Tuesday, 14 November 2023

Bills

Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Premises Approval in Principle) Bill 2023

Second reading

Debate resumed on motion of Lizzie Blandthorn:

That the bill be now read a second time.

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (13:35): I am very pleased to be able to rise and speak to the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Premises Approval in Principle) Bill 2023, because it is an important piece of legislation that we are debating. It is non-controversial. I want to say that my colleague in the other place Jess Wilson, who has spoken to the government and the department about this, highlighted in her contribution the importance of what the government is seeking to do here. She also acknowledged the issues that have been raised and provided to the department and government on any concerns. What this bill will do is ensure that the safety of children in early education and childcare settings is applied, and we see that as of great importance to the community, especially to children who are getting that early education.

As we know, this bill not only amends the Education and Care Services National Law to establish an approval in principle process for certain types of education and care service premises, it also amends the Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010 and the Children’s Services Act 1996. There are a number of things that the bill goes to, but it basically is looking at childcare settings and the safety issues around that. What we do know is that demand for early childhood education and childcare services is growing. We have got a growing population and we have got an expanding population in certain areas, and those early childhood care centres are in huge demand. We know that to meet those demands there have to be new premises built, and of course what comes with those are quality standards that need to be applied.

What is of particular concern here is that when we are talking about early childhood settings, we are talking about children who are sometimes incapable of accessing emergency procedures and being able to get out of a building, and this largely addresses those issues that have been raised. It is also important that there is regulatory certainty provided to organisations that are building these premises so that they actually understand what their obligations are in relation to this risk and safety management in the instance of emergency evacuations for children. What this bill does is give that clarity around those regulatory requirements, and it also provides an assurance to the community that the government and those providing these services understand that there need to be some regulatory requirements and appropriate safety measures in place.

We on this side – as I said, it is not a controversial bill – support the bill as it will improve the safety of children in early education and childcare centres, predominantly those that are housed within multistorey buildings, as well as improve the regulatory approval process for organisations seeking to establish new early education and childcare centres. It has been some time coming, and I understand that when we were debating the bill around early education in 2022 – this issue came out of the recommendations from the national quality framework review – it was highlighted that this issue was not being addressed at that time. The government deliberately undertook to ensure that they had a specific piece of legislation, which is the legislation we are debating today, around these particular safety issues.

As I mentioned, there are recommendations from the 2019 national quality framework review that was undertaken. That national quality framework was established in 2012 after a significant discussion with various state and territory and federal ministers around putting in a framework for early childcare settings. When we are talking about the early childhood education and care sector, we are talking about long day care, kindergartens, preschools and family day care as well as outside school hours care for school-aged children. That captures tens of thousands of Victorians – young people, young Victorians. That is why it is incredibly important to have this regulatory framework in place and to have legislation like this, which provides, as I said previously, certainty and for that framework to enable safety mechanisms to be in place.

National quality framework legislation, I might say, just by way of background, was passed in the Commonwealth and in each state and territory, and it did include a requirement for reviews of the quality framework to be conducted every five years. The first of these five-yearly reviews was conducted in 2019 and made these recommendations for reform. These recommendations, as I previously said, we spoke about last year. They were endorsed in May 2022 by both federal and state education ministers, which led to various pieces of legislation around the country to give effect to those recommendations. We, in this place, passed the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 last year. It was introduced in August and then passed. At the time the Liberals and Nationals sought to make a number of amendments to the bill. We did not seek to oppose the bill, but we wanted to make some sensible amendments to the bill – because we thought that was important – around the certainty that the bill at that time was going to provide to the sector and to Victorian parents and to ensure that those education qualities and programs could be delivered.

Whilst most of the recommendations of the national quality framework review passed last year, the review did note a particular challenge in Victoria and the ACT regarding the location of early childhood education and care settings in multistorey buildings. This bill goes to those aspects – that those multistorey buildings need to have safety components set in place when building commences and to have that understood with the planning processes. That is what this bill does: it enables organisations who intend to set up child care or early childhood education services in a new or renovated multistorey building to gain approval in principle for their premises before the building commences.

There are specific and unique evacuation risks for children, as I have previously alluded to, who attend a service housed in a multistorey building, particularly when the premises are located above ground level. These are little kids. They do not have an ability to understand how to evacuate. If you are in a multistorey building, it can be extremely concerning and quite terrifying for those that are in charge, but they have to enable those children to evacuate safely. Infants and very young children who cannot walk independently take longer to evacuate from a building, and they need extra help to do so. Of course we want that safety to be absolutely paramount. All of those early educators and those working within these facilities would absolutely have foremost in their mind enabling the safety of those they are caring for. That is what is required as we are developing and having these centres in these areas – building plans need to be carefully reconsidered. These factors ensure that building designs allow for the evacuation of children from childcare centres that are located in multistorey buildings to be undertaken both safely and appropriately. Now, we hope that that never arises, of course, but like with any building or any multistorey building, appropriate evacuation exits are required for people to exit the building in a safe manner.

This bill establishes a scheme that allows developers, builders or education and care service providers to obtain an approval in principle from the regulatory authority for a centre-based service proposed to be built or renovated in a multistorey building. It establishes a process by which the regulatory authority – which is the quality assessment and regulation division, colloquially known as QARD – of the Department of Education can participate early enough in the development process to ensure relevant safety standards are taken into account during the design phase of new multistorey builds or planned renovations in which a childcare centre will be housed. This means that safety can be the main consideration, as I have said. It will look at those safety requirements at the early stages of the build or the renovation and ensure that those safety aspects have been considered in full. Therefore when a building is being renovated or built developers will understand that they need to comply with the regulatory authority through that preapproval process and have the proper plans in place and the proper sign-off from all of those that are overseeing the safety mechanisms so that the build can proceed.

Once that has occurred it will provide clarity and confidence that the physical design and construction of the premises will meet the regulatory criteria when service approval is sought post construction. The improved clarity for the industry will help to improve investor confidence when deciding to build and operate in the early education and care sector, which will be critical to ensuring we can meet growing demands for these services across the state in coming years. We need to have that confidence and assurance for those developers and builders that undertake this work so they can feel that they are protected in what they are trying to do, so that we can meet the demand of a growing population and so that young children will have education and care settings that are of the highest quality in this day and age and they are not put at any risk.

The scheme set out in this bill will be voluntary and not a requirement for regulatory approval. I understand that it is not going to be made mandatory, but I am sure that those that will be undertaking this work will understand what the government is trying to achieve here in relation to having that appropriate regulatory authority and understanding of what is required so that risks are diminished for not only the educators but of course those children that may be in these multistorey settings.

I understand that there has been significant consultation with stakeholders throughout the process in relation to this legislation, and that includes not only from the early education sector but also from the property industry. From that consultation, no-one had concerns around the approval in principle scheme that I have just spoken about. They understand what the requirements are and are willing to work within what the legislative requirements are asking. As we know, the national quality framework has broad stakeholder support. It has been very well supported over a number of years and reflects a consensus position from not only Victoria but other states and territories that understand the requirement to have that national quality framework. I mean, you are really looking at why you want to have standards at that national level that are of the highest order to ensure that our early education settings and those working within them not only have guidance but are also able to provide a safe working environment and a safe educational environment.

This legislation, which seeks to improve the safety of children, particularly very young children and infants, during emergency evacuations from premises in multistorey buildings, is a good thing. The legislation will provide clarity and improve the approval process for developers, builders or education and care providers prior to the construction of any multistorey building, and that is also a good thing. It will give greater regulatory certainty, which will improve industry confidence and help us meet the demands for more early childhood education and childcare centres in the coming years, and I believe that to be a good thing.

Throughout the process that has been undertaken there have been recommendations made by the national quality framework review. They have been taken very seriously, and they have broad support to ensure that quality early childhood education is delivered and that children are educated in a safe environment. For those reasons, this particular piece of legislation has come following the legislation that was introduced and debated last year. We understand the reasoning for that, and we support the government’s intentions in providing that assurance and safety mechanism to not only the early education sector but, as I said, the building sector through the various planning processes.

