4 May 2015 | Community Announcements
Early Childhood Australia (ECA) has published an early childhood background brief to be considered during the upcoming 2015/16 Federal Budget.
The 2015/16 Federal Budget is due to be released on 12 May, with indications the Government will announce the long-mooted Families Package
The early childhood background brief follows the recommendations of the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into childcare and early childhood learning.
Amongst the key issues examined in the brief is the introduction of a new activity test, which would exclude children from access to subsidised early learning, unless their parents work for more than 24 hours per fortnight.
As ECA CEO Samantha Page told Lateline, children whose parents don’t meet these requirements are having their futures put at risk.
The Productivity Commission has estimated a $400 million saving from that activity test proposal. There clearly are some losers there,” says Ms Page.
“There are going to be some families that miss out and we don’t think those are the families or those are the children that should be missing out.”
Also assessed in the brief are:
- the recommendation of universal access to preschool/kindergarten for all children in the year before school; and,
- a regulation of nannies to support people living in remote areas.
To learn more, download the ECA early childhood background brief.
