Wednesday, 1 November 2023

 Meng Heang TAK (Clarinda) (18:00): As I mentioned before the break and to the Minister for Children previously, we are an extremely diverse electorate in the district of Clarinda, as is Victoria more broadly, and we are a proud and diverse state. So it makes sense that we also have diversity in our education institutions. The Hoa Nghiem Buddhist Temple, the school and the Early Learning Centre (ELC) are just another example of our thriving diverse community, which is something that I am very proud of. I am also very proud of the government’s broader investment in the temple and multicultural infrastructure in our community and across the state. We have committed over $50 million to building, upgrading and renovating new community infrastructure for multicultural and multifaith communities. Under the program we have invested $250,000 towards delivering an upgrade for the Hoa Nghiem Buddhist Temple for Victoria’s Vietnamese community in Clarinda and Melbourne’s south-east.

I am really looking forward to visiting the ELC with the minister next month. I know that the acting mayor of Dandenong and the ward councillor will also partake in this visitation. I thanked the minister for taking the time to make that happen and also for her work in bringing this bill here today. It is an important bill, one that will amend the Education and Care Services National Law to establish the premises approval in principle scheme for new early childhood services in multistorey buildings to address design and safety issues commonly experienced with centre-based services premises in multistorey buildings. As mentioned, it is another bill that demonstrates this government’s commitment to improving our early childhood education system.

There is also much happening. Victoria has led the nation in early childhood education and care, and that is evidenced by some of the general reforms that have taken place over the past few years. The Best Start, Best Life reform is really a transformational one, and so is free kinder, which is extremely important for my community. The cost of living is a major priority for many communities here in Clarinda district. Importantly, free kinder will save families up to $2500 in fees per child per year. It has also provided the much-needed relief for family budgets and will give more women the choice to return to work, a huge priority for families in our district and in our region.

I would like to take this opportunity, because we are talking about early childhood education, to say that my wife Manette – after five years of being a full-time mum and after Sofia turns three next week – is completing her early childhood training. She is at her placement now, so she is really looking forward to working as an educator, joining with many of our former educators here but as an early childhood educator, which I am very proud of. That is just a brief snippet of how proud I am in terms of our government’s commitment to early childhood education, which has enabled full-time mums to return to work with assistance during this cost-of-living crisis.

In 2023 approximately 97 per cent of funded kindergarten services, which is more than 2750 services, are participating in free kinder, which will benefit up to 140,000 children. Again, I am very proud that 140,000 of our youngest will be given the best start possible. Talking about the best start possible, we will also benefit from pre-prep over the next decade, a new universal 30 hours a week program of play-based early learning for four-year-old children. Children in the City of Melbourne will also be able to access pre-prep from 2030, starting at 16 to 20 hours each week, and from 2032 all children across Victoria will be eligible for 30 hours of pre-prep each week. That is extremely exciting and something to really look forward to.

Right now there is also an expansion taking place in kindergarten programs across the state, with the creation of 50 government owned and operated early learning centres to address childcare shortages in areas of greatest need. It is really exciting that we will see at least two of these centres in Noble Park and in Dandenong, and all centres will be open by 2028. So there is really so much happening here. The investment under the Best Start, Best Life reforms is something that I am really extremely proud of, and it has demonstrated the Allan Labor government’s commitment to investing in our children and young people and in our education system.

We see that continue here today with this bill, the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Premises Approval in Principle) Bill 2023. The bill is largely technical in nature, and we have heard contributions from both sides that it is a straightforward bill. But it is important to support the delivery of the infrastructure required for the landmark reform, which I have spoken about, under the Best Start, Best Life program, and it does that by preventing the need for rectification work to be undertaken at the completion of the works.

Overall the bill will give effect to eight recommendations agreed to by the education ministers meeting on the 2019 national quality framework (NQF) review to establish the premises approval in principle scheme for new early childhood services in multistorey buildings. By providing approval in principle, the changes ensure that the applicants will have assurance that their proposed premises design is adequate to meet the physical premises requirement in the regulatory scheme. Therefore it is a fairly straightforward but important change that will help provide assurance and security in the design of projects and, importantly, protect the safety of the young children in the services.

I have mentioned there are changes to the Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010, but there are also corresponding changes to the Children’s Services Act 1996 to maintain alignment with that national law to ensure that all early childhood services in Victoria operate under the same requirements.

Finally, from consultation the scheme reflects the consensus position of all participating jurisdictions, as agreed by the education ministers meeting in response to the 2019 NQF review. I wholeheartedly support this amendment, and I commend the bill to the house.

