A briefing was
given to the ASU today by the office of the Hon Peter Garrett AM, MP – Minister
for Early Childhood and Youth.
Greg McLean,
Assistant National Secretary met with the Minister's office on current
government funding for child care and the announcement earlier this week of a
bill to establish the Early Years Quality Fund Account. The bill proposes to
establish a special account to administer funding for the early childhood
education sector and is before Parliament in June.
The Fund will
provide $300 million over two years to early childhood services, helping
centres to attract and retain qualified professionals in the sector.
Committee
representatives to oversee the Fund are to be announced soon. The ASU will
contact all members once the committee is established and continue to ensure
local government gets its fair share from the Fund. Our submissions later this
week to Federal Parliament will welcome the creation of an Early Years Quality
Fund Account that benefits early childhood educators. We will send our
submission to the Fund committee and meet with the committee representatives,
including the Minister's Department representatives on the committee.
