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

Senator WALSH (Victoria—Minister for Early Childhood Education and Minister for Youth) (19:13): The department has published a framework for this question to assist providers to comply with the provision, so there is a consistent framework that applies. It is the case that services that fail to meet the national standard from July 2027 could have their funding cut, under the legislation.

The department encourages services that are not meeting the standard to address concerns as soon as possible and also contact their regulator for a reassessment. There is assistance available to providers to comply, and the framework that the department has published has information that may be of assistance to providers.