I do not need to say any more about the bill. I also say to those that work in the sector that they do a terrific job. There is pressure in the system in certain areas, and I know that educators and families in my area have expressed concern around some of the issues around the delivery of programs. But that is not what this legislation is about. This is about the safety issues around new builds and the renovation of multistorey buildings, and we wish it a speedy passage so that those regulatory components can be put in place as soon as possible.

Jacinta ERMACORA (Western Victoria) (13:53): I am pleased today to speak in support of the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Premises Approval in Principle) Bill 2023. That is a bit of a tongue twister. This bill forms a facilitative role for our broader early childhood reforms and investments. The purpose of this bill is specific and straightforward: it will give effect to the recommendation agreed to by the Commonwealth and state education ministers as part of the 2019 national quality framework review, establishing a premises approval in principle scheme for new early childhood services in multistorey buildings. At its heart the national quality framework is about making sure that Australian children have the same quality of care whether they live in Warrnambool, Wagga Wagga or Whyalla.

Currently the number of early childhood services located in multistorey buildings is low, sitting at about 1 per cent. But as our population grows and the needs of our communities change, there is no doubt this number will increase. The bill aims to ensure that our planning rules keep up. For developers, builders and service providers it means less red tape and more certainty, enabling them to apply to the regulatory authority for approval in principle of their designs. For families living in and around multistorey buildings it makes it easier to establish new services that are closer to home, and for our children and early education workforce it means that in the unlikely event of an emergency, their safety will be given the priority it deserves.

I want to reflect for a moment on why this particular aspect of the bill is so important. Even now, 40 years on, many in my community still remember the deep devastation of the Ash Wednesday bushfires. Like so many other parts of our state, fires raged across the south-west of Victoria. In the small district of Nullawarre, about 30 kilometres outside of Warrnambool, emergency response decisions were made without external support or prior planning. There was no time to think things through, because the fire roared through that community very quickly. The school bus driver had to react to a situation that was changing minute by minute. It was in this situation that my father found himself driving along the road to pick up a young family member who had been dropped off. We can only imagine how terrifying it would have been for this child, the bus driver and the community. This is an example of just how quickly an emergency situation can spiral out of control in the face of changing weather and fire conditions. That is why all these years later we plan our school buildings and our emergency procedures to minimise risk. We can never eliminate the chance of disaster, but we can prepare our buildings and procedures as much as possible. This is why we need to make sure appropriate protocols and procedures are in place, especially when it comes to our young people.

At the other end of the spectrum there are a number of inclusions in this bill that are significantly less dramatic but no less important. Not only does this bill ensure the relevant regulations are consistent across Australia; it will also ensure uniformity within Victoria. This bill will make consistent Victoria’s two regulatory schemes for early childhood services, whether services are providing care to children on a regular or ad hoc basis. This includes amending the Children’s Services Act 1996 to permit the issuing of infringement notices regardless of which regulatory scheme a service provider might fall under. Ensuring this kind of consistency is common sense. It also demonstrates our government’s broader approach when it comes to education: delivering smart policy that solves multiple problems. This bill forms a facilitative role for broader early childhood reforms and investments by the Allan government. Take our commitment to build 50 low-cost government owned and operated early learning centres located in the communities that need them most. These centres are good news for our local kids, good news for family budgets and good news for employers who are crying out for workers.

In my part of the world the initial rollout includes the town of Murtoa, chosen as one of the first four sites. Set to open in 2025, design work on Murtoa College’s new early learning centre is already underway. Once opened the centre will provide long day care, three-year-old kinder and pre-prep programs for local children. These programs will be delivered across three rooms, with space for up to 57 children each day. Because we believe in a commonsense, community-centred approach, not only will this service be co-located with the local P–12 college but it will also include a maternal and child health room for babies and their families. We often talk about these centres being the answer to the dreaded double drop-off, and as any parent will tell you, that is a very appealing proposition. I know when I had very young children I had to visit the maternal and child health centre in Kepler Street in Warrnambool, the kindergarten in Lava Street in Warrnambool and the primary school in Selby Road in Warrnambool – all different locations. How lovely it would have been to receive all those services within one service community.

I also want to talk today about what this kind of co-location means for children, not just parents and mums. For Murtoa’s youngest residents it means a place that is wholly dedicated to them and their wellbeing, first as babies, through to child care, kinder, prep, year 7 and beyond. It is an investment that will significantly ease the transition at every one of these important life stages. It is also an investment that says regardless of where you live, this is a government that believes every young Victorian deserves a bright future. When it comes to the importance of early childhood education the evidence is very clear: in those first five years a child’s brain develops more, and more rapidly, than at any other time in their life. We also know that if a brain’s wiring is not well established in those crucial five years, or indeed if it is damaged in some way, a child’s chance of reaching their potential is similarly reduced. It is certainly the case for children that experience violence and abuse at home or beyond. Those children go into protection mode rather than curiosity mode, and if you are like a turtle, hiding your legs and head in under the shell, you are really not going to see much, and you are not going to learn much either. That is, I guess, an example or a description of the damage abuse can do to a young, developing brain.

In short, what happens from ages zero to five can shape the child’s entire trajectory. It is why the government has chosen to fundamentally reform early childhood education in our state. These reforms began with three-year-old kinder, which rolled out to rural and outer regional communities first in 2020. Now, just three years on, every single three-year-old child in Victoria can benefit. We are also delivering pre-prep. Part of our $14 billion Best Start, Best Life reforms, it will mean a new universal 30-hour-a-week program of play-based learning for four-year-old children. Again, because we understand the difference it will make, we are rolling it out to regional Victoria first. In 2025 pre-prep will commence in six regional locations, including Ararat and Yarriambiack shires. For our little ones it will mean even more opportunities to learn and play.

There is an even longer list of local projects I would like to mention: a new kindergarten in Portland, an upgrade in Port Fairy, an outdoor space for kids at Mitchell Park in Hamilton, planning money for the Gunditjmara Aboriginal co-op’s children’s centre and a new kitchen for South Warrnambool kinder. Perhaps the biggest thing for my electorate is free kinder. These two simple words have been nothing short of life changing for local families. It is a change that means that up to 140,000 young Victorians are now attending three- and four-year-old kinder. Better yet, it is saving their families an estimated $2500 per child per year. It also means tens of thousands more parents have been able to return to work, and many of these are mums. I will never forget sitting at the kitchen table doing the maths and realising that in returning to work and paying childcare fees for our firstborn I would be earning $3 a week. I decided I would work pretty much for free to maintain my career. That really is absurd, but it is a scenario that too many women know all too well. That is why these reforms, from government-owned child care through to pre-prep and free kinder, are so smart and so needed. Not only will they benefit Victorian kids but they will also make a massive difference to parents and carers too, easing the pressure on family budgets, making it easier to return to work and addressing the shortage in childcare places all in one go. It is sophisticated, holistic, human-centred policy delivered by a government that gets it. I would like to take this opportunity again to commend the appointment of our state’s first Minister for Children, Minister Lizzie Blandthorn. It is yet another example of this government thinking beyond the silos of bureaucracy and instead looking at the needs of people.

There is plenty more I could say about the incredible benefits of our early childhood agenda, but in closing, I want to pay attention to the direct employment opportunities. These reforms will create more than 11,000 new early childhood teacher and educator positions over the next decade. The government is determined to make sure we have the workforce we need to implement these reforms, investing close to $370 million to attract new educators, upskill existing professionals and make it easier for those returning to work. That includes things like free TAFE places, university scholarships, supported traineeships and incentives for those moving to or rejoining the Victorian sector. It is a direct investment that will create the workforce of the future, many of whom will work in the kinds of buildings this bill aims to protect.

I began my contribution today by saying the intent of this bill was simple and straightforward, and it very much is, but that does not mean its content is unimportant. Rather it is one small piece of the government’s much larger agenda: helping to make sure our kids and our dedicated early childhood educators have the quality facilities they deserve. I commend the bill to the house.

Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (14:06): I rise to speak on the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Premises Approval in Principle) Bill 2023, and I thank my colleague Georgie Crozier for her contribution earlier. This is a bill that the Nationals are happy to support. Having raised three children, thankfully all old enough to no longer require child care, I understand the challenge and the juggle of trying to find child care. But for many towns across Northern Victoria there are no options. I have spoken with parents who are driving very long distances at the start and the end of their work day taking their children to care. Across Northern Victoria we are facing workforce shortages, and it is clear that many parents want to get back into the workforce but cannot because they are unable to get their kids into child care.

Early education and child care is a crucial part of every community, and we will do everything we can to ensure the safety of children in these settings. It is common sense that as demand for early childhood education and childcare services increases, the children in these premises need a safe evacuation route in the case of an emergency. While we hope that no emergencies do emerge, it is important to be prepared in case the worst happens. There are unique evacuation risks for children attending a service housed in a multistorey building, especially when the service is located above ground level. Babies and very young children who cannot walk independently take longer to evacuate from a building, and extra help is needed to ensure they are evacuated safely. Therefore building plans need to carefully consider these factors and ensure that designs allow for the safety of children during evacuations from these centres.

This bill also aims to provide regulatory certainty to organisations seeking to offer child care and early education services in multistorey buildings. This is a move towards making sure there are enough childcare and kinder places to meet growing demand over coming years. Therefore the bill will improve the safety of children in early education and childcare centres that are housed within multistorey buildings as well as improve the regulatory approval process for organisations seeking to establish new early education and childcare centres.

This bill implements recommendations from the 2019 national quality framework review. The recommendation aims to improve the regulatory framework that covers early childhood education and care across the country. It is important to note that the review framework has broad stakeholder support and reflects the consensus position of all state and territory governments. The proposed opt-in voluntary scheme would allow builders, developers or education service providers to gain approval in principle from the regulatory authorities for a centre-based service to be built or renovated in a multistorey building. In the electorate of Northern Victoria Region there are not a lot of multistorey buildings, but creating a mechanism where much-needed child care can be provided is clearly something we would support.

The Nationals are strong supporters of childcare services in the regions and have been highlighting for some time the challenges that our communities face. I know in Cohuna the community have been advocating for a childcare centre for nine years now to help the town grow. They have got teachers, police and nurses that cannot move to the region because of the lack of child care, and they are having to choose to live elsewhere. My Nationals colleagues, including Jade Benham and Annabelle Cleeland, have talked previously about the childcare desert that exists outside Melbourne. A childcare desert is defined as an area that has less then 0.333 childcare places per child aged four and under.

We have seen the situation in Charlton where a new childcare centre was promised in 2019 and subsequently built, but it has been sitting empty for the last 2½ years waiting for a childcare provider. Just recently it was great to see the Buloke shire announce that Shine Bright have signed an agreement to operate it, and Charlton child care will open in term 1. The Charlton situation is in fact a snapshot of what is happening in many areas, where a distinct lack of accessible child care means that women cannot contribute to a workforce that badly needs them. Charlton, like many towns, is in desperate need of teachers, nurses and accountants. There is a workforce on the ground there, but the lack of child care prevents women returning to work. Many teachers are also leaving the region, despite the fact that Charlton has a terrific school and a well-regarded trades program. There is a similar situation in Red Cliffs, where the nearest child care is in Mildura. This makes for a lengthy round trip for people who live and work in Red Cliffs but have to travel to Mildura for child care.

My colleague Annabelle Cleeland has also highlighted the effects of the childcare desert in her seat of Euroa. Many towns in that area are struggling or simply have no childcare options at all. A recent survey conducted by Ms Cleeland showed the dire state of child care in that electorate. Some of the issues raised in the responses include multiyear waitlists, a lack of childcare providers in their town and families relocating to other areas to access better childcare options. The responses share overwhelming negative experiences, with 100 per cent of parents who shared their experience saying that they have been adversely impacted by the lack of available child care under this government. One hundred per cent of respondents shared that the limited childcare options had resulted in them being unable to get back to work or training at a level they would like. Of those that were working, the responses highlighted a significant reliance on family and friends for child care due to limited options in the area. Fifty-four per cent of respondents relied on family and friends a great deal, while 85 per cent were relying on friends and family in some form.

Since last year’s election the Labor government has been sharing its plans to create 50 new government owned and operated early education centres, including one in Seymour. But the fine print reveals a deceptive time line that raises concerns about trust. It is disappointing that the early childcare centre promised for Seymour will not be built any time soon, after the Labor government chose not to include it in the first round of centres being established. The deadline of 2028 for the Seymour childcare centre’s delivery shows a lack of genuine concern for the immediate needs of the community.

In summary, the Nationals are always very keen to support any measure that will improve child safety and childcare options in Victoria, especially in the regions. We believe this bill is a step in the right direction, but when it comes to providing greater access to child care in regional Victoria there is still much work that needs to be done.

Sonja TERPSTRA (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (14:13): I rise to make a contribution on the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Premises Approval in Principle) Bill 2023. I am very pleased to be rising and speaking in support of this bill. The primary purpose of this bill is to give effect to the recommendations agreed to by the education ministers meeting in 2019 in the national quality framework review to establish a premises approval in principle scheme for new early childhood services in multistorey buildings. As most of us in this chamber would know and many in our communities would know, the majority of early childhood centres are not in multistorey buildings. Nevertheless as our communities grow and expand we will see situations where perhaps early childhood services will be housed in multistorey buildings. Effectively this legislation is to address concerns around the need for those services to be in those buildings and to ensure that they align with the requirements of the national quality framework.

By providing for approval in principle, the changes ensure that applicants will have an assurance that their proposed premises designs are adequate to meet the physical premises requirements in the regulatory scheme. Again, this enables changes, where required, to design and building plans to ensure the completed premises in buildings meet the regulatory requirements of the national quality framework.

The national quality framework and those requirements are aimed at protecting the safety of young children in emergency evacuation situations and ensuring adequate supervision in services. As we know, in any emergency evacuation situation there will be a range of people who have different needs and may be able to evacuate quicker than others, but with younger children, if you have got a situation where a child cannot walk or cannot crawl, they need to be carried out of the building. Then you are going to have children with different requirements as they get a little bit older – they might be toddlers, but they are not really able to follow instructions properly or comprehend them and will need assistance to get out. Again, this is about ensuring that the requirements of a centre that is going to be in a multistorey development protect the safety of young children in emergency.

Importantly, the changes proposed in this bill will allow for any changes to be made before the commencement of construction works, and that is a really good thing because it will avoid the need for often expensive and time-consuming rectification works once the premises are completed. In other words, if we can make sure the standards that are proposed are met before approvals are done and before the building is built, there is a lot of cost saving and time saving. The people who are building those premises and providing them will not have to be confronted with the extra expense, and that also saves time. I will talk a little bit more in a moment about our Best Start, Best Life reforms and why this infrastructure is needed to support those reforms, but you can see this is another step in a range of things that we need to ensure happen to make sure that the rollout of Best Start, Best Life can be as smooth as possible.

Just in the context of what the situation is now – I touched on this a little bit just a moment ago – less than 1 per cent of approved early childhood services are currently located in multistorey buildings. As I said earlier, we do expect that the number of proposals for early childhood services in multistorey buildings will increase over time. When I was growing up there were not many families that lived or brought their families up in multistorey buildings, but that is certainly changing. It is becoming more and more prevalent, particularly if we look at the increasing density that we see in our planning laws. We are trying to increase density in existing suburbs. Whether it is inner-ring or middle-ring suburbs, the idea is to increase density, to go up. You will have the availability of more multistorey dwellings, and if we can have those dwellings also having opportunities for early childhood services, it means that people in those communities can access the services they need where they need them to be. I can remember this as a parent. My second child has just finished school, and one of the things that I appreciated the most was seeing the end to the drop-off and pick-up after many years of having to do that, going through the drop-off and pick-up of kinder and primary school and secondary school. If you have got those services more conveniently located, it just saves a lot of time for parents, so that is a very welcome thing.

