This bill became law on Sep 18th, 2026.
Work & employment
Eligible early childhood educators can keep receiving the government-funded 15 per cent wage increase until 30 June 2028.
The government said the payment was needed to retain educators and avoid higher fees when the existing support ended on 30 November 2026. It said the original 15 per cent wage increase was reaching more than 215,000 educators at more than 11,600 centres; vacancies had fallen 31 per cent and the workforce had grown by 20,000. The government committed $3.6 billion over two years to continue the increase, while the Act credits the account with the exact funding amount of $3,654.4 million. It also wanted wage grants to encourage better child safety; about 95 per cent of services already met the relevant health and safety standard.
Australia already had a government-funded 15 per cent wage increase for eligible early childhood educators, but the sector was struggling to retain staff, with services delaying expansion, closing rooms and limiting enrolments, while the support was due to end on 30 November 2026. After announcing an extension on 17 June 2026, the government introduced and secured the Act, which adds $3,654.4 million to continue payments until 30 June 2028 and links future grants more explicitly to children's health and safety.
Matt O'Sullivan (Liberal) argued that another two-year extension still did not provide a lasting funding plan after June 2028. He said family day careApproved child care generally provided in an educator's home. and in-home care were presented as newly included, but services using independent contractors remained excluded; Family Day CareApproved child care generally provided in an educator's home. Australia told the Senate inquiry that virtually all of its approximately 8,500 educators worked as sole traders or contractors. Steph Hodgins-May (Australian Greens) argued that the 15 per cent increase was too small, compared with the 25 per cent sought by unions, and that the bill focused on penalties after safety standards were missed instead of investing enough to prevent harm. She also said the extension did not make early learning free and universally accessible or provide long-term certainty.
Hon Jason Clare MP introduced this bill. It passed on the voices.
Did it become law?
Yes
Became law 18 Sept 2026
Final passage
Passed without a counted vote
3 recorded amendment or procedural votes were found, but no counted vote on the bill itself was recorded.
Passage speed
37 days
From introduction to the latest recorded parliamentary step
Meaning
Eligible early childhood educators can keep receiving the government-funded 15 per cent wage increase until 30 June 2028. The Act adds $3,654.4 million to the account used to fund the grants and keeps the governing law operating until 31 December 2029, allowing time for payments made after the program ends.
Employees at every type of service approved for the Child Care SubsidyGovernment assistance that reduces eligible families' childcare costs. can be eligible for the payment for the first time, including family day careApproved child care generally provided in an educator's home. and in-home care. Services must meet the grant rules, including employing educators under a legally enforceable workplace agreement and passing the funding on through higher wages.
Services receiving the payment must limit fee increases. The government says fees at participating centres rose by about half as much as at centres that did not join, and estimates the extension will save the average family about $1,500 over two years.
The Act now has an explicit goal of improving the quality and safety of early childhood education and care. This includes increasing the number of approved services that meet the National Quality StandardThe national benchmark used to rate the quality of childcare services. for quality area 2The part of that standard covering children's health and safety., which covers children's health and safety.
New or changed grant agreements may include a requirement that a service meet the national health and safety standard for children, along with consequences such as suspended or ended funding. These conditions are optional rather than automatic, and comparable requirements can be used for services, such as in-home care, that do not receive a rating under the national system.
Partnerships and other organisations that are not separate legal persons can receive grants. Their written grant agreement must instead be signed by someone with legal responsibility who acts for them, such as a partner or management committee member.
The new rules for grant agreements apply only to agreements entered into or changed after the amendments begin.
