23 NovWho will get your vote?
The Victorian state election is this Saturday, 26 Novemeber. At our pre-election forum, that ELAA co-hosted with Community Child Care (CCC) and Early Childhood Australia Victorian Branch (ECA), our members had the opportunity to ask questions of the major parties and gain an understanding of their commitments to the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector if elected.
Since the pre-election forum there have been further announcements by the Andrew’s Labor government and ELAA has been in contact with Reason party’s candidate Ben Sutter about their support for the ECEC sector. Below is a summary of what each party has shared with ELAA to assist you in deciding where you will place your vote this weekend.
Ingrid Stitt – Victorian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep
- Roll out of Free Kinder in 2023 and the scale up of Pre-prep to thirty hours over the next decade, committing to working with the community sector on the roll out, including infrastructure.
- investment of $584million for 50 government owned and operated services.
- $159million workforce package to retain and attract a skilled workforce.
Sam Hibbins – Victorian Greens, Member for Prahran and the Victorian spokesperson for Education, Transport, Youth and LGBTIQA+ Equality
- Free kinder does not work for all kindergartens.
- $100million commitment to not-for-profit community run services.
- Better support for staff in kinders, mentioning a retention bonus to secure jobs within the sector.
David Hodgett – Victorian Liberal Party, Member for Croydon and Shadow Minister for Education, Early Childhood and Higher Education, Training and Skills.
- The current Free Kinder model is poorly conceived. The Victorian Liberal Party does support Free Kinder, but calls for research and evidence to support the choice of a 30 hour scale up.
- Recognises the overwhelming nature of administrative tasks for the sector.
- Calls for staff to be compensated for planning and administrative time to avoid working during break periods.
Ben Sutter – Reason Party, Candidate for Broadmeadows and advocate for public education and healthcare.
- Reason is supportive of free Kinder and advocates for additional investment in all levels of education and additional investment for areas of disadvantage and at-risk communities.
- Acknowledges the serious and concerning labour shortages. Advocating for measures to support educators’ wellbeing in the workplace and the need for urgent, real action to retain the staff currently in the sector.
- “We also see the need to attract new skilled and passionate people to the education sector. Introducing financial support for education students, such as paid placements, would be a step in the right direction.”