 Chris COUZENS (Geelong) (18:08): I am pleased to rise to contribute on the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Premises Approval in Principle) Bill 2023. As the member for Clarinda has just said, this is a pretty straightforward bill, but it is a very important one for us to deliver in providing childhood services in this state. I want to begin by congratulating the new Minister for Children, Lizzie Blandthorn in the other place, and also acknowledging the incredible work of Minister Stitt in the other place. We are very lucky to have those two ministers working on such an important area as members of the government.

Population growth brings great responsibility in providing these childhood services, and the demand for early childhood services is only increasing. We have strong population growth right across Victoria, and this is about continuing our investment for childhood services and ensuring future generations have the best early childhood experience, which is really important as a government, in delivering that.

I also want to acknowledge and thank childcare workers and staff for the valuable work they do. We certainly value the important role they play in children’s lives. We know how important that is and how important it is to ensure that we are providing the right facilities, as I said, for the population growth. I know in my electorate of Geelong that population growth is unprecedented, so we know going forward that we will have to be looking at more and more of these childhood facilities.

The primary purpose of this bill is to give effect to a recommendation agreed to by the education ministers meeting in the 2019 national quality framework review to establish a premises approval in principle scheme for new early childhood services in multistorey buildings. Providing approval in principle will ensure that applicants will have assurances that their proposed premises designs are adequate to meet the physical premises requirements of the regulatory scheme. This will enable changes, when they are required, to designs and building plans to ensure the completed premises and buildings meet the regulatory requirements in the national quality framework, including those aimed at protecting the safety of young children in emergency evacuations or ensuring adequate supervision in a service. The proposed changes in this bill will allow for these changes before the commencement of construction works, avoiding the time and cost of rectification works once the premises are completed. This also provides certainty for developers that are building this infrastructure.

It is also about laying important foundations early in life. Whilst less than 1 per cent of approved early childhood services are located in multistorey buildings, the number of proposals for early childhood services in multistorey buildings is expected to increase over time. I am not aware of any childhood services in multistorey buildings in my electorate or in fact in the Greater Geelong region, but what I am very aware of is the increase in our population – the number of young families that are moving into the Geelong region – and that there is likely to be a demand for those multistorey buildings going forward. In some of our areas where facilities are landlocked there is not the available land, particularly in the inner Geelong area. I note that the City of Greater Geelong have raised as a potential opportunity going forward multistorey facilities in childhood areas but also for schools because of the demand that we are expecting to see. Victoria’s economy is number one right across this country, and it is because everybody wants to live in Victoria – obviously. We are doing very well, and it was great to see Victoria jump from number five to number one, but as I said, along with that comes increased growth in our communities because people are wanting to move to regions like Geelong and many other areas in our state. We are very proud of that.

In my electorate there are many early childhood services providing affordable and high-quality kinder and child care. Only recently the minister and I visited the Bannockburn Family Services Centre to announce funding to expand their capacity. Again, in the Bannockburn area there is a huge growth of young families moving in. There are new housing developments that are attracting people to the affordable housing there, and obviously with young children they are going to want to access those services. Their expansion over the next couple of years will enable them to take on an additional 140 children, which is incredible. These expansions will modernise and ensure that services fit community expectations and are what the children deserve, obviously. We need good-quality facilities.

Communities across the state are excited about the Best Start, Best Life reforms that we have introduced as well. Victoria leads the nation on early childhood education and care. We have committed $14 billion to expanding kindergarten programs across the state under our Best Start, Best Life reforms. The 50 government owned and operated early learning centres initiative is an ambitious plan to address childcare shortages in areas of greatest need, but we also need to be looking at childcare workers, which we know is really important. Of course we have introduced the free TAFE courses, so anybody wanting to do a childcare course can enrol in the free TAFE courses that are on offer. That is a really important way for us to address the need for more childcare workers in our communities. Geelong is no different. We have strong demand in our communities as well and the need for more childcare workers, so we are really pleased with that initiative, and Gordon TAFE in Geelong are providing that course, so that is great news.

Where possible the early learning centres will be co-located with schools to avoid the double drop-off. In some cases they may be co-located with services like maternal and child health services and playgrounds. In my electorate Rendine Constructions are building the modular kindergartens that are being distributed right across Victoria, which is fantastic. Not so long ago I had the opportunity to go out there with the minister and look at those facilities.

Paul Edbrooke: What did you reckon?

Chris COUZENS: Incredible. Once they are set up, you cannot even tell that they are modular. It is a quick, efficient and cost-effective way of getting those facilities at our schools for that co-location of schools and childcare centres and kindergartens that are really important to people. When parents are running from one end of town to the other to drop off the kids at kinder, drop off the kids at school, they are really excited about the opportunity to be able to do that one drop-off, so that is really important for people in my community. Rendine Constructions, who are building the modular kinder units, are a longstanding company in Geelong, but they are employing more and more people to meet the demand that we are putting on them to build these modular units. Again, it has created jobs in my community along with many other benefits right across Victorian communities, so that is really exciting.

