool City Brass Band. I can tell the parliament that the Bluey theme and 'Hokey Pokey' sound amazing when they're played by brass instruments and the talented musicians.
The children all fully participated. They chose books sold by the preschool to raise funds for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. The preschool raised a whopping $1,310 for the charity, which buys books in first languages for families living in remote communities.
Our Liverpool City Brass Band was formed in 1883. The band plays at many events throughout the year, from Anzac Day to Christmas carols, but they were definitely a hit with the preschoolers for Book Week. It's this sort of ingenuity that inspires our next generation and what all our early childhood educators do every day to inspire our kids.
Child care is essential, and the Albanese Labor government gives childcare workers and their families the certainty they deserve. I commend the bill to the House.