Statement attributable to Carolyn Smith, Early Education Director, United Workers Union:
Thousands of United Workers Union educators will support the findings of the Allan Labor Government’s rapid review of the early education sector because its recommendations will make children safer.
Educators will also support the finding that workforce issues – including shortages of educators, casualisation, agency workers and resulting high turnover – need to be addressed in reforms to the sector.
We therefore support the Victorian Government’s position that overall staffing levels need to increase, that there has been an over-reliance on trainees, and staffing loopholes must be closed.
United Workers Union notes the review’s damning finding that for-profit centres lag behind not-for-profit centres on safety, and agrees there are “perverse incentives” that could lead for-profit centres to maximise profits rather than prioritising the education and care of children.
In this light, the union endorses the recommendation that the Federal Government should “reconsider the current funding model and reliance on the market”.
In relation to other recommendations:
- A move toward a stronger Working With Children Check makes sense when confronting the weaknesses that have been exposed in the sector, and lifting the standards for people receiving this check is also welcome.
- A strengthened register that gives providers and workers certainty around educators’ work history – and addresses the profligate job-hopping seen in some of the worst cases – will be seen as an important additional safeguard by educators.
- A new early childhood regulator in Victoria will be seen as a worthwhile measure by the thousands of educators who devote their professional lives to educating and caring for children in the best way possible.