Media Releases

08 Dec 2009 - South Australian Children to Benefit from New Care Standards

The Hon Kate Ellis MP

Minister for Early Childhood Education, Child Care and Youth

8 December, 2009

Joint Media release

South Australian children to benefit from new care standards

Joint media release with: The Hon Jay Weatherill, Ministers for Early Childhood Development

The Federal Minister for Early Childhood Education and Child Care Kate Ellis and the South Australian Minister for Early Childhood Development Jay Weatherill say new national child care standards will deliver benefits to South Australian children and families.

"There are about 290 long day care services in South Australia caring for about 33,000 children and about 8,400 children attend SA's 15 family day care services," Ms Ellis said.

"The changes mean a higher quality of care for each of these children, more comprehensive information for their parents and a better working environment for their carers."

The National Quality Framework agreed to by the Council of Australian Governments includes requirements for:

- lower staff-to-child ratios
- new qualifications requirements for all early childhood education workers
- a transparent quality ratings system that allows parents to easily compare the quality on offer at different child care services
- streamlined regulatory arrangements that mean less paperwork for services and more time to spend providing high quality care
- a new jointly-governed national body between the Commonwealth and the States and Territories to oversee the new standards.

The National Quality Framework will be phased in over ten years from 1 July 2010 and will ensure consistency in early childhood education and child care services across Australia.

"We know that the first five years of a child's life shapes their future - in terms of their health, learning and social development - and we want to make sure that future is bright," Ms Ellis said.

"We want all children to have a quality early childhood experience and we want parents to be well informed and confident that they are making the right choices for their child."

Mr Weatherill says investing in our youngest South Australians delivers the greatest benefits for the future health, happiness and prosperity of South Australia's population.

"We also know that quality early childhood services can help overcome a disadvantaged background and set children on the road to a healthy future."

Lower staff-to-child ratios mean each staff member can give more care and attention to each child, and higher staff qualifications will enable staff to guide each child's individual learning.

"We support these important national changes and will be working hard with the Commonwealth to lift standards for children, parents and child care workers in South Australia," he said.

"South Australia is already on track in reducing staff-to-child ratios, with the Rann Government having already committed to one staff member for every four children under two.

"Many South Australian childcare providers are already operating at this lower ratio."

The Federal Government will continue to help parents meet the costs of child care.

In the March quarter of this year, South Australian parents received Child Care Benefits of $28.7 million and $15.1 million in Child Care Rebates.

The Rudd Government has already delivered on its election promise to pay half of parents' out-of-pocket child care costs  by increasing the Child Care Rebate from 30 to 50%. That has dramatically improved affordability, with ABS statistics showing child care costs to parents have fallen by over 20 per cent as a result.

The Australian Government is providing about $61 million over four years to the States and Territories to support the new framework. In total, the Federal Government is investing $16 billion in child care over the next four years  a billion more each year than under the Howard Government.

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