Tuesday, 28 May 2024

Ministers statements: early childhood education

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:29): I rise to update the house on how the Allan Labor government continues to step in and assist the Commonwealth to bring affordable child care into more communities. The other week I was very pleased to attend Moomba Park Primary School with the member for Broadmeadows in the other place to announce that four further early learning and childcare centres will be opening in 2026. These ELCCs are a further four in addition to the 10 sites that are already opening in 2026. Three of the additional ELCCs will be located at new schools, including Mickleham South primary school, Toolern Waters primary school and Wollert Andrews Road primary school, as they are known at the moment – these are interim names for the ELCCs. The fourth will be built next to Teesdale Primary School on recently acquired land. These additional ELCCs will provide more than 450 licensed places for children, including child care and three- and four-year-old kindergarten. Importantly, each ELCC will help meet local demand for vital early learning services. They will also feature dedicated community spaces for programs and services, such as maternal and child health, allied health, playgroups and other child and family services, because we know that bringing services together has many benefits for families. Together the 14 ELCCs opening in 2026 will create more than 1400 new licensed childcare places in communities that need them most.

I was also very pleased to announce that we have appointed the architects working on the 2026 projects as well as the builders for the first four ELCCs on track to open in 2025. Between 2025 and 2032 the Allan government will establish 50 new ELCCs to improve access to early education and help meet demand for kindergarten and child care in our communities. By early 2026 the first 18 centres will collectively deliver more than 1800 licensed places for local children and families. Through our nation-leading $14 billion Best Start, Best Life reforms, the government is transforming early childhood education to help children thrive, save families money and support parents and carers to return to work or study if they choose to do so.