Office for Early Childhood Development Bill

Tuesday 24 September 2024

Ms CLANCY (Elder) (16:54): I rise today in support of the Office for Early Childhood Development Bill 2024. Ahead of the election of our Malinauskas Labor government, nearly a quarter of all five year olds in South Australia were starting school behind their developmental milestones—nearly the highest proportion of all other jurisdictions. Clearly, something needed to be done to better support South Australian families so that their children are ready for future success. We all want our children to have the absolute best possible chance in life. To know so many children in our state are not having the best start is really concerning and why we are working so hard to do something about it.

In recent years, research on early childhood has shown just how crucial the years before school are to the rest of a child's life. We now understand that as much as 90 per cent of adult brain development and growth occurs within the first five years of life. So the South Australian Labor team promised that, should we form government, we would establish a royal commission into early childhood education and care.

In October 2022, within eight months of our election, we began the work required to deliver on that promise, as the Hon. Julia Gillard AC was appointed as Royal Commissioner into Early Childhood Education and Care. Over the coming year the commission would listen to the expert advice of a variety of stakeholders, parents and members of the public before publishing its final report in August 2023. The commission's final report made 43 recommendations for reform aimed at improving child learning and development. These recommendations set out a plan to give every child the start to life they deserve. We join the commission, and the broader South Australian community, in working towards a future in which every child in this state is provided with the support they need to learn and thrive.

The Malinauskas Labor government has committed to action on all of the commission's recommendations as we set the ambitious goal of making South Australia a national leader in early childhood development. We have a large task ahead of us, as nearly a quarter of South Australian children are developmentally vulnerable in one or more domains when they commence school. We need a holistic approach to early childhood development to improve the outcomes of all South Australian children.

The first recommendation of the royal commission sought a long-term ambition to help South Australian children thrive. The commission has asked us to set out a 20-year goal to reduce the rate of South Australian children entering school developmentally vulnerable—as measured by the Australian Early Development Census—from the current rate of 23.8 per cent down to 15 per cent.

The second recommendation seeks a steward of our early childhood development system, whose mandate will be to help us reach our goal in the commission's first recommendation—an office for early childhood development.

As the title of this bill may have spoiled, today we act upon the second recommendation of the royal commission, with a bill to establish the Office for Early Childhood Development. This bill provides a legislative mandate for the Office for Early Childhood Development to provide statewide, strategic oversight and direction of the early childhood system. The office will also be required to collaborate and engage with the many organisations and people who play a role in the early years of a child's life.

This will include working with communities, Aboriginal leaders, local government, as well as public and private providers in health, human services, child protection and early childhood education and care. The office will work collaboratively to mobilise long day care, early learning centres and government services in every community to deliver universal three-year-old preschool.

This bill also includes functions for the Office for Early Childhood Development to support research in the early childhood development space and to support and facilitate the sharing of data across the system. We all want to work together.

This bill also includes functions to promote the participation of children with disability and children in care, in the early childhood development system. This integrated approach, with coordinated referral pathways, will support children to access the services they need to achieve their best outcomes possible.

Furthermore, the bill includes specific functions for the Office for Early Childhood Development to support Aboriginal children through shared decision-making and co-designed with Aboriginal leadership and community. This is a particularly important focus for the office as we know that around half of all Aboriginal children enrolled in their first year of school are developmentally vulnerable in one or more domains.

Last week we saw the release of the Productivity Commission's inquiry into early childhood education and care. The report made a number of recommendations regarding universal access to early childhood education and care including: affordability and quality, increasing and providing additional support to the early childhood education workforce, needs-based inclusion and support, and the need for coordinated stewardship across the early childhood system. The release of this report was just under a week ago and is timely as we debate the bill before us today. While we are still digesting the findings of the report, the recommendations of it do appear to align with the recommendations of our Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care.

In addition to this bill, our most recent state budget committed an additional investment of $1.9 billion in early childhood services and support over the years leading up to 2032-33. This once-in-a-generation investment is a huge step forward towards our commitments and accomplishing the goals established by the recommendations of the royal commission.

Three-year-old preschool will be rolled out progressively from 2026 with an initial focus on regional and remote communities, where access to preschool and wraparound out-of-hours care can best support workforce participation and improve economic outcomes in addition to supporting children's development. Long day-care centres across South Australia can also begin delivering three-year-old preschool from 2026, so long as they meet the quality requirements.

We will also be providing additional support for particularly vulnerable children with integrated hubs and additional preschool hours being made available to the children who need it most. Early childhood education and care workers are crucial to the success of this reform. That is why we are investing $96.9 million in this workforce, specifically to support attraction, qualification pathways, retention and quality.

In closing, I would really like to thank everyone whose work, contributions and experiences helped to shape the bill we have before us. Thank you to everyone who participated in the consultation on this bill and the Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care. Thank you also to our Minister for Education, Training and Skills and his team for your work in bringing this bill to us and your guidance and expertise as we work towards our ambitious goals.

As the South Australian Premier has declared time and time again in this place and beyond, we are not just interested in legislating for the next four years. We are working for the next generation, for the future.