The NSW Government’s Budget announcement on 19 June 2018 is introducing funding for 3 year-old children in community preschools beginning 1 January 2019. But the Government has chosen to direct it only to a small minority of children in advance of the next NSW State Election on 23 March 2019.

The NSW Treasurer (the Hon Dominic Perrottet MP) said “we're creating 4,800 new community preschool places in our fastest growing areas. And from 2019, in an Australian first, every three-yearold in New South Wales will now have access to subsidised early learning. That's part of an almost $200 million investment in our children, saving families on average $825 a year.”

However, the vast majority (78,380 out of 100,079) of NSW-based 3 year-old children will fail to see any benefits from the latest NSW Government proposal.

“Like Treasurer Perrottet, ACA NSW also supports government funding for every 3 year-old child to receive early childhood education, not just some. However, the NSW Government’s latest decision goes against all of its own government reports and their recommendations,” said Mrs Lyn Connolly, President of the Australian Childcare Alliance NSW.

The 2012 Review of NSW Government Funding for Early Childhood Education, the 2016 NSW AuditorGeneral’s Report on Early Childhood Education and the 2017 Lifting Our Game Report all recommended that NSW government funding for preschool should be available to all children in all settings including long daycare and not just in community preschool. This is demonstrated in other states like Victoria and Queensland.

“NSW already has the lowest participation rate in the country in the year before school, and the government is poised to repeat another mistake this time for 3 year-olds. And when you have community preschools’ hours typically impractical for working parents, consequently at least 78.6% of all services’ children or an estimated 78.3% of all 3 year-olds in 2019 will miss out,” said Mrs Connolly.

Ironically, the Federal Government has reported year-on-year increases in the percentage of childcare centres reporting vacancies. Mrs Connolly asked, “in 2013, 83% of all centres reported vacancies. In 2017, 93% of all centres had vacancies. Why is the NSW Government spending $42 million of NSW taxpayers money on capital works to deliver extra places when there already exists an oversupply of childcare?”

ACA NSW has provided 14 recommendations in its 2018 Briefing Paper to the NSW Government outlining how early childhood education and care can be streamlined and made more affordable for parents without negatively impacting on quality. It also presented to the Senate Select Committee on Red Tape in Child Care, identifying 12 areas where NSW regulations on childcare has become the most expensive in Australia.

References:

1. ABS Statistics on Births (click here)
2. ABS Estimates of 3 Year Old Children in a Preschool Program (click here)
3. Productivity Commission’s Report on Government Services 2018 (click here)
4. Review of NSW Government Funding for Early Childhood Education 2012 (click here)
5. NSW Auditor-General’s Report on Early Childhood Education 2016 (click here)
6. Lifting Our Game Report 2017 (click here)
7. Federal Department of Education’s Early Childhood and Child Care in Summary Reports (click here)
8. ACA NSW Briefing Paper, “Early Childhood Education and Care: A Better Direction (2018) (click here)
9. ACA NSW Submission to the Senate Select Committee on Red Tape in Child Care (2018) (click here)