NEW REPORT UNDERSCORES THE NEED FOR GREATER EARLY LEARNING INVESTMENTS IN RURAL AND REMOTE AUSTRALIA
13 November 2023 – Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five campaign has renewed its calls for greater early learning investment and infrastructure development across rural and remote Australia, following findings from a report published by The Parenthood that highlight the dire state of access to early learning for regional families.
The report, titled Choiceless, contains insights and testimonies from families across rural and remote Australia and provides first-hand accounts of the challenges faced by regional Australians trying to access early learning [1].
Minderoo Foundation’s Jay Weatherill said the report underscored the need for bold and urgent early learning reforms in rural and remote Australia, including greater investments in infrastructure that improve access to early learning.
“A family’s postcode should not determine whether or not they can access the benefits of high-quality early learning, but that is the reality facing thousands of Australian families in rural and remote communities.
“According to the Mitchell Institute’s Childcare Deserts Report [2], more than 35 per cent of Australian families live in communities with little to no early learning access. This is simply unacceptable.
“Early learning services in rural and remote Australia continue to be too sparse and woefully inadequate compared to urban areas, and families are paying the price.
“As the many accounts of families mentioned in this report highlight, the need for bold and urgent reforms has never been greater. It is clear that the current system and funding models are not working. Rural and remote families and children deserve better.
“Without concrete and urgent action in the form of investments in early learning infrastructure and workforce development, we risk leaving behind tens of thousands of families and children.
“We join The Parenthood in calling on the Federal, State and Territory governments to ensure they directly invest in rural and remote early learning infrastructure and make concerted efforts at improving access.
“We must work towards building a truly universally accessible, high-quality and affordable early learning system.
“Every Australian child, regardless of where they live or what their circumstances are, deserves access to high-quality early learning, and it is imperative that we strive toward achieving that,” he said.
Thrive by Five’s Rural and Remote Five-Point Plan [3] has called for:
- Establishing a dedicated early learning funding model for rural and remote communities
- The National Cabinet to prioritise early childhood education reforms
- Rolling out universal three-year-old preschool Australia-wide
- Abolishing the Child Care Activity Test
- Implementing workforce reforms that ensure fairer wages and workloads for the early educator workforce
[1] Choiceless – The Parenthood