4 After section 8 8A Credits to the Account $3,654.4 million is to be credited to the Account as soon as practicable after the commencement of this section. Note 1: This section commences on the day after the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Act 2026 receives the Royal Assent. Note 2: An Appropriation Act may contain a provision to the effect that, if any of the purposes of a special account is a purpose that is covered by an item in the Appropriation Act (whether or not the item expressly refers to tWage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Act 2026
It amends the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) Act 2024, crediting the special account and extending the act's sunset date from 30 June 2028 to 31 December 2029. The special account is used to administer the early childhood education and care worker retention payment grant to ECEC providers to fund higher wages for eligible workers. For the first time, all childcare-subsidy-approved services will be eligible for funding as long as they meet the grant requirements. This includes that all educators are engaged under a workplace instrument. This isMinister's second reading speech
To receive the funding, services have to limit fee increases. This has a real impact for families. Over the first year of the program, fees at centres that have received the payment have increased by about half the amount of centres that didn't sign up. If this legislation doesn't pass, the advice of my department is that childcare fees could skyrocket by about 17 per cent. We don't want this to occur. That's why this legislation is important. It means childcare workers are paid what they deserve and that the costs are not passed on parents. That will save the average family about $1,50Minister's second reading speech
1 At the end of subsection 3(1) ; and (e) improve the quality and safety of early childhood education and care, including by increasing the number of approved child care services that hold, under the National Quality Framework, a rating level of at least Meeting National Quality Standard for quality area 2 stated in the National Quality Standard. approved child care service has the same meaning as in the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999. Education and Care Services National Law has the same meaning as in the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration)Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Act 2026
7 After subsection 11(3) (3A) Without limiting subsection (1), for a recipient providing an approved child care service, the terms and conditions may include: (a) a condition that the service maintain, under the National Quality Framework, a rating level of at least Meeting National Quality Standard for quality area 2 stated in the National Quality Standard; and (b) provisions dealing with the consequences for a breach of a condition covered by paragraph (a); and (c) any other provisions relating to the quality and safety of the service.Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Act 2026
5 Section 10 After “person” (wherever occurring), insert “, entity”. 6 Subsection 11(1) Repeal the subsection, substitute: (1) The terms and conditions of a grant made under section 10 must be set out in a written agreement between: (a) if the recipient of the grant is a person—the Commonwealth and the recipient; or (b) otherwise—the Commonwealth and a person acting on behalf of the recipient of the grant.Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Act 2026
9 Application of amendments The amendments of section 11 of the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) Act 2024 made by this Schedule apply in relation to a written agreement entered into, or varied, on or after the commencement of this Schedule.Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Act 2026
Context
Australia already had a government-funded 15 per cent wage increase for eligible early childhood educators, but the sector was struggling to retain staff, with services delaying expansion, closing rooms and limiting enrolments, while the support was due to end on 30 November 2026. After announcing an extension on 17 June 2026, the government introduced and secured the Act, which adds $3,654.4 million to continue payments until 30 June 2028 and links future grants more explicitly to children's health and safety.
The retention payment system was established
The Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special AccountA government account from which the wage-support grants are paid.) Act 2024 created the special accountA government account from which the wage-support grants are paid. used to administer grants supporting higher wages for eligible workers.
Australian Parliament House ↗Staff shortages disrupted early learning services
Services were delaying expansion plans, closing rooms and limiting enrolments because they could not find enough staff.
Hansard ↗Government announces a two-year extension
The government announced that the 15 per cent wage increase would continue for another two years to retain educators and avoid higher fees when the existing support ended.
Hansard ↗Hon Jason Clare MP introduced the bill
In the House of Representatives, Hon Jason Clare MP introduced legislation to extend the wage support and strengthen conditions tied to grants.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Parliament passes the bill
Both houses passed the bill in the same form, completing parliamentary passage before Royal Assent.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Royal Assent made the bill law
The Governor-General's assent turned it into an Act, enabling the special accountA government account from which the wage-support grants are paid. to receive $3,654.4 million and support payments through 30 June 2028.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Legislative route
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
Referred to Committee (13/08/2026): Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee; Committee report (04/09/2026)
Report tabled 04 Sep 2026
APH bill page notesThe bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Second reading agreed to
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
Third reading agreed to
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Second reading agreed to
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
Third reading agreed to
Both houses passed the bill in the same form, completing parliamentary passage.
Finally passed both Houses
The Governor-General gave Royal Assent, turning the bill into an Act.
