Jacqui Emery, CEO of Royal Far West, a specialist child development service that supports thousands of country children across four states, described the commitment as transformational.
“One of the most significant barriers to accessing early childhood education and care in regional, rural and remote Australia is high out of pocket costs.
“Many country families pay more than $40 a day to ensure their children can attend early learning.**
“The Prime Minister’s commitment to reducing parent fees for childcare to no more than $10 to $20 a day would change country families’ lives, particularly during the current cost-of-living crisis.
“This, sitting alongside a clear demonstration of investment in a universal early childhood system for all Australian children will be transformational.
“High quality early learning and care helps set kids in the regions up for life.
“Children who have the opportunity to access early learning and support for their healthy development are shown to be more engaged at school, to be more likely to finish school, go on to further education and to participate in the workforce. They are less likely to have mental health issues and come into contact with the justice system.
“Too many country children are starting school behind and will struggle to catch up. We know that country kids are twice as likely as city kids to start school developmentally vulnerable.
“High quality early education is the best opportunity to identify issues early, provide support and help reduce this inequity and reverse this worrying trend.
“By supporting families to better afford early education and care, we can ensure every child has the opportunity to get the best start.
“Royal Far West looks forward to working with the Federal Government to implement this commitment, alongside the recent establishment of the three day childcare guarantee and educator wage rise, and the commitment to establishing a $1 billion fund to address childcare deserts.”