Dear friends and supporters,
Welcome to our monthly newsletter where we fill you all in about what's happening in The Parenthood community. We exist because of each and every one of you - and we're here to ensure parents' voices are heard. If there's something on your mind please don't hesitate to get in touch. Shoot us an email anytime here!
Take care and talk soon.
The Parenthood team -
Georgie, Michael & Maddy
PS. How good are the photos above? Read Georgie's blog post on why seeing these photos was a bit of a "pinch me" moment for us.
Trip to Canberra
Our Executive Director and Campaign Director, Georgie and Maddy, spent 48 hours in Canberra this week. They met (among others) with Dr Anne Aly, Minister for Early Childhood Education and Youth, Allegra Spender, Kylea Tink as well as representatives for a number of other MPs & Senators. They helped organise a briefing for the cross bench on the issues facing early childhood education and care. Two parents and two educators were there to deliver personal insight. Check our social media for photo and videos.
Workforce Action Plan
While in Canberra, on behalf of our community, Georgie stood with a broad coalition of unions, educator groups, experts, and advocates for children and parents to endorse Thrive by Five's Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce Action Plan. The plan sets out key priorities for addressing the workforce crisis in early learning.
Jobs and Skills Summit must address workforce crisis in early learning
Ahead of the Jobs and Skills Summit on 1-2 September in Canberra, The Parenthood is calling on the Federal Government for urgent action on the early education workforce crisis. "The status quo is unaffordable for early educators," says Georgie Dent in our media release.
Spotlight Weeks
We are excited to announce a series of Spotlight Weeks starting on 22 August! With our Spotlight Weeks we want to highlight issues such as gender equity, superannuation and early education. The first Spotlight Week will be on paid parental leave and kick off on 22 August. Check our website and social media for updates in the next few weeks!
Victorian State Election
As the state election in November draws closer, we're going to be calling on the state government for:
Clarity on its year of play based learning.
Better pay, conditions, training and treatment for the Early Education workforce.
Can you contact your local MP in the lead up to the election to discuss these two important issues? Get in contact and find out more!
Early Educators go on strike
Early educators across the nation will strike on 7 September amid the current crisis in early learning. Educators are leaving the sector in record numbers every week, due to burn-out, workload and low pay. Read more about the planned strike and the reasons behind it.
Centre for Policy Development’s Starting Now report
The Parenthood has welcomed the new report and its recommendations on the next phase of early learning reform:
- Improving affordability and accessibility of early childhood education and care;
- Ensuring Australia has a skilled workforce of early educators to deliver high-quality early childhood education and care; and
- Commencing joint design on a universal system. You can find our media release here.
The Parenthood stories
We have more than 30 stories on our website from parents and carers. Find out more about their challenges of dealing with parenting issues such as the cost of care or paid parental leave. Our story of the month is by Angela who writes: “My career’s taken a back seat while men around me advance.” You can also fill out our story form and submit your own story here!
Post-Election Survey
A big THANK YOU to everybody who took our recent post election survey! We wanted to hear from parents and carers about what factors influenced votes and the results are fascinating. The survey is still open and you can take it here.