Key criticism
Matt O'Sullivan (Liberal) argued that another two-year extension still did not provide a lasting funding plan after June 2028. He said family day careApproved child care generally provided in an educator's home. and in-home care were presented as newly included, but services using independent contractors remained excluded; Family Day CareApproved child care generally provided in an educator's home. Australia told the Senate inquiry that virtually all of its approximately 8,500 educators worked as sole traders or contractors. Steph Hodgins-May (Australian Greens) argued that the 15 per cent increase was too small, compared with the 25 per cent sought by unions, and that the bill focused on penalties after safety standards were missed instead of investing enough to prevent harm. She also said the extension did not make early learning free and universally accessible or provide long-term certainty.
The Coalition said it would support the continuation of the payment, and the Greens said they supported the bill despite seeking broader reform. The government said educator numbers had increased and vacancies had fallen. It also said workplace agreements help ensure the funding reaches workers as higher wages, while safety conditions can allow funding to be cut when standards are not met.
Votes
The bill passed both chambers on the voices. The counted divisions below were about amendments or procedure, not final passage.
House agreed to the bill's third reading on the voices, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes for final passage in that chamber.
Passed on the voices
In a voice vote, members call out Aye or No and the presiding officer judges which side has it. Individual names are only recorded if a formal division is called.
Senate agreed to the bill's third reading on the voices, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes for final passage in that chamber.
Passed on the voices
In a voice vote, members call out Aye or No and the presiding officer judges which side has it. Individual names are only recorded if a formal division is called.
Recorded amendment and procedural votes grouped by chamber. Expand a vote to see the party breakdown.
Senate
Defeated 12 to 25. Support came from Greens, Australia's Voice, and minor parties and independents. Opposition came from Labor and Liberal.
Defeated 24 to 35. Support came from Liberal, Nationals, One Nation, and UAP. Opposition came from Labor, Greens, Australia's Voice, and minor parties and independents. Minor-party and independent votes were split.
Defeated 25 to 36. Support came from Liberal, One Nation, Nationals, and Liberal Party. Opposition came from Labor, Greens, Australia's Voice, Jacqui Lambie Network, and minor parties and independents.
These are amendment votes, not the final passage vote on the bill itself. The bill passed both chambers on the voices.
Parliamentary debate
Start here — lead voices
Clare urges passage of the bill because it extends funding for higher wages for early childhood educators, limits fee increases for families and makes funding conditional on services meeting child health and safety standards.
Read in Hansard ↗Venning opposes the bill because he says wage support alone will not help regional families who lack childcare centres and qualified workers, and calls instead for measures addressing workforce availability, training and service viability.
Read in Hansard ↗Angie Bell says the coalition will support the bill to continue wage assistance for educators and prevent a sudden cost shock for providers and families.
Read in Hansard ↗Spender supports the bill's funding to raise early educators' pay and strengthen safety, but argues it only postpones deeper reform needed to make child care stable, affordable and widely available.
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
61 speakers · 65 contributions · 60 support · 1 unclear
“Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026. This is an important piece of legislation, and it gives me great pleasure to support its passage through this parliament. Every child deserves a safe and supportive learning environment, and we can secure that by ensuring that the professionals we rely on to maintain and sustain it are paid fairly and that we retain those important professionals to support families and communities across Australia. Paying workers fairly, boosting staff retention and tying funding to improved centre safety are good for workers, good for our youngest Australians and good for families.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I think again of those educators checking their phones and seeing the pay increase land in their accounts. It meant greater security for their families, recognition for years of skilled work and a better chance to stay in the profession that they love. For Hieronymus in Coorparoo, it meant being able to see early childhood education as a sustainable career. For Barbara in Coorparoo, it meant educators feeling more valued and children receiving better care. For parents, this bill means lower fee growth and more stable services. For children, it means familiar educators and stronger relationships. For women, it means fairer wages, stronger superannuation and another step towards closing the gender pay gap. Early educators give so much of themselves to our children. Their work deserves more than thanks. It deserves fair pay and a government prepared to stand beside them. The Albanese Labor government stands with early educators, children and families.