There’s flurry of activity around early childhood education and care. This week childcare experts attended a national summit on children under 5, last week the government established a Productivity Commission inquiry into early childhood education and care, and last month the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission began its inquiry into the cost of childcare.  And former prime minister Julia Gillard is leading a royal commission into early education and care in South Australia. 

The Productivity Commission Inquiry is expected to lay the foundations for achieving a universally accessible, high-quality early learning and care system in Australia.  The ACCC will examine how costs and prices differ across childcare service types and locations and how these impact childcare provider viability, quality and profits.  

A research team at Victoria University finds that universal, affordable and high-quality early education for Australian families is on the horizon, but four key challenges remain:

• 1.    Access to early childhood education and care is not equal in Australia, and depends on where families live.
• 2.    Despite increasing subsidies, the cost of early childhood services remains a key issue for many families.
• 3.    The government’s “activity test” is a major barrier to parents working.
• 4.    Early childhood educators are overworked and not paid enough