Response to Early Childhood Education and Care Draft Report

Our response to the Productivity Commission draft report on Early Childhood Education and Care shares our insights from our work on improving outcomes for children experiencing disadvantage.

This document provides feedback on the Productivity Commissions draft report into Early Childhood Education and Care.

• The Recommendations focus on the need for the Productivity Commission to consider 5 key areas to improve access and beneficial outcomes for children experiencing disadvantage.
  1. Prioritise and accelerate action to improve equity in the system
  2. Increase investment in and support for integrated child and family services
  3. Increase support for not-for-profits to deliver ECEC
  4. Governance and stewardship
  5. Professional development for the ECEC workforce

• The submission also encourages the Commision to “Further address the entrenched, sustained and compounding barriers that prevent children from benefitting from ECEC compared to their more advantaged peers. These barriers are outlined in depth in research undertaken through the Restacking the Odds initiative and include parental disadvantage, complex family needs and difficult enrolment procedures.”
• The Restacking the Odds initiative is also referenced in the recommendation to “Embed a framework of quality, quantity and participation data indicators at the system, community and service level, to enable a view of ECEC performance”
• Calls for the activity test to be abolished rather than relaxed to ensure all families have fair access to Early Childhood Education and Care.