As I said, this scheme that is proposed in this legislation is expected to improve the early childhood service approval process for services in new or altered multistorey buildings. As I said, hopefully for the ones that are going to be built and proposed these standards will apply, but in existing ones if there have to be alterations, then that can happen as well. This supports the delivery of the infrastructure required for our Best Start, Best Life reforms, and that is what this bill is designed to do, and it will prevent that need, as I said, for expensive rectification works later on.

I might just talk a little bit now about why these things are necessary. I have outlined what the purpose of the bill is, but there was a particular set of circumstances with new service premises being built as part of these multistorey developments. As I said, it is a requirement of the national quality framework and the meeting of ministers and the national law. It was particularly an issue that got highlighted in the Victorian and ACT jurisdictions, where it was about recognising that there was compliance with the national law but not in regard to emergency evacuation requirements. It ensures that there is compliance with local planning laws, but again there may not be compliance with the national quality framework. So it is basically an effort to harmonise those schemes to ensure that the premises can be an appropriate premises to then accommodate the need for early childhood services. That seemed to be an issue in the Victorian and ACT jurisdictions, so again it is about working on legislation that will harmonise all of those jurisdictions. It is a great thing to have that right across Australia, but for Victorians it means that we can have those services in multistorey developments when they are built. As I said, often the compliance issues do not become obvious or apparent with the national quality framework. It is only apparent when the provider applies for the service approval once the premises have already been built or fitted out. So as I said earlier, that results in additional delays and costs, and delays in having the service up and running.

As I said, a building could potentially fail to meet the emergency evacuation requirements. The premises might not comply with the national quality framework, including those things that relate to things like outdoor space, natural environments, natural light and ventilation. I do recall a number of years ago now there were some concerns raised around potentially some childcare services having an outdoor space but with things like non-natural grasses, so synthetic grasses and the like. It is important to have a mix of environments for children to learn and play in, and some of those things become particularly important. That is just one environment issue, and that may have been addressed over time. But what is critically important when you are talking about the need for emergency evacuation is that those buildings are compliant. Obviously in a circumstance – it might be rare, but it does happen ‍– that an emergency evacuation is required, you do not want any impediments getting in the way that mean that people cannot exit in a quick fashion and in a safe fashion.

As I said, the bill seeks to consistently amend both substantive acts that underpin the regulatory schemes to ensure uniformity across Victoria, and as part of this uniformity the Children’s Services Act 1996 will be amended to permit the issuing of infringement notices. This is one of the areas where the Children’s Services Act is currently not aligned with the national quality framework. This will be important to ensure that we can get the harmonisation of a range of schemes and a range of pieces of legislation.

Just in terms of our early childhood reforms and our Best Start, Best Life reforms, we have committed $14 billion to expand kindergarten programs across the state under our Best Start, Best Life reforms, and we know that across Victoria there are a number of areas that I think were referred to as childcare deserts, where despite private operators operating in a range of markets there were clearly market failures, which meant that people living in those areas did not have access to child care. As part of the work that the government undertook to implement our Best Start, Best Life reforms, we identified a range of areas where we needed to build, own and operate a range of childcare services, so there will be 50 government owned and operated early learning centres. This is an ambitious plan to address the childcare shortages in the areas with the greatest need.

Where possible the early learning centres will be co-located with schools to avoid the double drop-off. I talked about that earlier. As a parent, I can very well remember not only the juggling and dropping off of one child and then another, but when you have got, say, a primary school age child and then you have got a younger one, also trying to avoid the sleep times, where one needs to go down for a sleep and you have got to put them in the car. It is really a challenge, so it is a great help to parents if they can try and avoid that double drop-off. It just means that they can try and balance those work and family responsibilities as well a little bit more easily.

Removing that double drop-off is a great help to parents. Kinders and childcare centres are not always located close to schools, so having them co-located is really important – another example of how the government is listening to parents about their needs in taking their kids to school or education. It is critically important. Our early learning centres could be co-located with schools, but in some cases they may be co-located with services like maternal and child health services and playgroups, for example. Combining services and access or close proximity to those services is always a great help as well.

The first of the four centres that the government has announced will open in 2025. A further 26 locations have also been announced, but the first four childcare centres announced will be co-located at Eaglehawk North Primary, Moomba Park Primary School, Murtoa College and Sunshine Primary School. A range of other municipalities have also been identified. The next 26 locations have been announced – they are not necessarily in regard to townships as such but more like LGAs. Some of them are in regional areas, but some of them, importantly, are in metropolitan Melbourne areas. I note some of them are where they are the most needed.

One of the communities in my electorate, Heidelberg West, is a community that will continue to need access to early childhood services, and I am really pleased and proud to say that the government is supporting that need and that demand in Heidelberg West and other areas like Reservoir and the like. There is a long list, and I will not read them all, because they are across a range of areas – Dandenong, Frankston North and the like – where there is a need. As we know, the outcomes for children from poor socio-economic backgrounds are greatly improved – their life expectancy outcomes, education, health and a whole range of things – by access to early childhood education and care. We know that really matters for ages nought to three but also nought to five more generally. The remaining 20 early learning centre locations will be based on need, and all the centres will be open by 2028.

You can see why this legislation is important. It sets the framework. It is part of the process to get ready to support these reforms as we continue along the path to implementing these early childhood education and care reforms. 2023 is a significant year in delivering on this reform, and the Victorian government’s $270 million free kinder initiative, which is available to all three- and four-year-old children enrolled in participating funded kindergarten programs, is also a key, important plank to this reform.

I might leave my contribution there. All I can say is that this is critically important legislation. It supports the rollout of our Best Start, Best Life reforms. I commend the bill to the house.

Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (14:28): I am very pleased to rise and speak on the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Premises Approval in Principle) Bill 2023. As my colleagues have outlined, whilst the bill is designed to undertake a range of amendments related to ensuring Victoria’s compliance with the national agreements around early childhood and the national quality framework, it does sit in the context of an incredibly expansive early childhood reform agenda that this government is leading in this state and this state is leading in this nation. The contributions that my colleagues have made today demonstrate that the Allan Labor government is delivering for our children, making sure their early childhood is the best it possibly can be and that they do get the best start in the best life. We are leading the nation.

This legislation will amend the national law governing education and care services to establish a premises approval in principle process to allow builders, developers and early childhood service providers to gain approval in principle for proposed early childhood services. A couple of years ago, in 2019, the states, territories and the Commonwealth, who all participate in the regulation of quality standards that surround our early childhood sector, approved the findings of a review of the national quality framework. One of those recommendations was yet to be acted upon, in relation to this approval in principle process, so the bill in its substance seeks to implement that change. In addition to the planning amendment to allow this approval in principle for multistorey developments, the other significant element of the bill will amend the Children’s Services Act 1996 to establish the ability for the regulatory authority to issue infringement notices for certain existing offences in alignment with the approach taken under the national law.

I want to just briefly spend a moment talking about the substantive planning amendments related to the approval in principle. The current rules that govern planning requirements for multistorey developments, and in particular the way that they relate to the early childhood quality and regulation frameworks, have created a series of issues in relation to the need and the goal to establish more early childhood services in multistorey buildings that are three or more storeys high. The current laws are making it difficult for childcare providers to establish services in multistorey buildings, and we know increasingly that in many urban areas we are having more and more high-rise developments. The Southern Metropolitan Region is home to many; in fact Southbank is the most densely populated part of our state. Residents in the communities that I represent and who live in all parts of our city in multistorey communities need access to child care too. It is increasingly difficult to find adequate spaces, and so the more that we can do to ensure that there are facilities in these communities to take care of our children, we should do, and that is what this legislation is seeking to do.

The review of the national quality framework in 2019 identified quality and safety issues with the design of early childhood services in multistorey buildings. There are site-specific challenges that you have in these environments that obviously did not arise when most of these facilities were in largely purpose-built or repurposed old houses on the ground floor with land. There are, when you put children in a multistorey environment such as this, things like evacuation risks when children are involved because of things you might not immediately think of, like the ability of children to access and safely use fire stairs in case of an emergency.

