On Friday, 17 February 2017, the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) NSW President Lyn Connolly, Treasurer Karthika Viknarasah, CEO Chiang Lim and Legal Intern Brittany Taylor met with the NSW Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education and NSW Member for Port Stephens, Kate Washington MP (Labor).

The issues discussed were:

1. the Assessment and Rating system implemented by the NSW Department of Education;
2. the recent proposed reductions to the standards and quality areas which only confirmed ACA NSW’s view that the sector was over-regulated;
3. the underlying business cost factors that escalate the cost of childcare;
4. the issue of children-to-educator ratios that contribute toward the cost of childcare;
5. the escalation paths for disputes with the Government via internal departmental review that can be followed by an application to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT); and
6. the limited success of Universal Access in NSW compared to other states, the differences in how Universal Access funding is being applied to privately-held long daycare and community-based, and the future of Universal Access funding and aspirations after December 2017; and
7. the proposed new State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) that can create oversupply of childcare that can have a negative impact on the quality standards of existing service providers.

Ms Washington assured ACA NSW that she would consider our members’ concerns and perspective, and asked to continue to be kept informed of any further information we may be able to provide that can positively advance early childhood education and care for the benefit of all children and their parents.