This is an ambitious reform. Recently we passed a bill to enable the minister to acquire land to deliver kindergartens and the 50 government owned and operated early learning centres. The first four centres will open in 2025, with a further 26 locations announced. The remaining 20 early learning centre locations will be selected based on need. All centres will be opened by 2028. Under our government we have also made kinder free, which is really exciting, and many in my community do not stop talking about this opportunity, because the cost of sending kids to kinder is quite difficult for many, many families, particularly in our environment now. By having that free kinder they are saving something like $2500 in fees each year to send their children to kinder, which is fantastic. It also provides much-needed relief for family budgets and gives more women a choice to return to the workforce, which is another aspect of this that has been really exciting for communities. I commend the bill to the house.

 Dylan WIGHT (Tarneit) (18:19): It gives me great pleasure to rise this evening to make a contribution on the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Premises Approval in Principle) Bill 2023. I think it is imperative that from the outset we make it clear that this bill is all about delivering on the Allan Labor government’s commitment to Best Start, Best Life – fully funded three- and four-year-old kinder – because we know over this side of the house how incredibly important it is to have a strong, a funded and a great start to your early education. We on this side of the house know that that should be free so every single child in Victoria, irrespective of where they live, irrespective of how much money their parents make, have access to a fantastic education at the beginning of their life. I will come back to those reforms as part of this contribution a little bit later.

The goal of this bill is to introduce a recommendation which came through the education ministers meeting in the 2019 national quality framework review. In that meeting it was decided to establish a premises approval in principle scheme for new early childhood services in multistorey buildings. My electorate of Tarneit over the last 10 to 15 years has obviously seen tremendous growth – growth in terms of population, growth in terms of infrastructure needs, but growth in terms of educational needs as well, because we know that the more people that are living somewhere, the more babies that are being born and the more children that are there, the more additional services that we are going to need in early childhood for our youngest kids. The approval in principle will simplify the process for upgrading and building multistorey early childhood services while ensuring that safety is a top priority for these projects. Indeed I would look at it as a very innovative way to increase the amount of child care and early learning that we can have out in our outer suburbs when we are looking at new developments.

To enact this recommendation, the bill will amend the Education and Care Services National Law to establish a premises approval in principle process, which will allow developers, builders and early childhood service providers to apply to the regulatory authority for approval in principle of a proposed early childhood service premises if the service premises is to be located in a new or altered multistorey building, and we are defining a multistorey building in respect of this legislation as three or more storeys, including the ground level.

I think I have heard, in several contributions on this bill today, conversation and talk about not just planning when it comes to this state but planning when it comes to early education as well. We know, particularly in the outer suburbs, that we cannot just continue to build out; we must be innovative in the way that we plan. Part of that is that we must be innovative in the way that we plan our educational infrastructure and the infrastructure that our growing suburbs need. I think this bill plays an incredibly important role in that. It cuts the red tape and makes it easier in multistorey buildings to have educational services close to people’s homes, close to people’s jobs and close to the amenities that our young kids and their families need. Whilst less than 1 per cent of approved early childhood services are located in multistorey buildings, the number of proposals for early childhood services in multistorey buildings is expected to increase over time, because as I said, the blank edges of the map in Victoria are being filled in. We cannot just continue to plan outwards; we have to be far more innovative in the way that we do this. We expect, quite rightly, in our suburbs, in our growing suburbs, and in our regions indeed that we will have more innovative solutions like this. So we need to make it as easy as we possibly can for developers, for communities and for providers to provide these essential services to our Victorian families.

By providing approval in principle, the changes ensure that applicants will have assurance that their proposed premises design is adequate to meet the physical premises requirements in the regulatory scheme, as I said, cutting red tape for communities and for providers that are trying to do the right thing in providing services to our youngest Victorians. This will enable changes, when required, to designs and building plans to ensure the completed premises and buildings meet the regulatory requirements of the national framework, which, as we spoke about earlier, were born out of that meeting of the education ministers in 2019, including those aimed at protecting the safety of young children in emergency evacuations or ensuring adequate supervision in a service.

I started my contribution by talking about how imperative these changes as part of this bill are to the Allan Labor government delivering on our commitment in 2022 to Best Start, Best Life. A major focus of this government has been on providing the best start to life for our youngest Victorians so that they can have every possible chance to thrive. That means every single Victorian child, irrespective of where they live, irrespective of who their parents are, will have two years of kinder, three- and four-year-old, absolutely free of charge. I think back to my days of having two children in kinder, and by God I wish that we had had Best Start, Best Life then, four or five years ago.