We had in the planning regime in this state a particular problem where new childcare services and new early childhood settings were being built as part of multistorey developments. Whilst they received planning approval because they met planning laws, there was a risk that they would not also be meeting the regulatory requirements of the national quality framework. The problem with the interaction between these two regulatory systems was that it was not becoming apparent that that discrepancy existed until after the service had been built and fitted out and sought regulatory approval under the national quality framework. By that time the proposed service had already been fitted out and it was quite challenging and difficult to make changes, and that resulted in delays, denying parents access to these services and involving increased costs, which often parents would bear.

What this change will do is introduce a system where plans can be assessed under both the planning framework and the national quality framework to make sure that things like the evacuation standards and safety standards are being met by the proposed development. It will minimise the risk of providers of future childcare premises not meeting these requirements and having to undertake expensive and lengthy redesigns of their services and hopefully reduce the risk of providers being refused approval to run those early childhood services. What they will be able to do is apply under the national quality framework for an approval in principle of their service so that they can build in accordance with that approval in principle – obviously done within planning laws and approval in principle under the early childhood national quality framework – so that when the building is complete they know that, subject to having met those conditions, they are more likely to receive approval to operate that early childhood service.

What we hope this will do, what we think this will do, is better facilitate more early childhood services being made available in multistorey developments across Melbourne. As I said, parts of southern metropolitan Melbourne are some of the most densely populated in this state, home to many, many constituents who live in multistorey dwellings. Hopefully these changes will help facilitate an increased usage and increased take-up of early childhood services. We think that is absolutely fundamental. This government is fundamentally committed to improving the services that our children receive and principally ensuring the quality of early education and care that they receive. Whether they start very young or whether they enter the new and expanded three-year-old kinder programs that are being rolled out across this state and transition into the four-year-old pre-prep programs that we are also rolling out as part of the Best Start, Best Life reforms, we want our children to get the best start in life, and that is what these broader reforms are designed to do.

I think it is incumbent upon governments who support our children to be demonstrating their support through their actions, and I think that demonstration is required of all levels of government, whether it is the state government, who have got a $1.5 billion investment in expanding kindergarten programs across the state as part of our $14 billion commitment to Best Start, Best Life, or whether it is our federal government, who have recently made significant improvements to the childcare subsidy, providing more cost-of-living relief to families to help them with the cost of early education and to help them with the cost of child care. All levels of government should be investing in our young people, all levels of government should be ensuring children get the best start in life.

Recently we have had a concerning attitude from one in particular of the local councils in the Southern Metropolitan Region, the City of Glen Eira, who took an in-principle decision last month to shut down their three early childhood services, in Carnegie, Murrumbeena and Oakleigh. Over the course of the last few weeks I and many of my parliamentary colleagues at the state and federal levels – from all sides, I will say – have been out standing with the parents from these childcare centres in the City of Glen Eira demanding that the local council change its decision and save the childcare centres in Carnegie, Oakleigh and Murrumbeena. I want to thank the member for Oakleigh, the member for Caulfield and our federal colleagues the members for Macnamara, Goldstein and Higgins – I cannot forget Dr Ananda-Rajah – who joined with hundreds of families last week to have a community rally outside the Glen Eira council meeting to lend everyone’s voice to support the parents, the 100 or so families, who are staring down the barrel of losing their childcare spot a week before Christmas, which is not the kind of Christmas present that any of those kids deserve.

It is devastating for these families, the uncertainty that it is creating for them – a decision that the City of Glen Eira made after the application process for spots in alternative local kindergarten programs had already closed. Families are now scrambling, not knowing what is going to happen for them at the end of the year. The kids, who were planning on going back and being with their friends again next year, are facing an uncertain future, as are the parents who were about to enrol their kids for the first time in these facilities, all of which – given we are talking about the national quality framework in this legislation – have an ‘exceeding’ rating under the national quality framework, these three centres that the City of Glen Eira is seeking to close down. This will force parents to both travel further and pay more to get the same level of support, the same level of service, that they are getting out of these childcare centres.

I lend my voice to the call for the City of Glen Eira to reconsider this decision. They have got time to change their minds, and no-one will criticise the City of Glen Eira for changing their minds. I know often in politics people get decried for making backflips. All I have got to say to the City of Glen Eira is: if you can perform a backflip on this one, we will stand there applauding you and give you a resounding 10 for that piece of public policy gymnastics. We think that these childcare centres need to remain open. The parents at these centres in the City of Glen Eira are desperate for that to occur. The staff, many of whom have worked there for years and years and years, are absolutely devastated. Whilst they were not able to join the protests at the rally last week, their union was there – the Australian Services Union – standing up for their rights, for their jobs, and we were standing there with the good members of the ASU, which has joined the call for this service to remain open. The quality of the care that these kids receive is because of the quality of the educators who give it to them. That is exactly what the members of the ASU have been doing at these centres for years, and we want to see that continue.

I say this not to make a point but just to illustrate the difference that you can see if you just look a little further across the way from the City of Glen Eira to the City of Bayside – because whilst the City of Glen Eira are closing down their centres, the City of Bayside are opening up some new ones. They are opening up new children’s centres in the City of Bayside that have been partially funded by the state government. The state government is putting in resources to build new children’s centres in partnership with local government in the City of Bayside. The City of Glen Eira is walking away from local children, walking away from local families and walking away from the talented educators who work at these early learning centres, and it is proposing to shut them down in the weeks before Christmas.

This legislation is about improving our early childhood system. It is about making sure that it works for families – that children and families get the services they need and deserve no matter where they live. It is a really important message that I hope the City of Glen Eira listens to. To those in the community who are campaigning to save their centres: we support you, we support your children.

John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (14:43): I rise to contribute to the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Premises Approval in Principle) Bill 2023. It seeks to improve the delivery of early childhood care in Victoria and provides for the introduction of a premises approval in principle scheme to allow for more flexibility and speed in the establishment of early childcare services and service centres. I am sure my colleagues in this chamber are aware that child care is a key priority of the Allan Labor government. We are dedicated to ensuring that our early childcare providers are supported to deliver the best care for our youngest Victorians.

Child care has a heavy impact on the trajectory of a child’s life. The quality and length matters, and early intervention is key. This bill will provide the tools to ensure that this can happen. Children must be supported and inspired to ensure a passion for learning. If effectively delivered, early childhood education has the capacity to give an individual a leg-up in life – a valuable tool and right that no-one should be denied. We know that childcare policy overwhelmingly affects those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. We know that there is a cost burden to accessing these vital services and that this is a key contributor to class differences. Single-parent families and families where both parents work are often forced to put their young ones in child care, which traditionally has been very expensive. That is why we have introduced free kinder, something I am particularly proud to support. Free kinder addresses the wealth barriers for new parents returning to work and equity in early childhood education across socio-economic backgrounds. Families can save up to $2500 a year under the free kinder scheme, a much-needed policy to ease the cost of living when it was introduced. We introduced the three-year-old kinder program and over the next 10 years are rolling out four-year-old pre-prep. Three-year-old kinder provides families with access to quality kindergarten for up to 15 hours a week.

Just yesterday I visited Anderson Park Community Hub in my electorate, in Hawthorn. After speaking to the electorate of Hawthorn, I know the people of Hawthorn dearly miss their hardworking, dedicated and passionate Labor member of Parliament John Kennedy. He is a man who understands education. But yesterday I visited this hub, which houses Auburn South kindergarten, and had the opportunity to see something very special, which was the puggle group, a classroom of kids led by Judy Wood, the longest serving kinder teacher at the kinder. They were very impressive. They sat through all the grown-ups making boring speeches about upgrades, money dedications and much more. By the by, thank you to my friend Minister Blandthorn for the opportunity to represent her. I saw firsthand what a difference early childhood education makes to students. This year the kinder has 43 three-year-old enrolments, 42 four-year-old enrolments and one Early Start Kindergarten enrolment. Although they opted out of free kinder this year, they are opting in next year, and the difference will be massive. They will join 97 per cent or more of the 2750 funded kinder services across our state that are participating in free kinder, a service that is benefiting up to 140,000 children.

