25 OctELAA’s Submission on the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Cheaper Child Care) Bill
The Federal Government introduced its Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Cheaper Child Care) Bill 2022 to the House of Representatives with the aim of placing their pre-election commitments, outlined in Labor’s Plan for cheaper childcare, into law.
ELAA welcomes the generally positive outcomes from this bill, such as extending hours of care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to 36 hours, regardless of their families’ capacity to meet the activity test. However, there is more that could be done. ELAA will always advocate for our vision of universal access to Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), supported by a skilled and sustainable workforce.
Key recommendations made in our submission are:
- extend or remove the activity test for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families to include 30 hours per week, or 60 a fortnight – this will improve accessibility, interrupt intergenerational trauma, and encourage higher attendance
- increase the activity test result for low income, low activity families to support at least two days per week of early learning, ideally increasing to three days per week
- to extend staff discount policy to not only educators, but also cooks and administration staff in a service that are paid under the Children’s Services Award
- an increase in pay for educators and teachers to ensure a skilled workforce is available to meet the education and care needs of children and encourage retention and attraction within the ECEC workforce.
To read this submission please click HERE.