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill recognises that contribution. It helps to ensure those workers are valued fairly and are rewarded for it. It supports workforce retention, it benefits families, it strengthens safety and it continues to build a stronger early childhood education and care system for Australia. I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I know what this means locally because early learning services in my electorate have told me. Expeditions Early Learning Journey North Lakes do some amazing work in our community, which I saw firsthand when I visited them on an open day a few months ago. They reached out to my office about this pay rise and told us how much of a difference it will make to their workers. These are the educators that will benefit directly from this investment. They are not just numbers on a spreadsheet here in Canberra; they are people working in North Lakes, educating local children and supporting local families. When a local service contacts my office and tells us that this will make a difference to its workforce, that is what we should be listening to as a government. This is exactly why I fully support this bill and the hard work Minister Clare has done—not to get praise for it, but to make a substantive difference in the lives of some of the hardest-working people in our community.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The measures contained in this bill build on that commitment. An additional $3.6 billion will ensure the worker retention payment can continue supporting higher wages. The extension will help services retain the skilled educators they need. Fee controls will continue protecting families from excessive increases. Expanded eligibility will allow more educators to benefit. New safety requirements will ensure Commonwealth funding supports services that meet the standards Australian families rightly expect.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“In June this year, we announced that we would lock in this pay rise for a further two years to keep it growing and to make sure that those gains continue. That extension is expected to save the average family around $1,500 each year over the next two years. This bill is what gives that promise delivery. It amends the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) Act 2024 to credit the special account with an additional $3.6 billion and extends the act's sunset date to 31 December 2029. Combined with this government's support for minimum wage increases, this means a typical full-time educator will now be earning $255 more a week and an early childhood teacher $410 more a week compared with December 2024, when this pay rise first began. Funding will continue to be tied to a commitment from services to limit fee increases, easing cost-of-living pressures on families while delivering better early learning for kids. And, for the first time, employees in every service approved for childcare subsidy will be eligible for the payment, closing a gap that left some educators behind.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“We've committed an additional $3.6 billion over two years to continue supporting historic wage increases for this sector, and this bill gives effect to that commitment by crediting the wage justice special account and extending the operation of the legislation to 31 December 2029. The special account supports early childhood education and care worker retention payments, providing funding to eligible services so that higher wages can flow directly to eligible workers. Under this legislation, eligibility will be expanded. For the first time, workers in childcare subsidy approved services will be capable of benefiting from this funding where the service meets the relevant grant requirements, and that includes an important requirement that educators are engaged under a workplace instrument. Why does this matter? It matters because public money provided for higher wages should actually reach workers. This is taxpayers' money we are talking about. If the Commonwealth is investing billions of dollars to improve wages in early education to ensure more qualified workers are available to care for and teach our youngest children, Australians have every right to expect that funding will reach the educators it is intended to support. That's exactly what these safeguards are designed to achieve.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Finally, I acknowledge the extraordinary local community services that we have—the community and not-for-profit sectors, and our council-run centres. I do acknowledge there's a little bit of work to do with the City of Greater Bendigo to make sure that we can finalise the payments and that those educators also get the wage justice that they deserve, but it will happen, because it has to happen. That's what this bill is all about. It is about wage justice. Everything is in the title: 'wage justice for early childhood education and care workers', ensuring that any child in early childhood education gets the care and the education that they need, and that the people delivering that are paid what they're worth. This bill is recognising that they have skills, they have opportunity and that they get to continue to do the job that they love with the pay that they deserve. Not every family will choose early childhood education, and that's their choice, but if they do, we need to ensure that we as a government are supporting the sector. The sector is 95 per cent women, delivering and giving opportunity to our youngest Australians to ensure that they're ready for school and that they're being cared for and educated while their parents are working. I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill extends eligibility to workers in every early learning subsidy approved service for the first time. This also includes those who are doing the cooking, who are involved in a child's day as much as anyone in the room. What is also important is that the fee condition travels with the money. Services taking it have to limit what they charge families, and that will save the average family around $1,500 over the next two years. The department has been pretty blunt about the alternative. Without this bill, fees could climb by around 17 per cent—17 per cent, across 65 services in Maribyrnong, on families already running the numbers at the kitchen table every fortnight. That is why this bill needs to pass with some urgency.