Submissions to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Childcare and Early Learning have now closed. The public submissions currently available are a mixed bag – calls for quality reform balanced by companies advertising their products, individuals saying that Mums should just stay at home with their kids and many pushes to extend subsidies to nannies.
But if you only read one submission, make it the incredible submission from Community Child Care Co-Operative NSW.
Simply titled “Imagine”, it takes the audacious strategy of challenging the terms of reference of the inquiry and asking the Commission to instead consider child-focused reforms.
No family in Australia is told that there is no place for their child in a school, and neither should they be told that there is no place for their child in an early education and care service.
As well as succinctly analysing the current structural issues facing the sector, the submission articulates clear steps forward to resolve them.
Critically, it directly challenges the market-based model that now dominates the sector. This is significant and necessary advocacy from CCCCNSW.
This is a must-read for anyone in the ECEC sector.
Liam McNicholas 