Big news for families, children and the future of early learning in Australia.
Today, the Federal Government announced plans to commence consultations on a potential Early Education and Care Commission.
This matters because Australia’s Early Childhood Education Care system is complex; the system that supports service and policy success isn’t fit for purpose. Funding, regulation, delivery and accountability are fragmented. This creates gaps where safety and wellbeing failures happen.
A Commission could help change this.
Done well, it will strengthen decision making, improve quality and help build a more universal early learning system that puts children at the heart of action.
Over the coming months, consultations will begin with providers, educators, unions, peak bodies and communities.
Thrive by Five welcomes this important step and will continue advocating for a system that is safe, accessible and built around what children need to thrive.
“We don’t have clear answers to the problems we’re collectively seeking to solve, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about and explore what the change we need is together.”
It’s time for collaboration, coordination and confidence. Australia needs a National Early Childhood Education and Care Reform Blueprint this Federal Budget.
Georgie Dent joined @karlstefanovic_ on @thetodayshow this morning as news broke that childcare giant G8 is closing 40 centres across the country, leaving thousands of families and educators in limbo.
This isn’t just a corporate story — it’s a system failure decades in the making. For too long, we have allowed early childhood education and care to operate as a market, driven by rapid expansion and profit rather than planned growth and genuine community need.
The funding model has actively incentivised providers to set up in areas where they can charge higher fees — not where children and families actually are. The result? Pockets of oversupply in some areas, chronic undersupply in others, and now the sudden closure of 40 centres that families have come to rely on.
We don’t let the market decide where schools open. We never have. So why have we allowed it to determine where childcare goes?
These closures are deeply disruptive — to children, to families, and to the dedicated educators who work in these centres. But they are also entirely predictable when no one has been responsible for mapping where services are needed, driving quality improvement, or planning for the long term. That gap at the centre of our system has real consequences, and we are seeing them play out in real time.
That has to change.
We are calling on the federal government to fund an early childhood commission in the upcoming Budget — to do the long-overdue planning work, to build a blueprint for a high-quality universal system, and to ensure that early education is as secure, stable and accessible as school. Not a market. A public good.
The Budget is two weeks away. The time to act is now. #auspol #ozearlyed
This week, @minderoofoundation ‘s CEO John Hartman shared his thoughts with @the.australian on why Australia must invest in a National Early Childhood Education and Care Reform Blueprint this Federal Budget.
Australia’s early years are too important for a system that is fragmented and reactive.
Families deserve confidence their child is safe, supported and learning. Educators deserve a system that backs their extraordinary work. Governments deserve confidence public investment is working.
This ask is a practical next step to lift accountability, improve quality and put children at the centre.
If we get the early years right, everything that follows improves.
Early childhood education and care is an important part of Australia’s early years system. This is why Thrive by Five is calling for a National Early Childhood Education and Care Reform Blueprint this Federal Budget.
Our ask is modest but critical: invest in a time-limited, national design process to map the ECEC system Australia needs, including the role a future national commission could play and how to meaningfully strengthen the good we already have.
The design and implementation values underpinning this call were built by Thrive by Five’s partners, including Mandy Taylor at @snaicc_ , Australia’s National Voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
Learn more by visiting thrivebyfive.org.au today.
Thrive by Five is calling for a National Early Childhood Education and Care Reform Blueprint this Federal Budget.
This ask is an important first step in building a more effective and accountable ECEC system that best meets the needs of children and their communities.
It is underpinned by two sets of guiding principles that were built by Thrive by Five’s partners to ensure the Blueprint’s design and way forward reflects the values of Thrive by Five, its partners and the communities we represent.
You can read more about this ask and the opportunity it’s championing at thrivebyfive.org.au. Together, we can build a future where every child is safe, supported and empowered to truly thrive by five.
This morning ACECQA (The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority) released its Rapid Assessment of Child Safe Practices Report. The report’s recommendations have been fully embraced by the nation’s Education Ministers, but we still need more to ensure the system benefits every child.
Thrive by Five is calling on the Federal Government to invest in a National ECEC Reform Blueprint in May’s Federal Budget, so quality, safety and transparency are built into ECEC by design.
If you haven’t already, make sure you sign up to our newsletter at thrivebyfive.org.au to hear more about this critical ask in the coming weeks.
Today marks a major milestone for early childhood education in Western Australia.
Australia’s first full-time, five-days-a-week, school-based Kindergarten pilot for four-year-olds has begun at five public schools across the State.
The pilot is designed to build the foundations children need to thrive through high-quality, play-based learning that supports social, emotional and early learning development in the years that matter most.
It also gives families greater flexibility and real savings on childcare costs, as a record number of students start the school year across WA.
A huge win for families.
From today, every child who needs it is guaranteed three days of subsidised early learning each week – no matter their parents’ work or study situation.
That’s more time to learn, play and build the skills that matter most in the early years.
This change means:
➡️Over 126,000 children can now access early learning
➡️Families earning between $50,000 and $100,000 will save up to $1,460 a year
➡️Almost 40,000 parents can return to work, study or volunteering if they choose
It’s a major step towards a fairer, more universal early learning system in Australia – and it wouldn’t have happened without you.
The ABC’s Four Corners investigation this week exposed distressing cases of child sexual abuse in early learning and care.
These failures show Australia’s early childhood system is not working as it should.
Every child deserves to be safe - and every parent deserves confidence their child will be protected and cared for, no matter where they live or what kind of service they use.
Whilst Governments have taken important first steps national leadership is needed to make lasting change.
Establishing an independent National Early Childhood Commission, as recommended by the Productivity Commission, would help ensure safety stays at the centre of the system.
Now is the time to act.
We’re celebrating five years of Thrive by Five 🎂👏🥳
Thanks to this incredible community, we’ve helped put children’s wellbeing firmly on the political agenda, and we’ve had some big wins along the way:
✔️ 3 days a week of subsidised early learning, guaranteed
✔️ A 15% wage rise for early childhood educators
✔️ A $1 billion fund to build and expand services where they’re needed most
You’ve helped shift the dial, and we’re only getting started.
Thank you for being part of this movement.
$22.3 billion says we’re waiting too long to act.
That’s what is spent each year responding to issues that could have been prevented earlier - in child protection, youth justice, family violence and more.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Early intervention works. It changes lives, strengthens families and saves money.
This isn’t about spending more. It’s about spending smarter.
Let’s stop paying the cost of inaction and start investing in what works.
Comment COMMUNITY to discover our top 4 solutions and download the report.
#ThriveByFive #CostOfLateIntervention #EarlySupportWorks #InvestInKids #PreventionNotCrisis #ChildDevelopment #StrongerFamilies #EarlyYearsMatter