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“At the end of the day, helping our kids grow and learn is one of the most important jobs in the country, and that's why we're giving childcare workers a 15 per cent pay rise. It means that since 2024 a typical full-time educator has been taking home $255 more per week. That's a big help for any family. We're making sure those centres can't pass on those costs, so fees will stay down for families, because every child deserves the best start and every worker deserves fair pay and good conditions. It's all part of our plan to build a higher quality and more affordable system so all children can access the benefits of early learning. I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Calwell is a young and growing electorate, and these reforms are important to families in my community. They are critical to ensuring that children in my community get the best possible start in life. They also bring certainty and dignity to the many early childhood educators and carers who work and live in my community. This is a workforce that, historically, has been overlooked and neglected. This bill changes that. It recognises the value of early childhood educators and carers; it supports fairer wages; it supports working families; it puts productivity back in our economy by allowing parents to return to work; and, importantly, it puts the safety and wellbeing of our children at the centre of our early childhood education and care system. I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Importantly, this bill is about more than just saying thank you. It is about backing those words with action. It is about recognising that this is skilled work and paying people accordingly. It is about making it possible for talented educators to remain in a profession that they love. It is about giving families greater stability and keeping early learning affordable, and it is about ensuring that as we invest more public money into this sector the safety and the wellbeing of children remain at its centre. The work our educators do in those early years stays with children for a lifetime, and our communities are stronger because of it. They deserve to be valued, they deserve to be supported and they deserve wage justice. I am proud to support this bill and I commend it to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The title of this legislation is quite a mouthful, and I suspect no toddler will be successful in saying it before lunchtime, but what it does is straightforward. It says to early educators, 'We value your work, and that should be reflected in your wages.' It says to providers, 'We will help fund those wages, but public funding comes with responsibilities.' It says to parents, 'We are going to continue putting downward pressure on fee increases.' And it says to families, 'When you leave your child at an early learning service, their health and safety must come first.' This government has delivered the 15 per cent increase because Australia's early educators deserved it and because the sector needed it. The evidence shows it is working. More workers are joining the sector, vacancies are falling, staffing pressures are easing and families at participating services are seeing slower fee growth. This bill locks in those gains for another two years. It also makes clear that higher public investment must go hand in hand with higher expectation for child safety, fair wages, affordable care, a stronger workforce, safer services and a better education for Australian kids. I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Good governments, as the PM has indicated, deal with the challenges of the present, while investing in and planning for the future. Few investments are more important than those that support our children, support families and recognise the value of the educators who help shape the next generation. I congratulate the minister—and, in fact, the former minister for this portfolio, who happens to be in the chamber today, Minister Anne Aly. And I support the bill.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill is a sensible and necessary amendment to the legislation passed in 2024. That groundbreaking legislation recognised the need for structural adjustment to end chronic underpayment of early childhood educators. The legislation was groundbreaking not only for the real recognition of the intrinsic value of early childhood education, largely performed by women. The legislation has also helped to shape the sector and the profession by ensuring that wage-increase-grant recipients, and that's employers, provide employment conditions through a proper workplace instrument—that is, through a transparent set of conditions that could be properly agreed to by workers and employers. This was an important part of helping to build the reputation of the sector, to attract, to recruit and to retain workforce.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I'm proud that, since coming into government, we have made this a priority. Since coming into government, we have recognised that these workers deserve a pay increase. I'm proud that, in August 2024, we announced a $3.6 billion investment to deliver the 15 per cent wage increase for early childhood educators in the form of a workplace retention payment. That means that over 215,000 early educators and workers right across the country are now benefiting from this pay rise, including more than a thousand in my electorate of Macnamara. In June this year, the Prime Minister announced that we would extend this pay rise for another two years, and that is exactly what the bill before the House does.