15th Oct 2019, 5:35 PM – Senate Motions - National Children's Week - Early childhood education

The majority voted in favour of a motion introduced by Victorian Senator Raff Ciccone (Labor) at the request of SA Senator Marielle Smith (Labor) and Tasmanian Senator Catryna Bilyk (Labor), which means it succeeded.

Motions like these don't have any legal force on their own but are politically influential because they represent the will of the Senate.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that it is National Children's Week from 19 to 27 October 2019;

(b) recognises that:

(i) the first three years of life set critical foundations for learning, development and well-being into adulthood,

(ii) early childhood education and care in Australia is disproportionately funded by private sources, such as parents and families,

(iii) only one in five Australian children attend a public institution for early childhood education and care – well below the OECD average,

(iv) childcare costs are going up for working families, who are already struggling with stagnating wages, a slowing economy and skyrocketing costs of living, and

(v) all Australian children should have access to quality education at the start of life, regardless of where they live; and

(c) calls on the Federal Government to make early childhood education an economic priority, and take steps to provide long-term funding certainty for four-year-old preschool, and extend the program to three-year-olds.