Comment from Jay Weatherill on the Early Years Summit
17 February 2023 – “Every Australian child must have guaranteed access to affordable, high-quality early childhood education and care, bound by legislation and operationalised by a new Commonwealth and State early childhood body.
“With the Early Years Summit and the development of a national Early Years Strategy, we can reshape the future for Australian children and through them, secure a better future for our nation.
“It starts now. Today’s Early Years Summit cannot simply tinker at the edges, nor can it remain tethered to the past. We owe it to our children to be ambitious and help lay the foundation for a new approach to the early years,” Mr Weatherill said.
This week, Thrive by Five led a group of key civil society and early learning groups, parents, unions and educators in an Open Letter that calls on Early Years Summit attendees and the Federal Government for commitment to a break-through guarantee for every Australian child, bound by legislation and operationalised by a new Federal and state early childhood body.
