United Workers Union welcomes the NSW Premier\u2019s call today to re-think the early childhood education and care system in Australia.<\/p>\n
Quotes attributable to Helen Gibbons, Director Early Education, United Workers Union<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWe know that the current system doesn\u2019t work for parents, educators or children.<\/p>\n \u201cUnited Workers Union welcomes new thinking on the provision of quality early education and care, and particularly a discussion about new models of funding.<\/p>\n \u201cParents in Australia pay some of the highest out-of-pocket costs in the OECD, yet there is no guarantee that fees or taxpayer funding provides quality early education.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that all too often that profit is put before quality – our reports into the sector released over the past six months demonstrate the real cost of the current system on our children.<\/p>\n \u201cFor-profit providers have a demonstrated history of poorer safety and lower quality outcomes than the not-for-profit sector, with profits siphoned off to private equity investors and tax havens offshore.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not good enough.<\/p>\n \u201cNinety percent of brain architecture is formed by age three. If we want a world class education system for our children, we must start in the early years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe New South Wales Premier should be commended for opening up a discussion on how we can build a sustainable, public, high quality early years education system in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n The United Workers Union is the union for Early Childhood Education and Care. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Last week United Workers Union released a ground-breaking report into profits in early education: <\/em><\/strong>\u201cSpitting off cash\u201d \u2013 Where does all the money go in Australia\u2019s early learning sector?<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n