Early Childhood Education in Macquarie
It will be no surprise to families in the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury that much of our region is considered a childcare desert. It's not true to say that it's the entire region. Areas like Windsor, Richmond, Pitt Town, McGraths Hill, Emu Plains, Katoomba and Leura show a higher availability of places, according to the latest work of Victoria University, but when we say 'higher availability' we're still only talking about 0.4 per cent of a place per child. Feedback to me from people across the electorate indicates that the market is not meeting the need. Whether it's community based, not-for profit, small, privately run centres or the larger corporate childcare groups, there are simply not sufficient places for early learning to take place, particularly in long day care environments.
As a mum, I used a variety of childcare options, from family day care to preschool, long day care, OOSH and after-school babysitters, as well as relying on friends and family. Getting the combination right was essential in order to run my business and, along with my husband's full-time job, pay the mortgage. What is often overlooked is that, particularly for people living west of the Hawkesbury Nepean River, there is typically a long commute, so we need the flexibility of early starts and later pick ups, even for two parents to manage. But women tell me that, when they can't access care, they have to delay returning to careers, close their businesses or look for work closer to home, often on lower pay.
When I talk to existing providers about their waiting lists, few have the capacity to grow in size. They're bursting at the seams of their small buildings, and, if they do have potential to grow, some are unwilling to sacrifice outdoor space. Some are in leased buildings or ageing buildings or simply don't have the capital to do it or the staff.
While I know governments don't control where providers open, there are some things that we can do. One of those things is paying early educators properly so that they stay in or even join the sector. That's why we've announced a 15 per cent pay rise for early educators—10 per cent from December this year, about $100 a week, and another five per cent a year later—at a cost of around $3.6 billion. It will come as a grant to providers, while the Fair Work Commission works out their assessment of the award system that's under review. We're coming to the providers and saying, 'We'll pay your biggest cost, which is labour, and therefore we don't expect to see fees grow at anything above a normal growth rate.' I have no doubt that there will be things to work through. In between playing with confident and engaging four- and five-year-olds at Greenhills Child Care Centre in South Windsor last week, it was great to discuss this initiative with the very hardworking director, Emma.
Government can also assist communities where, because of population or disadvantage, centres are not as viable. Connect's Possum's Patch Mount Victoria is receiving more than $300,000 from the Albanese government to help them stay open under a program supporting 430 early childhood education and care services across the country. I'm pleased to see that several childcare providers in my electorate are receiving support under our energy grant programs to reduce their costs by being more energy efficient, and I look forward to speaking about them in more detail shortly.
As a government, we can also help grow the workforce by making training accessible, and that's what fee-free TAFE is about. Until March this year, there had been about 32,000 enrolments in the early childhood education and care sector under fee-free TAFE. I know that, when I visited Connect's Possum Early Childhood Centre in Hazelbrook, I talked with educators who are benefiting from that scheme.
To help parents reduce the cost of care, we've brought in our cheaper childcare policy, and on average it's resulted in an 11 per cent reduction for around 6,000 families in Macquarie. Because all my daughter's friends are having babies, I'm hearing much relief at the extension of paid parental leave to up to six months by 2026. And, by this time next year, the addition of superannuation payments will ensure that women are more financially secure.
But is the job done? Of course it's not. As the Victoria University report says, and as the experiences of women in the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury attest, the inability to access quality childcare has an enormous impact on families. I agree with them that it does not have to be like this. Universal access to childcare does not have to be an unattainable dream, and the Albanese government will continue to work towards it.
