ACA President’s Report

The Federal Government continues to focus on the early learning sector as we enter the new year. Whilst it’s reassuring that our sector is recognised as playing an important role in giving our children the best start in life, as well as a critical factor in keeping the rest of the economy afloat, we need to ensure that any changes to government policy do not bring about unexpected consequences such as increased costs to families, or a destabilisation of the sector.

Our political engagement at the federal level allows for meaningful discussion with the key political stakeholders, to represent the needs of the sector and in particular the needs of our valued members.

In late November I spent some time in Canberra to actively speak to the key decision makers about the most pressing issues facing our sector. I met with the Hon Anne Aly MP, Minister for Early Childhood Education, as well as other influential MPs and Senators. We discussed the key issues facing our members and our families, including the current workforce crisis as well as the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill - the industrial relations reforms which include multiemployer bargaining.

These meetings went well and have galvanised our working relationships with our key stakeholders. The updates on the issues we discussed are outlined below.

Following Senator David Pocock’s suggested amendments being agreed to by Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke, the amended Bill passed in Parliament and will take effect in mid-2023. ACA is working closely with our legal team at the Australian Business Lawyers & Advisors (ABLA) to explore the implications of this new legislation on our sector and will keep you informed.

As you would be aware, ACA is working relentlessly to address the workforce challenges faced by our sector. This is reflected in our political advocacy with government both face-to-face as well as via formal submissions such as our Employment Workforce Paper.

We have recently engaged a public policy consulting firm - Dandolo Partners - to help us undertake some research and develop some financial modelling, in order to get a better understanding of the impact of increased wages on affordability for families.

The project deliverables will greatly assist us in our political engagement and consultation activities with government around the impact of wage increases on our sector, especially for families. This research will take a few months to unfold. We will share the results of this study early this year.

Meanwhile we are extremely mindful of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) Price Inquiry into Childcare and have therefore engaged law firm Clayton Utz to prepare some guidance around your legal rights and obligations if, or when, you are contacted by the ACCC as part of their information gathering process.

This guidance will include information on how service providers can expect to be approached from the ACCC if they are contacted, what your legal rights and obligations are in the context of this information request, what level of information will be required and in what sort of format, what the expected timelines are, and what level of privacy will apply to the information you have provided.

Given that the ACCC is expected to commence their information gathering process at the start of the new year, we made this guidance available to you early December.

ACA will also provide a submission on behalf of the sector the ACCC as part of this inquiry, which will be one of our key policy items of focus for 2023.

We thank you again for your ongoing support as an ACA member, in providing meaningful feedback and remaining engaged with the critical issues impacting our sector.

Paul Mondo ACA President