Pre-prep to prep is a program for four-year-olds to prepare them for their first year of official school in prep. The program is a transitionary schooling experience that will equip Victorian kids with confidence as they take the often scary step into primary school. It was introduced so that all Victorian children can go through two years of quality education prior to entering prep, and we know how particularly important this is for vulnerable children and Aboriginal children. Sometimes they live outside those early rollout areas. They will be eligible for 30 hours pre-prep every week from 2026. This includes children from refugee backgrounds and children known to child protection, and I want my community of Southern Metro to know this. To find a kinder provider that is participating in these schemes, just look for the purple tick on your local childcare building or in their online advertising. Parents and caregivers can also speak with staff at these services to determine which services would be best for their child, and thanks to our investment, more parents and children can get the very best services possible. This is due to our delivery of 50 childcare centres across the state, with the first handful of these centres set to be opened in 2025.

This bill is another action by the Allan Labor government that is committed to child care. This bill primarily seeks to address the issue of supply and demand for child care. This amendment bill seeks to implement recommendations from the 2019 national quality framework review. I will get to that shortly, but first I want to explain that the national quality framework is a scheme that will regulate education and childcare services across the country. The national quality framework consists of two arms, those being the education and care services national law and the national regulations. Joining these together with regulatory frameworks ensures that nationally standards are met in the quality of child care.

The national quality framework regulates many Victorian childcare service providers and service centres but not all. The national quality framework applies to roughly 4600 childcare providers. This includes providers like kindergartens, long day care services, family daycare services and outside school hours care services. This does not include all providers in Victoria. It does not include 200 occasional and limited-hours childcare centres, which are often located in neighbourhood houses and recreational facilities. These centres are regulated by the Children’s Services Act 1996. The amendments in this bill ensure that the Children’s Services Act and the national quality framework in Victoria are aligned and that there are no legislative discrepancies in the implementation of the premises approval in principle scheme.

The explanatory memorandum sets out a few items that I believe are relevant to this bill’s function. Under ‘Division 2 – Application for approval in principle’ it states:

Section 106 provides for the making of an application for an approval in principle.

…

Subsection (2) provides that an application under subsection (1) may be made if –

• the premises are for a centre-based service, which includes all education and care services other than family day care services; and

• the premises are, once the construction, alteration or repair is complete, to be located in a new or existing Part 4 building; and

• a permit or approval is required under a Part 4 planning law or Part 4 building law, or both, for the construction, alteration or repair of the proposed education and care service premises or the development of the land on which the premises or Part 4 building is located.

But it has taken a long time to get us here, and it has taken us a long time to get such a comprehensive bill, which even has a 39-page explanatory memorandum. As I mentioned before, in 2019 a review was conducted into the national quality framework, identifying key areas for improvement. The review included specific identifiers and recommendations on how to improve issues specific to individual states. This included a recommendation for Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory to implement a premises approval in principle mechanism to improve their planning systems. This premises approval in principle scheme will allow developers, builders and service providers to do something specific. The education or childcare service being delivered at the premises by these organisations can apply for the project’s location to be approved in principle. This will promote the timely construction of the service centre, ensuring more childcare centres can be built in Victoria. This will be available for all proposed childcare service providers in multistorey centres, defined as three or more floors including a ground floor.

Similarly, the bill amends the Children’s Services Act 1996 to introduce an identical premises approval in principle scheme provision to apply to all childcare services that are not accounted for under the national quality framework. This is to assure all childcare service providers in Victoria. Under these amendments an approval in principle for the premises will give developers and prospective service providers something very important in the development process: assurance, which all parties involved need. We want teams ready to build, ready to go. As these amendments take effect across Victoria, the Department of Education will provide ample support and information to those childcare providers. The department will to the best of their ability support these prospective childcare providers in taking advantage of premises approval in principle to bring about the best result.

It is important to note that a key aspect of this regulatory scheme is that it is entirely voluntary. As my colleagues will be able to recognise is outlined in the bill, it is at the discretion of the builders or service providers to opt in to the voluntary premises approval in principle scheme. This means that different builders will be affected differently, and that is the way it should be. The bill was drafted with the input of the national quality framework review, which conducted a robust community-focused review of the national quality framework. This included input from key figures within the planning, development and building communities.

Aside from being a response to the recommendations set out in the 2019 review, the bill is just one component of the Allan Labor government’s $14 billion Best Start, Best Life reforms. We understand that the first 1000 days of a kid’s life are vital. I know firsthand too; I have six kids. Evidence shows that two years are better than one when it comes to early childhood learning, so that is what we are doing. Kids who start at three gain academic and social benefits that their peers who start their education journey later do not. It lasts into their school years and beyond.

The reality is simple: we are growing fast. Melbourne is Australia’s fastest growing city in real numbers, and the rest of the state is following suit. Planning regulations pose a problem to the effective and fast construction of good-quality childcare centres. It is clear that supply is an urgent dilemma, and the childcare sector needs our help to overcome it. We need the space for more families. We need to build up in the inner city. We cannot always build out, particularly in densely populated areas. While less than 1 per cent of the early childhood services are in the sort of multistorey buildings that are commonplace in the CBD, inner city and increasingly in the suburbs, we expect this to increase over time. Particularly thanks to our nation-leading housing statement, we will be transforming our established suburbs, building more homes closer to places that people already live. This bill will improve the approval process for services in new or altered multistorey buildings, and it will support the delivery of infrastructure that is needed to implement our nation-leading Best Start, Best Life reforms. It will prevent unnecessary and time-consuming rectification works.

I do want to note before wrapping up today that this is not the only plan we have to address the supply of childcare centres. From 2018 we have placed 70 new kinders in new schools we have built across the state. This has been designed to target the dreaded double drop-off. It will save parents and kids time and cut down on fuel, a relief for parents and guardians across the state. For the kids, being so close to their kinder when they move up into prep and primary school will help ease some of the anxieties of transitioning to a new chapter in their lives.

To finish today, I have been a member of the Parliament for almost a year; I was elected almost a year ago. One of the greatest privileges of my office is the ability to open a new kinder or school or to reopen them better than ever and to see the children’s eyes open and to hear them speak about the benefits they get from their school. They take pride in it. They stand up straight and strong, and it is fantastic. It is not just the students that take pride in their school or kinder, it is the teachers too.

I hope you will indulge me quickly, in talking on a piece of early childhood legislation, to talk about an early childhood educator in my own community. Last Friday the Minister for Children, Minister Blandthorn, celebrated the annual Victorian Early Years Awards, an important recognition that since 2006 has been celebrating the amazing and tireless work of Victoria’s early childhood sector in areas that improve the learning, health and wellbeing of our young children and their families. There were 10 winners and 16 finalists, and I am proud to say that the Early Childhood Teacher of the Year award was presented to a teacher at Glen Education Glover Street kinder in Bentleigh. There is a teacher there named Rachael Gemmill, and she has led her team to achieve something special. Her team exceeded in all seven areas of the national quality standard for education and the care of children, and her team was awarded for using evidence-based, scientifically backed strategies to support children’s wellbeing. Rachael has a masters in inclusion and uses her expertise to create a safe workplace culture that embraces and thrives on inclusion and equality and provides a quality education to all the children regardless of their needs and abilities. I hope to have the opportunity to meet Rachael soon. We know all about the rollout of free kinder and expanded pre-prep. We also need to simultaneously build a workforce of Rachaels and people like her. That is why we have set a time line that allows us enough time to develop a skilled workforce and the infrastructure to support them so that early childhood educators of the future can best succeed.

I believe in the other place those in opposition indicated they would be in favour of this bill. I hope that they will be today. Let us put aside the petty politics and do something straightforward and simple for our kids. I commend the bill to the house.

Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (14:57): I also rise to speak on the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Premises Approval in Principle) Bill 2023, one that I note, from the interjections I hear opposite, we hope will have cross-party support, which is very good to see.

Georgie Crozier: You didn’t listen to me either.

Michael GALEA: Well, no, I didn’t listen to you, Ms Crozier. I do apologise. I might have been outside the chamber at that time. I do try and catch your speeches always – just like your entertaining contributions earlier today. But I do rise to speak on what is a thoroughly important bill, and that is another bill which is a step towards delivery on the Allan government’s commitment and the former Andrews government’s commitment to a comprehensive reform package for early childhood education. This commitment is reflected through the unprecedented Best Start, Best Life reforms – crucial legislative reforms and an unprecedented investment in making early childhood education free and more accessible than ever before.

This bill is another key reform to enable the minister and the government to deliver the early childhood education facilities that our communities need. Foremost amongst the reforms in this bill are those that act on the new recommendations made in the 2019 national quality framework review, the NQFR, to establish a premises approval in principle scheme for new early childhood services, ECS, centres in multistorey buildings. This recommendation was agreed to and was also endorsed at the national education ministers meeting. As it stands, less than 1 per cent of approved early childhood services are located in multistorey buildings, so this, I am sure members will agree, is not a substantial percentage by any means of ECS approvals. The number of proposals, however, for these early childhood services in multistorey buildings is of course expected to increase by some figure in future years.

Being a participant in the Legal and Social Issues Committee’s ongoing inquiry into rental and housing in Victoria, I do note in particular that we have heard from some witnesses who did discuss density in detail, and we have what is referred to as a ‘missing middle’ in development and a missing middle in our consciousness of development as well. It is not just all high-rises in Southbank at one end and single-family homes in Clyde North at the other. There is space for us to be looking at that more moderated range of three- to six-storey buildings in appropriate locations, be that around train stations, other activity centres or tramlines. I am sure that will excite you as well, Acting President McArthur ‍– it is always good to have good, appropriate, sensible development in and around the tram tracks. But that is an ongoing discussion that will be had.

Along with other members of the committee, I am looking forward to the tabling of that report, which I believe is to be next sitting week in this place. We will obviously have much more to discuss in the wake of that. But it comes, even more significantly, in the wake of the landmark housing statement that was released by then Premier Andrews just a couple of months ago, which is a comprehensive rethink of the way in which we structure housing in this state, not just for metropolitan Melbourne but for all of Victoria. It is a real exciting change moving forward, and there will no doubt be further announcements to come along the way. But as we do shift towards planning our cities, our suburbs, our towns and our regional hamlets more sensibly, things such as multistorey buildings that contain childcare centres will become more common. That is why this bill in particular is such a timely intervention both as part of the explicit reforms in terms of early childhood and also in terms of that broader discussion that has been occurring in the Parliament and certainly outside of it in previous weeks and months.

As part of that, the creation of this scheme is expected to improve the early childhood service approval process for services in new or altered multistorey buildings. This improvement to the approval process will support the delivery of infrastructure required to meet the growing demand for early childhood education as Victoria delivers the transformational Best Start, Best Life program. In addition, the approval in principle will help to assure applicants that proposed premises designs are adequate to meet the physical premises requirements in the regulatory scheme. This will benefit project development by preventing the need for rectification works to be undertaken at completion, which would be cost prohibitive in some cases and also a big waste of time. We have a huge demand for childcare services in Victoria, and we do not want to be taking any more time than we need to. Any changes required to meet those national quality framework, NQF, settings can be made before the commencement of construction works, which will also minimise disruption to that completion date.

The bill will also provide for better delivery of ECS across our state and will work alongside other significant reforms such as the Education and Training Reform Amendment (Land Powers) Bill 2023, which was debated in and passed by this chamber just recently. These legislative reforms will contribute to the delivery of extra capacity and the availability of ECS places where they are needed the most. Ensuring that we have the facilities and the staff needed as we roll out free three- and four-year-old kinder into prep and pre-prep as part of the crucial Best Start, Best Life program is really critical to ensuring that families can benefit in my region and across Victoria. The Allan Labor government knows that this is not just about record-level investment – unprecedented investment, if you will – into early childhood education, it is about supporting the infrastructure needed to give every child that best start in their educational journey.

This bill is designed to align with the federal law, amending the Children’s Services Act 1996 to mirror the amendments that were made to that federal law. This will ensure that the premises approval in principle process is available for all early childhood services provided in this state. Developers, builders and ECS providers will be able to apply to the regulatory authority for approval in principle for a proposed ECS premises to be located in a multistorey building – that is, three or more storeys in height. This process will occur during the planning and design phase of the development. The bill also makes further amendments to the Children’s Services Act 1996 to mirror the infringeable offences in the national law to make early childhood services in Victoria subject to the same regulatory enforcement mechanisms. This bill needs to be passed in 2023 to enable time for regulations to be made to support the scheme commencing in the Australian Capital Territory from mid-2024. This scheme is expected to commence in Victoria in October 2024. The scheme is also an integral part of delivering a better ECS approval process that will enable the development of premises to avoid costly rectification works. Approval in principle will be a voluntary application process in Victoria and is not intended to be mandatory when it commences.

As it stands, two regulatory schemes for early childhood services operate in Victoria. These are the NQF, the national quality framework, which consists of the national law and the Education and Care Services National Regulations, and the Children’s Services Act 1996 and Children’s Services Regulations 2020, which regulate children’s services in Victoria that are outside the scope of the NQF. The NQF regulates education and care services that are provided to children on a regular basis. There are around 4740 such services in Victoria, which include kinders, long day care services, family day care services and outside school care services as well. These are the services provided to children on a non-regular or ad hoc basis, occasional care, or where children attend for very short periods – limited hours of care. There are around 210 children’s services, often located in settings such as neighbourhood houses and recreational facilities. Both acts will be amended consistently in this bill to match those 2019 national quality framework review recommendations and to ensure uniformity across the regulatory schemes.

Amending this framework to enable these facilities to be built with greater capacity to meet the growing demand is a really critical step as Victoria transforms early childhood education. It is important to note in this debate and to put this bill into the context of, as I have said, the unprecedented investment this government is making towards families, parents and children. We are delivering the Best Start, Best Life program, a nation-leading reform to early childhood education, which is critical to providing the educational outcomes our children need. I do wish to note the hard work of both the current Minister for Children Minister Blandthorn, in the chamber with us today, and her office, who have done an enormous amount of work, as has the previous minister in this space. I also note with some regret that we no longer have an education shadow in this chamber. We do miss the good Dr Bach already. We do not get to see those debates as we once did between Dr Bach and Minister Blandthorn when it came to a number of their overlapping policy areas, and I am sure that we will all miss them for some time to come. Never mind, I am sure we will see many more debates with whoever the Liberal Party may deem to replace him. Hopefully it will be a little bit smoother than the Monash preselection over the weekend.

For every dollar invested in early childhood education Australia receives back $2 over that child’s life through higher productivity and earning capacity and reduced government spending on health, welfare and crime. That is why we are delivering a $14 billion transformation of the education system at the early stages, which is Best Start, Best Life. As part of this, from year to year, free kinder has been rolled out for all three- and four-year-old children at participating services. Under Best Start, Best Life the Labor government has made kindergarten free. Under this $270 million program, up to 140,000 children and families can access kinder for free this year, saving families up to $2500 in fees per child per year. More than 2750 services across Victoria offer free kindergarten this year, which is 97 per cent of all services across the state.

I do wish to pick up from the comments of a pervious speaker on this side, Mr Batchelor, who spoke with great passion about his campaign for Glen Eira to reverse their perhaps ill-sighted decision to remove themselves from the provision of early childhood education, echoing the similar calls we have had in this place for the City of Knox to reconsider their decision, which was very unwise in my view. I do wish to also acknowledge the single Knox councillor, Sorina Grasso, who actually voted against what is a very regressive reform. In the face of an increase of demand but also an increase of government support for these early childhood services, we are seeing some councils decide that they do not wish to provide those services to their community. It is all too difficult for them, so they are walking away.