This bill, as I said, will help support our Best Start, Best Life program by improving the early childhood service approval process for services in new or altered multistorey buildings and support the delivery of the infrastructure that is necessary to facilitate that. In my time as the member for Tarneit, which is coming up to 12 months now, I have had the absolute joy of attending several early childhood education centres that are providing for our thriving and growing community. Having had the opportunity to visit so many of these wonderful facilities, I have seen firsthand how our government’s Best Start, Best Life program has helped parents, has helped kids and has helped service providers but has also helped create and foster, and will continue to do so, thriving communities out in our suburbs like Tarneit and Hoppers Crossing, because every single kid, irrespective of where they live – and I will keep repeating it – deserves the best start to their education early in life.

Victoria leads the nation on early childhood education and care, and we have committed $14 billion to expanding kindergarten programs across the state under our Best Start, Best Life reforms. As part of this we have established the 50 new government owned and operated early learning centres initiative, which is an ambitious plan to address childcare shortages in areas of greatest need. Where possible the early learning centres will be co-located with schools to avoid the double drop-off, and I can tell you the double drop-off in a growing place like Tarneit can be an absolute nightmare in the morning and afternoon.

This is an ambitious reform. Recently we passed a bill to enable the minister to acquire land to deliver kindergartens and the 50 government owned and operated early learning centres that I just mentioned. This is a fantastic bill for Victoria, it is a fantastic bill for families and it is a fantastic bill for young students. I commend it to the house.

 Anthony CIANFLONE (Pascoe Vale) (18:29): It is always a pleasure to follow the member for Tarneit. What an amazing contribution. I rise to also speak in support of the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Premises Approval in Principle) Bill 2023. In my first speech to Parliament I spoke about the ongoing commitment of the Victorian Labor government and my commitment as the new local member for Pascoe Vale, Coburg and Brunswick West to continuing to lift and improve access and outcomes for local children through early childhood education. As the local member but also as a local parent I appreciate firsthand just how much local families value the quality of our local early education and kindergarten resources, as it is local kinders that first shape and inspire the minds and future life chances for those we value and care for the most: children and young people. With 90 per cent of a child’s brain developing before the age of five, early childhood education has a profound effect on the way children develop and lays the foundations for their future life chances. That is why I am so proud to be part of the Allan Labor government, whose very first priority and task was to assemble a refreshed whole-of-government approach to supporting children and families through the creation of a new Minister for Children portfolio, held by the predecessor of the member for Pascoe Vale, Minister Blandthorn in the other place. This refreshed approach places children’s wellbeing, welfare and future life chances at the very heart of government decision-making and seeks to bring together the Victorian government’s nation-leading investments and reforms under a central coordinating portfolio, which since 2014 has included commitments to investing over $14 billion to expand kindergarten programs across the state under Best Start, Best Life reforms; establishing 50 government owned and operated early learning centres to address childcare shortages in areas of need; and where possible seeking to co-locate new early learning centres with schools to avoid the dreaded double drop-off through reforms which were enabled through legislation passed last sitting week.

The rollout of the game-changing $270 million free kinder initiative is another key reform we have introduced that is available to all three- and four-year-olds participating in funded kinder programs. It is a groundbreaking initiative which is providing a 15-hour-per-week program for four-year-old children and a minimum 5-hour-a-week program for three-year-old children too. Free kinder is also saving families up to $2500 per year, playing a big role in alleviating the cost-of-living pressures for families and also acting as a women’s economic reform initiative, particularly for young mums, by encouraging women to re-enter the workforce through the increased provision of early childhood education. We are also progressing with the establishment of pre-prep over the next decade, which is another key reform, which will lead to a new universal 30-hour-a-week program of play-based learning being made available for four-year-old children. We are also delivering record investments to upgrade local early childhood centres and kindergartens across my community in Merri-bek, which I will touch on shortly, which will also continue providing the growing number of local young families in my community with greater access to local kinders. These are all vitally important initiatives, which will all help to play a role in setting the foundations for better health and a better life for our young children. But there is always more to do, hence why we are now seeking to progress with this Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Premises Approval in Principle) Bill 2023.

In its last term the government enacted the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment Act 2022 to implement most of the findings and recommendations of the 2019 national quality framework review, which was approved by all states and territories and the Commonwealth through the education ministers meeting. The NQF introduced the new quality standards in 2012 to improve education and care across long day care, family day care, preschool, kinder and outside school hours care services.

Key standards are outlined in the NQF that recognise early learning centres need to be adhered to across seven key pillars. Quality area 1 relates to educational programming by educators around child-centred learning support for their development. Quality area 2 covers children’s health and safety and ensures the right of children to learn in a safe environment that promotes their health and wellbeing; it looks at things like appropriate areas for sleeping for young kids and accessibility, disability and sensory needs. Quality area 3 goes to children’s physical learning environment to ensure that there is a safe and suitable environment provided that makes appropriate provision for sufficient indoor and outdoor learning spaces that promote play-based learning and inclusivity and respond to sensory needs. Quality area 4 covers staffing arrangement requirements across centres. Quality area 5 facilitates respectful and responsive relationships between staff and children. Quality area 6 seeks to strengthen collaborative partnerships with families and communities. And finally, quality area 7 fosters effective governance and leadership across centres.

