Childcare Services

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:52): I rise today to speak on a matter that goes to the very heart of the safety and wellbeing of South Australian children: the state of our childcare and early learning system. Let me be clear: the vast majority of childcare centres do the right thing. However, over the last three years we have seen an alarming number of reports emerge about incidents in our childcare centres.

Those incidents include children being left unsupervised, unexplained injuries, failure to meet staffing ratios and serious breaches of trust. These are not isolated events. They paint a concerning picture of a system under stress, one that is crying out for stronger oversight, better resourcing and a government that is willing to act, not just react.

The government's current approach has been focused on audits. While audits are important, they are not enough. It is not good enough to simply step in after something goes wrong. What we need to see is a proactive, front-footed approach that identifies problems before they occur. That is why the opposition has called for what we have described as a SWAT style approach—a coordinated, resourced and rapid intervention model that can be deployed to centres showing early signs of risk.

This is about preventing harm, not just documenting it after the fact. It is about giving parents confidence that when they drop their children off in the morning they are leaving them in a safe, stable and caring environment.

Sadly, confidence in the system has been shaken. The recent forced closure of Edge Learning Centre at Plympton is a clear example. That centre was closed for an initial two-week period and then a further three months. It is hard to imagine a more distressing situation for families, and it underscores just how stretched some services have become.

We know that staff shortages, turnover and burnout are major issues across the sector. Educators are doing their absolute best under difficult conditions, but they are being let down by a government that has failed to plan for workforce pressures that have been building for years. That brings me to Labor's 2022 election commitment to deliver universal three-year-old preschool. Let me be clear: giving children the best possible start is something we all support but what Labor has failed to be honest about is the sheer scale of the challenge involved and the risk to quality and safety if these reforms are rushed or under-resourced.

The government's entire plan depends on partnering with existing early childhood providers, the same providers who are already struggling to meet national quality standards and staffing ratios. Incidents like those at Edge Plympton demonstrate exactly what can go wrong when services are under pressure. If centres are barely coping with current enrolments how can we possibly expect them to safely expand to include younger children or more children as well? Every time a new child walks through the door, the supervision ratios tighten, the staffing demands increase and the risks of failure grow.

To succeed, Labor's plan will require hundreds of additional qualified educators, more regulatory oversight and better support for training staff and retention. This government has a habit of announcing ambitious reforms without doing the hard work to make them succeed. Whether it is a ramping crisis, the housing shortage, or now the childcare system, South Australians are growing tired of the same pattern: big promises up-front followed by slow delivery, poor oversight and spiralling costs.

Parents deserve better than this. Educators deserve better than this and, most importantly, our children deserve better than this. A safe and high-quality learning system does not just happen by chance, it requires clear standards, strong leadership and proactive engagement with providers. It means making sure that the Education Standards Board has the resources and mandate to provide real-time support and intervention, and can step in swiftly with compliance directions and notices where risks emerge, rather than discovering problems after the fact. When it comes to the safety of our youngest South Australians, prevention will always be better than the cure.