Childcare Sector

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:05): My question is to the Minister for Education. Why did the minister decide to allow unqualified staff to be allowed to be counted in the educator-child ratio?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (15:05): I thank the member for the question. While I don't necessarily agree with exactly the way she's framed the question, I do understand what she's talking about. This is indeed a matter which she and I had some discussion about during estimates when she was the minister as, indeed, this is a body of reform that was part of the National Quality Framework in which South Australia was previously inconsistent with most other states in both of these areas.

As a result of the changes, which now have been agreed by all ministers, that South Australia will become consistent with the National Quality Framework alongside many other states, we will from late July, it is anticipated, allow childcare centres to have a three-month probationary period for some of their staff to be able to count towards the—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Consistent—

Mr Picton: Are they trained?

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Kaurna!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —with the National Quality Framework—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —that is required in childcare centres. This, as I have said—

The Hon. T.J. Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, Minister for Primary Industries!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —in the previous answer, is consistent with also encouraging–

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —more traineeships, more opportunities for job pathways into centres. It is consistent with the National Quality Framework, what we expect of our childcare centres. It will also have the benefit of ensuring that those families—

The Hon. V.A. Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Deputy Premier!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —who entrust their children to the care and the educational services—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —and the development services provided in our childcare centres have the opportunity, where there is an opportunity for a cost reduction, to benefit from that cost reduction. That is something that I think will be welcomed by families. I think at a time when we do have right now a privileged provision as a result of the federal government's COVID-related childcare benefits, where people do access free child care, that is something that is not going to last forever. The federal government has made it very clear that that is not going to last forever.

So, consequently, when we return to a position where families become essentially people who are paying for child care to a very significant extent, then it is something that ensures that families can enable themselves to afford that childcare, so long as that is on the basis of a strong quality framework, that which the former Labor government signed up to in about 2011 or 2012. South Australia's rules in relation to that framework are now consistent with that National Quality Framework. It is not a radical proposition—

Ms Stinson: You're lowering our standards.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —it's a proposition which is accepted by Labor governments in many states, indeed one of them accepted by all Labor governments.

Dr Close: Let's just race to the bottom for everything, shall we?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: The shadow minister for education describes every Labor state government in Australia as racing to the bottom, and I don't think that that is a fair characterisation. I don't think that is a fair characterisation at all. I think that what has happened is that we—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —have a National Quality Framework, and South Australia is now more consistent with that National Quality Framework—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —than we were prior to these changes. It is anticipated these changes will take application from late July. Government preschools will maintain the 1:10 ratio for disadvantaged children. We are talking about, in this case, three year olds and above, but the opportunity is there for non-government children centres in this circumstance to move from 1:10 to 1:11 for those three year olds and above.