The 2019 NQF review identified various system-wide improvements to these NQF standards of 2012, with a specific area of focus on the challenges associated with the services located in multistorey buildings, particularly in relation to the safety and wellbeing of children attending those services. In addition to those recommendations to improve safety measures related to services located in multistorey buildings, the 2019 NQF review also identified an emerging issue in Victoria and the ACT in relation to newly built or renovated early childhood services premises in multistorey buildings which are completed consistent with local building law and planning requirements but do not comply with the NQF requirements relating to the physical design and environment of education and care services premises. In these circumstances applicants for a service approval to operate an education and care service in newly built or renovated premises face the risk that their application will be refused unless costly post-construction rectification works are undertaken to make the service premises compliant with the NQF.

The 2019 NQF review recommended establishing a premises approval in principle scheme for newly built or renovated services premises in multistorey buildings in Victoria and the ACT to address this issue. That is what this bill is all about progressing and implementing. By providing approval in principle, these changes ensure that applicants will have assurance that their proposed premises designs are adequate to meet the physical premises requirements in the regulatory scheme, including those aimed at protecting the safety of young children in emergency evacuations, ensuring adequate supervision in services and ensuring appropriate outdoor and indoor learning space provision and ratios are provided for so children can learn in safe, nurturing and welcoming environments. Importantly, the changes proposed in this bill allow for changes to be made before the commencement of construction works, avoiding the time and cost of rectification works once the premises are completed. Only 10 per cent of approved early childhood services are located in multistorey buildings, but the number of proposals for early childhood services in multistorey buildings is expected to increase over time, including in inner-suburban areas such as mine in Merri-bek, which I will touch on very shortly.

As I mentioned earlier, these reforms continue to build on the Labor government’s commitment to expanding and improving access for families across the state and across Pascoe Vale to good-quality early childhood and kinder facilities. On 22 August last year I was so pleased to join with the then Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep Minister Stitt to announce that the Victorian Labor government would be investing a record $10.7 million towards 11 new and expanded kindergartens across the Merri-bek community. As part of a new Building Blocks partnership with Merri-bek council, our government is investing to proudly create an additional 329 kinder places across the municipality by 2029 via just some of the following projects: a $1.3 million investment to expand and upgrade the Doris Blackburn kinder in Pascoe Vale South – an extra 40 places; $1.5 million to modernise the Derby Street Children’s Centre in Pascoe Vale – an extra 22 places; $500,000 to upgrade and refurbish the Turner Street kinder in Pascoe Vale to support an additional eight new places; and $400,000 to expand the Pascoe Vale Community Centre upstairs from the Sussex Neighbourhood House, with works to facilitate an extra 40 places. In May I officially opened the upgraded and brand new St Linus kinder in Merlynston through a $490,000 investment, and in May this year we announced the investment of $154,000 into the Shirley Robertson Children’s Centre in Coburg to facilitate an upgrade. Notwithstanding these record local kinder investments, we must continue to do more. That is why this bill is so critical, because it will provide the government with an additional pathway forward to help identify and support the delivery of more kinder places through multistorey and mixed-type developments.

In that regard I would like to draw the house’s attention to KOTA – the Kids on the Avenue kinder – in Coburg, which can play a very important role in helping us to cater for this future growth in demand for local early childhood learning facilities. I had the pleasure of visiting KOTA on Saturday 21 October to celebrate their 30th anniversary. First established in 1993, KOTA has been doing a magnificent job of educating thousands of local young children over the years and now is very much one of our most vibrant and beautiful kinder communities in Merri-bek. KOTA has been providing a safe, happy and supported environment that fosters each child’s social and educational development. Their mission for three decades has been the essence of what the Victorian Labor government’s Best Start, Best Life initiative is about.

At the heart of that work for 30 years has been centre manager Colleen O’Brien, who has been there since day one and who, along with all the educators, is so committed to supporting KOTA’s precious three- and four-year-olds to aspire and succeed. Thank you for all that you do. I would also like to acknowledge and commend KOTA’s co-chairs and parent volunteers Nik Cotterell and Sonya O’Mara, who along with all the other parent volunteers, including Caitlin Phillips, dedicate their precious time to make KOTA the happy and vibrant kinder that it is, all of whom worked so hard to put on that beautiful 30th anniversary. There was a Shetland pony, face painting, music and so much more that the community celebrated with. I am very pleased to have visited to see firsthand the future plans and ideas, and I look forward to advocating on behalf of KOTA, which is such a magnificent and wonderful community.

