Office for Early Childhood Development Bill – Second Reading speech

Tuesday 24 September 2024 

S.E. ANDREWS (Gibson) (17:01): I rise to indicate my support for the Office for Early Childhood Development Bill 2024. This bill establishes the Office for Early Childhood Development as a steward of South Australia's early childhood development system. 

Universal three-year-old preschool was recommended by the Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care, chaired by commissioner the Hon. Julia Gillard AC in recognition that in South Australia nearly one in four children are developmentally vulnerable in one or more domains when they commence school. 

Improving outcomes for South Australian children requires a holistic approach across the entire early childhood development system. This bill provides the legislative mandate for the office to provide statewide strategic oversight and direction of the early childhood system and to collaborate and engage with the many organisations and people who intersect in the early years of a child's life. 

The royal commission's final report details an ambitious vision for the future and contains three key unifying themes of the report on the new system. The first is that every child will benefit from greater access to quality services, including an extra year of preschool. However, because, of course, children are different, the system will be universal but not uniform, which means additional help will get to the children and families who need it most. This is important as we want the highest quality education for every child and we know that a one-size-fits-all approach does not deliver the best outcomes for all our children. 

The second key theme is irrespective of a family's postcode the quality of service is to be improved. The commission recommends that every service, whether provided by government, the private sector or a not-for-profit, should link together and form a coherent system that is easier for families to use. Once again, this is critical as we know that having fewer opportunities due to where you live can impact a person's life and we should not be impacting the future of three year olds based on where they attend early child care and their parents' circumstances. 

Thirdly, South Australia can be a nation leader on early childhood development by driving towards an ambitious goal to reduce the number of children starting school with developmental challenges, offering up to 30 hours of preschool per week for three and four year olds who need the most development support, constantly translating new scientific knowledge into action and leading the national policy conversation on the early years. 

I am proud to be a part of another significant reform being implemented by our Malinauskas Labor government once again leading the nation, and once again, improving the future for South Australians. The Office for Early Childhood Development will work with communities; Aboriginal leaders; local government, non-government and government providers in health, human services and child protection; and government and non-government early childhood education care providers to support children to thrive. 

The office will work collaboratively to mobilise long day care, early learning centres and government services in every community to deliver a new offer of universal three-year-old preschool. The South Australian budget 2024-25 committed an additional $1.9 billion in early childhood services and support over the period to 2032-33. This investment represents a once-in-a-generation commitment to reducing the rate of South Australian children entering school developmentally vulnerable. Our nation-leading three-year-old preschool will be rolled out progressively from 2026, with an initial focus on regional and remote communities. 

Access to preschool and wraparound out-of-hours care in these communities will not only support children's development but also support workforce participation and improved economic outcomes in the region. Long day-care centres across the state that meet quality requirements can also begin delivering three-year-old preschool in 2026. Additional supports will be provided for particularly vulnerable children, with integrated hubs and additional preschool hours being made available to children who need them most. An integrated early childhood education and care system will bring together education, health and human services to support the best outcomes for children. 

Coordinated referral pathways will be created to support children to access the services they need to thrive. I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the early education and care workforce, a role that has been undervalued for too long as people dismiss these staff as other, as less than other educators, but we all know the critical difference that early childhood education and care staff make in our young people's lives. Our state government acknowledges this by committing an investment of $96.6 million in early childhood education and care workforce initiatives that will support attraction, qualification pathways, retention and quality. 

The Australian Early Development Census shows that around half of Aboriginal children enrolled in their first year of school are vulnerable in one or more areas. This bill includes specific additional functions for the office in respect of Aboriginal children. Shared decision-making and co-design with Aboriginal leadership and community will better support Aboriginal children and their families and unlock the full benefit of preschool programs for these children. 

Just last week, the Productivity Commission's inquiry into early childhood education and care report recommended universal access to early childhood education and care, affordability and quality, the need to support and increase the workforce, needs-based inclusion support and the need for coordinated stewardship across the early childhood system. This report is timely and will be examined by the government but does seem to have good alignment with the recommendations of South Australia's Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care, and the reforms being rolled out by the Office for Early Childhood Development. I commend the bill to the house.