The Front Project commend the Australian Government’s announcement to explore establishing a National Early Education and Care Commission to strengthen the early childhood system in the next phase of reform.
CEO of early childhood think-tank The Front Project, Dr Caroline Croser-Barlow, said this is a bold announcement that will fundamentally change the ECEC sector for the better.
“A commission will deliver a once in a generation chance to get universal ECEC right. It's the right answer to a structural problem in ECEC. So many of the problems we’re facing now are because no one is in charge. This reform will put someone in charge.”
“Instructing Education Ministers to lead this work is a strong signal from the Commonwealth that there will be joint accountability on all aspects of ECEC. We applaud the commonwealth for factoring in the time to work with states and territories to get it right.”
“This is a bold reform and worth getting right.”
The Front Project, along with many others in the early childhood sector, have long called for a national body to lead a more coordinated national approach.
The last five years has been a string of challenges for the ECEC sector. A workforce crisis, services that are unaffordable or inaccessible for families, safety and quality failures, and issues of over and under supply.
An ECEC commission is an opportunity to oversee the full health and performance of the sector, bring together the solutions, embed to our commitment to closing the gap in the architecture of the early years, and ensure that ECEC is delivering outcomes for the children and families who stand to benefit most.
“We know this will be enthusiastically welcomed by the early childhood sector.”
ENDS
Media contact: Jane Austen, 0430 549 501,