Invest in the early years

ASK any working family in Australia about their stressors and I guarantee you sourcing and affording childcare will be in the top three.

For transparency, as the chief executive of Care for Kids, I serve three million parents searching for childcare each year as well as the services providing it – and my political interest lies with whoever can take the pressure off a bit.

We must remember we have some of the best-trained educators in the world and some of the best educator-tochild ratios globally. The government has introduced measures to make sure of it.

We need to strike a balance where parents can afford the service, children are taken care of physically, emotionally and educationally, while operators (many who are family businesses) make a return on the equity they have risked.

While I’ve applauded the government, the answer to easing the problems still rests with them.

Instead of trying to restructure the industry, we need to invest in obtaining and retaining passionate educators.

The increase in subsidy funding is always appreciated, but needs to be modernised. Think Medicare – it’s good but not great, with a greater divide between public and private.

The only solution I see is to increase award payments, which will increase the cost of care daily. Working-class families need to have better childcare subsidy support.

Income thresholds need to lift significantly.

We need a greater understanding that early childhood education and care educators are some of the hardest-working people in Australia and they’re not getting the recognition or remuneration they deserve.