Early Childhood Education

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (15:19): I rise to speak in support of early childhood educators. These are remarkable people who are deeply committed to developing, nurturing and educating our youngest South Australians. Day in and day out they are there for our young people and their families, with their work having a lasting impact on those they support. I know my own family remembers well the care and education provided by early childhood educators.

These workers currently undertake their incredible work in an environment where the sector is suffering from a lack of government funding, a lack of governmental leadership and a lack of basic resources to combat the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Childcare operators, parents, workers and their union, the United Workers Union, are pleading with state and federal governments to properly resource them to cope with the pandemic. These workers, who are charged with looking after our community's young children, are campaigning for basic support. It is extraordinary that they need to do so, that any early childhood educator lacks basic resources to ensure hygiene, cleaning and protection at this time.

In a recent national online survey, 1,100 workers said that they and their centres' families are more at risk as a result of increasing attendance. The survey also found that 69 per cent of educators believe that the health risk to themselves and the centres' families and children is increasing as more children attend their service. Eight in 10 educators believe that additional staff are needed at their centre to maintain adequate health and hygiene practices, and 69 per cent of centres do not have a health and safety representative. Early childhood educators cannot practise social distancing. They absolutely deserve immediate support and resources.

On behalf of their members, the United Workers Union is calling on the national cabinet to immediately adopt a six-point plan to urgently address these issues. The plan includes ensuring every child has their temperature taken before being admitted to the centre; providing enough PPE; comprehensively cleaning all areas, objects and surfaces; rostering enough staff to ensure the extra cleaning required can be done as well as educating children; ensuring everyone entering centres washes their hands; and staggering start and finish times to better enable any social distancing.

This basic plan must operate in every centre for the safety of children, workers and their respective families. These early childhood educators have such a huge responsibility placed on them at work. These workers give our youngest South Australians the best possible start in life, playing a fundamental role in their mental, physical and emotional development. Overwhelmingly women, these hardworking South Australians have dealt with the added pressure of keeping children in their care safe throughout the crisis. One childcare centre director summed up the frustration being felt across the country:

There has just been no clear policy for the sector. We are not schools. We are working with very young children where the recommendations that have been put in place about social distancing don't apply.

Educators are taking great care and consideration about the pandemic, but we also need support and resources from the government to ensure workers are as safe as possible. We need recommendations and funding from our leaders specific to early childhood.

Workers, parents and our community must have confidence that centres are safely operating. So far, the Marshall Liberal government has not provided any clear direction to early childhood education services, despite the fact these are front-line essential workers. I call on both the state and federal governments to immediately implement the six-point plan, a plan utterly focused on safety. The plan contains commonsense and necessary procedures that many people and parents in our community would assume are already being undertaken. I also call on the federal government to categorise early childhood educators and care providers as essential services.

The extraordinary work of early childhood educators should be recognised, valued and respected at this difficult time and always. Our system of early child care was already under strain through years of federal Liberal neglect and privatisation, and we cannot afford to lose centres because of this current situation. In closing, I thank the outstanding United Workers Union leaders for speaking up and out for fairness, safety, dignity and respect at work, and I also thank every early childhood educator for the difference that they make in children's lives and to the very fabric of our community. I will continue to advocate to ensure their voices are heard.