On 10.12.2020 we held our Think Tank "Early Childhood Education and Care - can we make it free?" A recording of the discussion is now available.
We had the following nine speakers answering this burning questions: How might Australia look if high quality early childhood education and care was universally accessible for everyone?
- Kristine Ziwica, Journalist, Columnist and Consultant
- Alex Andrews, COO of Verve Super and Co-founder of Make It Free
- Lisa Bryant, Early Education Consultant
- Mehreen Faruqi, Federal Senator for New South Wales
- Matt Grudnoff, Senior Economist, The Australia Institute
- Eva Cox AO, Writer, Feminist, Sociologist, Social Commentator and Activist
- Dee Behan, Parent, Creative Director and Co-founder of Make It Free
- Michael Katerla, Parent and Communications Manager at The Parenthood
- Kalinda Bolt, Site Coordinator of the Women’s Business 2nd Chance Hub
Watch the discussion here:
BACKGROUND:
Australian families pay some of the highest out-of-pocket costs for early childhood education and care (ECEC) in the world. Even before the pandemic hit, 48% of parents with children under 5 years were struggling to afford ECEC.
Ahead of the May budget, we want to raise the issue of universal access to ECEC with the federal government and to do that we need to make the views and experiences of women, parents and families known.
Now we are in a recession, it will only get worse. This issue has needed to be addressed for years, but the unprecedented, turbulent times presented by the Covid19 pandemic have exacerbated the urgent need for reform.