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill establishes recognition for the people who do this work, and it protects the children in their care. A well-paid, stable, experienced workforce is a safer workforce, because children are looked after by people who know them and have been trained properly and paid properly. This is what this bill delivers. I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“For too long, that work that was not only undervalued; it was genuinely underpaid. The bill seeks to inject a further $3.6 billion into the wage justice special account and it extends support through the end of 2029. So it locks in wage increases, it helps hold onto those early childhood educators, it improves quality and safety standards, and it helps keep pressure off family budgets. As we know on this side of the chamber, if you want quality learning for young people, we've got to support our educators, and that's what we're trying to do.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The bill is about recognising the value of those who help give Australian children the very, very best start in life, and it's about supporting a workforce that has too often been undervalued. I've seen this with my own eyes when visiting many of these centres in the years that I've been here in parliament. It's about ensuring that quality early education remains affordable and accessible for families, and it's also about investing in the very important next generation of Australians. These kids that are attending these centres are the next generation. They will be the leaders in our community. As I said, an early start, with all the research internationally and here in Australia, shows that we're giving that child the best chance for their life. When we invest in early childhood educators, we're not simply just funding wages; we are investing in children, we are investing in families, and we are investing in Australia's future. That's why this legislation deserves the support of this House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“In short, between the ages of three and five children, develop many of the skills they will need to become happy, healthy and engaged members of our society. The vital role that early childhood educators and carers play during this pivotal stage of our children's lives cannot be overstated or that of the broader family and communities within which they live. They help shape these years, and that is why I, along with the Albanese Labor government, am very proud to stand here today to support this bill, which extends the 15 per cent pay rise for more than 215,000 educators and locks that support in until June 2028. These are the workers that we trust to nurture, guide and care for our children through some of the most foundational years of their lives. They deserve to be recognised, and they deserve to be better paid. The principle really is that simple.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“But we know that this progress needs to be sustained, and that's why, on 14 June 2026, the Albanese Labor government announced that it would lock in the pay rise for another two years. This bill gives effect to that commitment. It credits the special account with an additional $3.6 billion and extends the act's sunset date to 31 December 2029, supporting the extension of wage funding. That means early educators can have greater certainty about their wages, it means services have greater certainty about their workforce, and it means parents have greater certainty about the early learning services that they rely on. The funding will also continue to be tied to a commitment from participating services to limit fee increases for families. That means the funding extension will save the average family around $1,500 over the next two years. That is $1,500 that can stay in a family's household budget. At a time when families are feeling cost-of-living pressures, that matters. So it's not simply a wage policy, as important as that is. It's a policy that recognises the connections between wages, workforce stability, quality early learning and family budgets.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I am very pleased to support this bill. It keeps faith with early educators, gives families practical help with costs, supports more reliable services and puts a firmer expectation around children's health and safety. Most of all, it recognises something families have understood for a long time: early educators are professionals. They carry enormous responsibility, they shape children's lives and the system only works when they are there. They deserve more than warm words; the government is putting the funding behind them.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The educators I meet across Jagajaga care deeply every day about the children and families they support. They work hard. As I said, they do long hours. They require great patience and great skill. It is important, skilled, valuable work. These educators deserve to know that their contribution is recognised. They deserve to know that their work is respected, and they deserve a government that backs them. This bill and this government does exactly that, and I commend it to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill asks this House to do something pretty straight forward. It asks us to keep a promise we made to educators in 2024 to extend the certainty they were given and to back it with the funding needed to make certainty real until the end of 2029 when the Productivity Commission and others hopefully finish their work. It asks us to keep faith with families in in Bennelong and across Australia who are counting on affordable, high-quality early learning to help them stay in work and help their