This is in spite of the fact that, as Mr Batchelor said, other councils such as Bayside and Kingston in my region are actually choosing to expand on those services – because they see the value that those services provide to their communities. So I also join Mr Batchelor in calling upon both Glen Eira and Knox councils to reconsider those decisions, because, for the reasons that I have just gone through, early childhood is such an important time. It is such an important time to get it right, to make that investment, because you get that investment back. That is exactly what these reforms will be doing.

The next step of these reforms will be to then transform four-year-old kindergarten into pre-prep over the decade. Pre-prep will be a universal 30-hour-a-week, play-based learning program available to every four-year-old child in Victoria. This will double the educational opportunities available for children in the year before school. It will mean that they have twice the amount of teacher-led, play-based learning time to develop critical social, emotional and cognitive skills that will set them up for the following years of their education and for life.

Greater access to this high-quality, teacher-led, play-based learning means better educational outcomes for all our young Victorians. From 2025 pre-prep will be rolled out, starting in the rural and regional communities of Ararat, Gannawarra, Hindmarsh, Murrindindi, Northern Grampians and Yarriambiack. More LGAs will soon follow, with families in metropolitan Melbourne being able to access up to 20 hours of pre-prep from 2030 and all children being able to access the full 30 hours of pre-prep from 2032. We are also making investments, reducing the need for the double drop-off, in other early learning centres right across this state.

This is a significant investment that is one step further in building the Education State for all young Victorians. That is why I commend this bill to the house.

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (15:12): I am also pleased to commend the bill to the house.

Motion agreed to.

Read second time.

Committed.

Committee

Clause 1 (15:13)

Georgie CROZIER: I will ask all of my questions, which are not too many, under clause 1. What is the current approvals process for developers who want to include a childcare centre in new or refurbished multistorey buildings in Victoria? I am just wondering if you could provide us with what is required at present, prior to this legislation being implemented.

Lizzie BLANDTHORN: Let me just clarify one aspect. For the provision of the service, the regulation is obviously with the department. There is no current requirement on the developer.

Georgie CROZIER: There is no requirement for developers now. So there would not have been, in that case, any instances where they had to retrofit because there were no regulatory requirements. Is that correct? Am I correct in assuming that?

Lizzie BLANDTHORN: Not that I am aware of, and there is actually only a very small number of these multistorey services at the current point in time as well – less than 10, I am advised.

Georgie CROZIER: What are the key considerations regarding the emergency evacuation of children that inform the regulatory approval of childcare centres housed in multistorey buildings at present?

Lizzie BLANDTHORN: Just as a clarification, do you mean as it currently stands? Let me just clarify that.

It is currently the same as it is for all multistorey buildings for all people. But in terms of the actual service provision and the department regulating that service provision in the first place, they would have to be able to show that they had a safe way for all children – children of all-abilities – to both access the service and also leave the service in the case of an emergency.

Georgie CROZIER: You answered the next question I had, I think, in that response, so I thank you for that. Could you provide to the house what organisations were consulted on the design of the approval in principle scheme?

Lizzie BLANDTHORN: My understanding and advice is that consultation occurred broadly. Obviously this was a decision that was considered by the whole of the national education ministers forum. The consultation occurred across early childhood service providers and developers. It received positive support from the likes of architects across Victoria in that process. The Victorian government also undertook further targeted consultation back in April where key peak bodies and key stakeholders in the construction and building sector, including the Property Council of Australia, the Urban Development Institute of Australia and the Master Builders Association, were provided with the opportunity to comment on the scheme’s design. No responses were received from those stakeholders. But more broadly it was well received, and we did not actually receive any concerns during the consultation approach.

Georgie CROZIER: How many developments per year does the government expect to make use of the scheme?

Lizzie BLANDTHORN: As I said, at the moment my advice is it is a very small number of current services, and obviously it will grow over time with the development particularly of metropolitan Melbourne. I was listening to Mr Batchelor’s contribution before. When you consider housing developments like Docklands, for example, there is more and more of a need for these multistorey services. It will grow over time. I mean, it is ‘How long is a piece of string?’ in effect. The important thing is that there are the provisions there to provide for it and to provide for it safely.

Georgie CROZIER: For those 10 that you said that are in existence now, they are obviously very supportive of this. Have they indicated any concern about the scheme or potentially the building that they are in? I know that I have visited some early education centres in the city, in Docklands, as you mentioned just then. Have they got any concerns about their current requirements, or have they given any feedback to you?

Lizzie BLANDTHORN: My advice is that the consultation only received positive feedback. There were no concerns raised by anybody.

Georgie CROZIER: Minister, the scheme is currently voluntary. Does the government have any plans to make it a regulatory requirement for childcare centres proposed in multistorey buildings?

Lizzie BLANDTHORN: If I understand your question correctly: do we have a plan for it to be mandatory – is that what you mean? It is deliberately voluntary at this point in time. We will keep it under review and assess it, but it is anticipated that it be a voluntary scheme, unlike for example the ACT, which we know would like to move to a mandatory system. That is not our intention at this point in time.

Georgie CROZIER: That review process that you have just mentioned – will that be conducted in any particular way? As these multistorey buildings come online, is that what the government will be doing – reviewing how it is actually being rolled out and working?

Lizzie BLANDTHORN: When I say ‘review’, I am not referring to a formal review mechanism as much as our intention is that it be voluntary, and we anticipate that voluntary will work. As I said, there were no concerns raised during the consultation, so we expect that it will be a system that people will be signed up to.

Georgie CROZIER: Thank you, Minister; that is reassuring. What role will the regulatory agency play in the operation of the approval in principle scheme?

Lizzie BLANDTHORN: I guess the value of the system is that it will be done at an earlier stage, so the approval in principle process will allow for that toing and froing, as you would expect. The regulatory authority would ultimately provide the approval in principle in the same way they do for other types of buildings, but you would have that early conversation, which would give developers that confidence.

Georgie CROZIER: I could skip this question; we sort of discussed it. It was in the review process. Will there be any formal mechanism for feedback to have that review process? Is that what the government is planning, or how will that be conducted?

Lizzie BLANDTHORN: I have nothing further to add to what I indicated before. There is not a formal mechanism built into it as such. There were no concerns raised, so we anticipate there will be strong take-up and people will comply. If it was observed that there was an issue or a problem in the take-up, then we might consider other ways, but at this point in time we do not anticipate that. There were no concerns raised, and everyone seems committed to being able to provide developments that are safe for children. So there is not a formal mechanism as such.

Georgie CROZIER: Thank you for that; I think it is perfectly clear. The peak bodies will be monitoring this and getting that feedback from those that are involved, and then that would flow through to government, I would presume. If there were any issues, that would be highlighted. Is that what you are expecting as well in terms of that large support for the scheme and the process?

Lizzie BLANDTHORN: Yes. As I have said a number of times, it was obviously broadly discussed by education ministers across the country. Everyone was in agreement. There has been certainly broad agreement, and indeed no concerns were raised by stakeholders in the consultation process. In particular, as I said earlier, those developer organisations were consulted as well, many of which did not provide any response, so it is expected that there was no concern. Of course there will always be an open dialogue with both those who are building such developments and designing such developments and those that are running the services within them. If it became apparent that there was a broad-scale problem, then we would seek to revisit it, but at this stage everyone seems signed up and we do not see the need for this to be a mandatory scheme. Of course it is always under review, as all legislation and all regulations always are, as to whether they are achieving the outcome that is desired. But at this point in time everyone’s commitment is to a voluntary scheme that no-one raised concerns about and that everyone agrees is in the best interests of the safety of children.

Clause agreed to; clauses 2 to 20 agreed to.

Reported to house without amendment.

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (15:26): I move:

That the report be adopted.

Motion agreed to.

Report adopted.

Third reading

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (15:26): I move:

That the bill be now read a third time.

Motion agreed to.

Read third time.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Pursuant to standing order 14.28, the bill will be returned to the Assembly with a message informing them that the Council have agreed to the bill without amendment.