This is a fantastic bill that will continue building on our Best Start, Best Life reforms. Whether it is free kinder or whether it is investing in kinders across Merri-bek, we are here to take real action on early childhood education.

 Nina TAYLOR (Albert Park) (18:39): I am very pleased to speak on this important bill, the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Premises Approval in Principle) Bill 2023. I know that it is a straightforward regulatory bill. In its essence it is introducing an approval in principle process for multistorey buildings. Applicants will gain assurance that their proposed premises design is adequate to meet the physical premises requirements in the regulatory scheme, avoiding the time and cost of rectification works. I think that is the clincher. It does not get to the essence of the whole process of our Best Start, Best Life reforms, which are massive across the state, but it is certainly going to take – if I can say, for want of a better word – one of the uglies out of the process of building or developing appropriate premises for children in our state. I should say that multistorey buildings, we do find them in the seat of Albert Park and adjacent to it because, being in the inner burbs, space is not so ample, so this is a reality not for all of the kinders, but certainly some of the early childhood centres that I have visited have been multistorey. This is a really important reform. It is a pragmatic reform, because retrofitting is no fun. Generally the cost element, I imagine, would be pretty uncomfortable, let alone the inconvenience of also having to make rectifications after the fact. With pragmatic change we can have a much better outcome in the long run, and it also lets people know exactly where they stand.

I do note – a little caveat here – the premises approval in principle scheme is proposed to be a voluntary application process in Victoria. It is not intended to be mandatory at commencement. Why? This is to assess the use of the new approval in principle process on a voluntary basis. Whilst the bill does not contain the ability to make the approval in principle scheme mandatory, the minister must consult with the minister responsible for administering the Building Act 1993 before making a ministerial order for this requirement. This ensures that the views of the building and construction sector are considered before a decision is made, so we can see the rationale behind that there.

Somebody else in the chamber mentioned the issue of, for instance, when you might have to evacuate children. I can imagine that that is not as easy as it sounds, and certainly that was the reflection. I remember many moons ago I was an au pair in Sweden, and I looked after a couple of little –

Members interjecting.

Nina TAYLOR: No, no. This was many moons ago. Anyway, there were the delightful little children who are now grown up. Now I have forgotten the point I was going to make with that. No, I remember. The point was in midwinter it would take half an hour to get them ready to go outside by the time you put all the layers of clothing on and kept them in good spirits as well. That is the only point I was going to make. I do not know where people were going. But anyway, I am keeping it on the straight and narrow. It would take quite a long time, and you could only have – get this – in midwinter in Sweden no more than 20 minutes outside. If you went longer than that, kids could start to get ill. I learned this very quickly. As an Aussie in Sweden I had no clue. I had to learn as I went along when I was doing it. Doesn’t this say something about the importance of early childhood education? I was meant to teach the kids English, so there was an educational element to it other than the supportive element – taking them to and from playgroup and other things. Driving on ice as well – oh, my goodness – in a Volvo of course. The trick was, though –

Members interjecting.

Nina TAYLOR: No, I think it was navy. The trick was not to drive on ice. You might all know this, but I did not. Again, the Aussie had no clue; do not drive too fast or too slow.

A member: Have you driven on ice?

Nina TAYLOR: I have driven on ice, like ice on top of the road. Let me just be clear about that. That is part of life there; you have to get used to it. They have special tyres. They have their winter tyres so you can grip better, which we do not tend to do here. I know it sounds precarious, but it is not. Maybe I should wind that back. Anyway, the kids were safe. We were all safe. We were fine. We got to and from playgroup. It was all good, but anyway – memories. There was a point to me saying that, and the point was the amount of time it took to get children dressed and ready and safe to go outside. It is a very pragmatic element. Having said that, do you know that with their babies, if they have been for a walk and they are coming back into the house, so that there is not that sharp contrast between the cold outside and the warm inside, they will leave them in the pram all wrapped up for 15 minutes or so? It also conditions them to that contrasting weather, so it makes them resilient.

Anyway, I do not know why we went there. That was my fault. We are going to come back to the bill – that would be a really good idea – and I will just unwind what I have delivered for myself. What is really great is the early childhood education bill. What is really wonderful about the Best Start, Best Life program is all the changes that are well underway already. Some people say when is it starting. It is well underway. I remember I visited a number of the kindergartens where they have bilingual classes for kids, which is really fantastic – Spanish, French and other languages – Hebrew. It is really wonderful hearing a whole raft of languages, which is really a gift for children. It is a gift for our community. I think it also fosters that sense of unity and really respectful diversity in our state, and that underpins those elements as well.

Nature play – this is another wonderful element. I was looking online, and the requirements for early childhood services in our state and the quality requirements say:

Early childhood services are required to have indoor and outdoor spaces that are designed to engage children with quality experiences.

