28 NovProductivity Commission listens to ELAA’s recommendations
Last week the highly anticipated draft report into A path to universal early childhood education and care, was released by the Australian Government’s Productivity Commission. The report is a direct response to their inquiry into Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC).
During 2022, ELAA’s Advocacy team met with the commissioners to help inform their thinking as they commenced their inquiry into ECEC. This was followed up by a comprehensive submission to the inquiry from ELAA that incorporated the voice of our members and included 17 recommendations to make Australian ECEC more accessible and equitable.
We were delighted to see many of our recommendations were listened to and reflected in the Productivity Commission’s draft report. In our submission, we recommended that governments could expand access to ECEC in thin markets by enabling preschool and kindergarten providers to access the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) for additional hours of ECEC beyond state funded programs. This could be achieved through a simple change to sections 194D and 195C of the Family Assistance legislation. This change could see over 3000 existing services across Australia have the potential to make additional hours of care available to families within a relatively short space of time.
The report also addressed the inadequacies of the current CCS Activity Test for parent/carer work, study or employment activities and the current limitations it places on parents in accessing CCS, along with recommendations and findings that addressed the importance of expanding access, equity and inclusivity within the ECEC sector.
Toward the end of the draft report, the Productivity Commission includes 23 information requests that will inform subsequent public submissions to the draft report which are due 14 February 2024. ELAA encourages our members to read these information requests and to provide our Advocacy team with your insights to help inform our submission next year. We are particularly interested in your views on:
- issues you encounter when applying and planning for additional support
- potential measures to support the administration of CCS
- types of support for services required to meet the National Quality Standards.
Please, email our advocacy team with your views on the above points at: Advocacy@ELAA.org.au
To read the full report CLICK HERE.