children get the best possible start. Importantly, it asks us to hold every service, without exception, to a standard of safety that our youngest and most vulnerable Australians are entitled to expect. I commend this bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“On 14 June this year, the Albanese Labor government made the important announcement that we are locking that pay rise in for a further two years. The Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026 implements this very promise. This legislation is recognition that we need to reinforce the progress that we have already made in bolstering this important sector. It is recognition that we need to back measures that will save families money—around $1,500 over the next two years—and it is ongoing recognition that Labor values early childhood education and carers. Labor values mean that there has been real change in this sector, Labor values mean that there has been real change for early childhood educators and Labor values mean that we are reforming this sector in a way that will see a better future for our children.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The bill provides financial support, standards improvements and employment continuity. The Department of Education predicted that, if this legislation does not pass, childcare fees will rocket by about 17 per cent. You would think no-one in this place would want that. Our childcare workers need to be able to keep doing the job they love and to foster our next generation of Australians. You don't need to be a childcare provider to feel the benefits. You don't even need to be a parent. A better childcare system underpins our economy. It means more people can work and every child gets their best start. This bill is about justice, and all Australians can get behind it. I commend this bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“A strong early childhood sector supports stronger families, stronger communities and a stronger economy. That is why I welcome the government's decision, announced on 14 June 2026, to extend the worker retention payment for a further two years. This legislation delivers this commitment. It provides an additional $3.6 billion to the wage justice special account and extends the sunset date to 31 December 2029. Most importantly, it provides certainty—certainty for workers considering their future in the profession, for services planning staffing and growth and for families who rely on quality care.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Passage of this bill is required by the end of the September sitting period to ensure that sufficient funds remain in that special account to continue the work of the retention payment without interruption. I don't think anyone in this House wants to be the reason why an early childhood educator or teacher in Kingsgrove or South Hurstville opens their pay slip in October to find that their pay has gone backwards because we didn't have enough time. So I say to Emily, who has an amazing team at Goodstart in Hurstville; to Vicki and the educators at Learn Bright in Kingsgrove; to Verner at Goodstart in South Hurstville; to Fiona at Whizz Kidzz in Beverly Hills; and to every single educator across the electorate of Barton and across this country who shows up for our children this bill says very clearly that this parliament sees your work, it absolutely values the work that you do and this Labor Albanese government is prepared to back it with real money and a real ongoing commitment to the sector.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“It is innovative mechanisms like this that, I think, tackle the immediate problem of cost of living, but it also sets up our economy for the future, with the recognition that women should have an equal place in our workplace, that we should be closing the gender gap and that we should be unleashing the productive capacity of everybody in our community that wants to make a contribution and be paid for that contribution. This is certainly not the end of the Labor story when it comes to early childhood education. It is also not the beginning of the story. It is something that takes us along that path to universal early childhood education, and it is something which this government will look back on in years to come and see as one of our greatest achievements. I commend this bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Hansard records 2 separate contributions by Alison Byrnes on this bill. They are grouped here so the speaker is listed once.
Second reading speech
Byrnes supports the bill because it extends a 15 per cent pay rise for early childhood education and care workers for two years, helping retain skilled educators and improve stability and safety in early learning services.
“Early childhood educators nurture children's curiosity, encourage a love of learning and build the confidence and social skills that carry them through school and beyond. If we want to attract qualified, skilled educators who love to teach, then their pay must reflect the responsibility and the hard work involved. That's what is at the heart of this bill—securing fair pay with a 15 per cent pay rise for early childhood education and care workers for another two years. This is a $3.6 billion commitment to 31 December 2029, and, when combined with the government's support for minimum wage rises, it means around $410 more per week for early childhood teachers compared to December 2024, when the government first implemented the pay rise.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
Second reading speech
Byrnes supports the bill because extending the worker retention paymentGovernment grants that fund higher wages for eligible early childhood educators. will improve pay and staff retention, restrain fee increases and require services to meet child safety standards.