I certainly can attest to having seen, and I know a lot of parents have fed back to me as well, that this is obviously a change in the way that we perceive experiences for children, letting them actually experience nature and find the creativity from within – not necessarily having to have so much stimulus around them but rather letting them imagine, through nature, a different way of looking at the world. They also gain respect for the natural environment and our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage, so they get a better affinity with the country that we all love so well.

Accessibility requirements – this really underpins the Best Start, Best Life program as well, because when you think about it, not only is it increasing affordability in that very pragmatic cost-of-living sense across the state but also literally people of all abilities are able to attend early childhood education and truly feel part of it and not feel isolated in that process. I am never going to live down the au pair thing; I can see that already. But anyway, coming back, accessibility really underpins the whole concept when it comes to our early childhood education reforms, because fairness is what our Victorian government is all about. Certainly, in fairness, everyone deserves to have the right to attend and have access to and be supported by, from the get-go, high-quality early childhood education in our great state. That is exactly what we are backing in. The reforms are already well underway. They are being rolled out, and you can see that here.

Just to round it off, we have very pragmatic reforms here to ensure that when multistorey premises are being invested in, those who are investing in those premises get a good, clear evaluation of it meeting the requirements from the outset, rather than having to wait until later in the process when it can become costly and counterproductive and perhaps slow down the whole process. There are other reforms in this bill, but we can see really good change in our state.

 John MULLAHY (Glen Waverley) (18:49): I do not know how I can follow that or top that in any way, shape or form. It is a deep honour to rise to speak –

Danny Pearson: Were you also an au pair in Sweden? Do you drive a Volvo?

John MULLAHY: Well, I’ll get to that, but no, I wasn’t. I want it on the record that, no, I was not an au pair in Sweden. But I am very much looking forward to meeting with the member for Albert Park to discuss her time in Sweden looking after the kids of Swedish parents. We will do that after this session is over.

I do rise to speak in favour of the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Premises Approval in Principle) Bill 2023, and I want to pay tribute to Minister Blandthorn in the other place and everyone involved in bringing this important piece of legislation to this house. I do want to acknowledge the member for Albert Park. You have been an early childhood educator –

Nina Taylor: A teacher.

John MULLAHY: A teacher, sorry. But I acknowledge that and that experience that you bring to this house when giving contributions on bills such as these.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Through the Chair.

John MULLAHY: Early childhood education is a policy area which I have a strong passion for as the father of a five-year-old daughter. I want to make sure that along with her peers and every single Victorian she is given the best opportunity to grow and learn. My daughter has been very fortunate over the last two years to experience the three-year-old and four-year-old kinder program. Obviously we are just starting to roll that out, and she experienced the 5 hours of three-year-old kinder last year and also is currently just finishing her last term of the four-year-old program, doing 15 hours a week, and I am looking forward to that being expanded out over the next decade. Just noting the experience my daughter has had of going through early childhood education, I have noticed the change in her academic prowess, her picking up of the alphabet and numbers and her picking up on the social aspects of emotions and things like that. You just notice on a week-by-week basis the changes in a child’s development from this. We all know that 90 per cent of brain development is done before the age of five years old – and I want to wish a very happy birthday to my daughter for last week, when she turned five years of age – and that is why I am proud to be part of an Allan Labor government which invests in early childhood education, including our nation-leading free kinder policy. I will, however, return to that proud legacy in just a moment after I discuss the details of this bill.

In the 2019 review of the national quality framework, the framework regulating early childhood service provisions, quality and safety issues were detected in the design of multistorey early childhood service buildings. This bill seeks to directly address these concerns, and this bill will establish a process to obtain approval in principle for new early childhood service locations in multistorey buildings which are three storeys or more. It is important to note that the approval in principle will be in the planning and design stage in both a construction and an alteration of a building, and this means more time and money will be saved in the potential occurrence of an NQF non-compliance and overall transparency and certainty for involved parties. The premises approval in principle scheme is accessible on a voluntary basis, as the government wishes to assess the suitability and sustainability of multistorey premises for early childhood service delivery. The bill does include the ability to make this scheme mandatory in future if required.

This bill also amends the Children’s Services Act 1996 in order to ensure that the approval in principle process for multistorey premises is available for all early childhood services. Further, this amendment to the Children’s Services Act guarantees the quality and safety of any early childhood services by subjecting them to the same scrutiny of regulatory enforcement mechanisms. It is also important to note that targeted consultation with key stakeholders took place in the drafting process of this bill. No stakeholders raised any concerns with the proposed approach. These stakeholders include the Property Council of Australia, the Urban Development Institute of Australia and the Master Builders Association of Victoria, and the Department of Transport and Planning and the Department of Justice and Community Safety were also consulted. The extent of such consultative engagement demonstrates the soundness of this bill. These are quite straightforward and simple yet necessary changes to ensure the safety and quality of our early childhood services.

