Senate Interim Report on the Effect of Red Tape on Childcare

The Australian, Child Weekly and the Educa website have reported on a Senate report calling for a review into the National Quality Framework. An interview with the chairman of the committee was broadcast on radio station 2GB.

The Senate Select Committee on Red Tape published the The Effect of Red Tape on Childcare Interim Report on 15 August. The final report of the committee is due to be presented by 3 December 2018. The Interim report makes seven recommendations. In summary, the committee recommended that: 

• the Australian Government, through the Council of Australian Governments, work toward reducing the regulatory burden in the Family Day Care sector, including by removing limits on the number of educators in each service.
• the Australian Government, through the Council of Australian Governments, promote and/or develop an evidence-base for staffing ratios and staffing qualifications in early childhood education and care, as a quality component of the National Quality Framework. 
• following establishment of the evidence-base for staffing ratios and staffing qualifications in early childhood education and care, the principles of the National Quality Framework be reviewed to ensure they appropriately reflect the evidence-base. 
• in reviewing the principles of the National Quality Framework, Australian, state and territory governments recognise that formal qualifications are not the only prerequisite for the provision of high quality child care, as this can also be provided by parents
• the Department of Education and Training provide a detailed annual report to the Department of Jobs and Small Business, to provide greater transparency about red tape reductions in early childhood education and care.
• the Department of Education and Training and the Department of Jobs and Small Business report in greater detail on the regulatory effect of implementing the Child Care Subsidy, including in relation to the Activity Test. 
• the Australian Government review the objectives of fee assistance to ensure that it is actually targeting maternal workforce participation and children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The interim report and other documents can be accessed from the Parliament of Australia website.