To understand the specific requirements of this bill, the uniqueness of the multistorey building as an early childhood service delivery site must be acknowledged. One clear example is the added complexity of evacuations. Careful site management and planning is required as young children take longer to evacuate than adults. The national quality framework guidelines state that buildings must include direct access to emergency exits and external muster points as well as utilisable building evacuation infrastructure. They also require a clear and appropriate building evacuation procedure, fit for purpose, with child safety in mind. There have been instances in Victoria when new buildings have complied with local planning laws, including the aforementioned safety regulations, but not with the NQF. This results in delays and additional cost pressures as additional works are required. The approval in principle scheme has the benefit of being able to identify any necessary improvements to the design, safety or mechanisms of buildings to be used for early childhood service delivery. This saves time and money as well as reducing risk to everyone involved.

The changes in this bill are also just one part of a large and ambitious agenda this government has for the early childhood sector. We understand that for every dollar we invest into early childhood education, two dollars of value will be returned to the Victorian community. However, numbers in an economical sense do not do justice to the profound impact good education has on the state and our people. You cannot put a monetary figure on the everlasting changes to a child’s life if they are given opportunities that they would not otherwise have had if it were not for the Allan Labor government’s investment. When you give every child, regardless of socio-economic background, the opportunity to rise up and grasp their potential through a world-class early education system, you are making a lifelong investment in their life.

We believe in investing in the power of people, the power of potential and the power of education, and our Best Start, Best Life reforms do just that. Starting this year, families all across Victoria are benefiting from the savings of up to $2500 per child per year, thanks to the free kinder program this government has introduced. Over the next decade we will be increasing the number of hours of free kinder to 15 hours per week for three-year-olds and 30 hours of universal pre-prep for four-year-olds. This will be saving families money, giving parents the freedom to return to work and contribute to our economy, and giving all children – the future of our state – a world-class start to their education. These reforms and changes will form a proud legacy of the Andrews–Allan Labor government that will be remembered.

Since being elected to represent the people of Glen Waverley last year, I have had the absolute pleasure of visiting many of the kindergartens in my area. I would like to acknowledge the work of early childhood educators, staff and parents for their incredible work at the Waverley Kidz Children’s Centre, Bambou Early Learning Centre, Syndal Preschool, Tally Ho Preschool, Barriburn Preschool, Burwood Heights kindergarten, Petit Early Learning Journey Forest Hill and many more. When I visit these kinders I am once again reminded of our once-in-a-generation reforms and the positive impact they will have on the next generation of Victorians. We lead the nation in our ubiquitous efforts of bold, positive reforms to make our education system better than it is today. We are the Education State for good reason. We are always striving to enshrine opportunities for all children and deliver the best results and outcomes whilst ensuring safety regulations are efficient and up to date. This bill does just that, addressing the design and safety concerns within the early childhood services premises. I commend the bill to the house.

 Paul EDBROOKE (Frankston) (18:57): It is with great pride that I rise to speak on the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Premises Approval in Principle) Bill 2023. Of course as a former teacher I know that good policy and legislation in the education space do not just fall out of the sky. No-one got the pun? That is okay. These things need to be created by great consultation, and in that I would acknowledge –

A member interjected.

Paul EDBROOKE: Oh, someone finally got the pun – fantastic! I would like to acknowledge the work of the Minister for Education and the minister’s office, but also keeping in mind that it was World Teachers Day last week –

Members interjecting.

Paul EDBROOKE: Whoa, jeez, that was loud! I think everyone on this side likes a teacher and likes to support a teacher. It was World Teachers Day, and we know that our educators, our teachers, are really the lifeblood of our schools. As many people on this side have said – and I have seen it firsthand as a parent but also as a teacher – the more prepared children are once they get to primary school, the better things are. The more diagnostics we have to capture things early, especially now with some of the symptoms and what we would call, I guess, learning difficulties evolving, the earlier that we can actually identify them, the earlier we can treat them. One very good example of that would be the spectrum. We now know that there are many more young girls and women who are affected by being on the spectrum. That affects their learning, how they learn and how we need to teach differently. With things like that, if they can be diagnosed a lot earlier, it means that those children’s lives are going to be a lot easier. Their education will be unaffected. In the past it has been quite hard, not just on the children but on their families.

Of course we have heard about the 15 hours of kinder and we have heard about the billions of dollars invested, and I think we all know I can brag on about that forever. But this is about getting premises lined up so we can actually roll out that 15 hours of kinder for our kids. I certainly commend this bill to the house, and I thank everyone for speaking on it.

Business interrupted under sessional orders.