“There's another important condition on the worker retention payment grants that I want to touch on. This condition is around safety. I'm not going to repeat the absolutely abhorrent stories we have heard through the media in recent times about serious safety failures in centres across Australia, but what these stories have shown is that we absolutely must do more to protect children in early childhood education and care settings. From July 2027, if services don't meet the national quality standard on children's health and safety, then they won't be eligible for this grant. At the moment, around 95 per cent of services meet this standard, which is more than ever before. But we want that number to be higher, so we're providing another incentive for services to meet that standard because every family deserves to know that their children are safe.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
“Early childhood educators do some of our most important work, but it's not enough to just say this. The Albanese Labor government has not just said this. It has acted. This bill acknowledges the value we must place on early childhood educators, the value we must place on families who use their services and the value we must always place on children. Without the bill, workers would be at risk of reduced pay, families would be at risk of substantially higher out-of-pocket fees, and children would be at risk of care that is not of the highest quality. This bill is action. This bill puts our words into action, and I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The early childhood workforce have made clear what is needed: fair wages, secure funding, respect for their profession and a safe, sustainable sector. This Albanese Labor government has listened. We are ensuring that the historic wage increase can continue, that families are protected from excessive fee rises and that services receiving public funding meet appropriate safety and quality standards. This bill is an important step towards a stronger, fairer, and safer early childhood education and care system. I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“At least 1,200 educators at 71 centres in my electorate have received a pay rise, thanks to our government's concrete action to address the historic underpayment of workers in this sector. I have spoken with many of them directly, and the change in their circumstances has been real and immediate—the difference between constantly juggling bills and having a bit of breathing room, and feeling like their work is finally recognised in a meaningful way. Across Australia, over 215,000 early educators at more than 11,600 centres are now benefiting from our government's work to increase pay and conditions. This is a workforce reform of genuinely national scale, reaching almost every community, metropolitan and regional alike. The $3.6 billion investment the government made in 2024 to support a wage increase for early childhood educators was originally scheduled to run until 30 November this year. With this bill, a further $3.6 billion will now fund higher wages for eligible workers to 30 December 2029. This provides certainty for the sector, certainty for the workforce and certainty for families who have come to rely on the stability that this funding has brought.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“We know that about 95 per cent of early childhood education centres are meeting those safety standards, but we also know that we need that to be higher. This bill encourages that. It ties funding to it, and if you do not meet the national quality standard then funding can be cut or suspended. Services are required to meet quality area 2, which relates to children's health and safety, under the national quality standard. This is good Labor policy. It shows what happens when Labor backs Aussie workers, and we'll keep turning up for Australians and workers right across the country. We'll work with unions, local workers, Aussie families and Aussie businesses to improve the lives of Australians, and this is where the lives of Australians start. A lot of kids earliest memories and their first friends are in these early education centres. We need to give the people looking after our most precious things the best opportunity to be the best versions of themselves. That means not worrying about the next bill. That means not having to work extra shifts on the weekend. That means being paid fairly for showing up and looking after our children. I commend this bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“By supporting early childcare centres through this support to the people that work within them, we're providing not only stability within the centres but opportunities to get the best out of the people of this country by enabling them to enter the workforce and pursue the careers and opportunities that they would otherwise not be able to. With those remarks, I commend the legislation to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Early childhood educators across my community in Hughes have waited long enough for the respect, the recognition and the remuneration that they deserve. This bill is supported by peak bodies, service providers and parent organisations. Treating early childhood educators like the well-paid professionals that they should be is good for workers, it's good for kids, it's good for families and it's good for the future of Australia. I'm so proud to stand as part of an Albanese Labor government that values care and carers, that values education, that values safety and that is acting on these values by delivering real relief for educators and for working families. I commend this bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Hansard records 2 separate contributions by Alice Jordan-Baird on this bill. They are grouped here so the speaker is listed once.
Second reading speech
Jordan-Baird supports the bill because it delivers a major pay rise for early childhood educators, whose chronic underpayment has driven damaging workforce shortages.
“For far too long, early childhood educators have been systematically underpaid. When we got elected into government, early childhood education and care workers had been neglected for too long. They were leaving the workforce in droves—not because this wasn't a job they loved but because it was unsustainable and they couldn't afford to live on these wages. With 40 per cent of the workforce leaving the jobs they wanted because they couldn't afford to live—as was the case in some childcare centres—we had a workforce crisis on our hands, and something needed to change. So, two years ago, we introduced the 15 per cent pay rise for early childhood workers. Then, on 17 June this year, we announced a historic pay rise, with a $3.6 billion investment over the next two years. This bill delivers on that commitment.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
Second reading speech
Alice Jordan-Baird supports the bill because it extends wage assistance for early childhood workers while limiting fee increases and tying public funding more firmly to child health and safety standards.
“This bill is about whether an educator can afford to stay in the profession they love. It's about whether a parent can afford to go to work, knowing their child is being cared for, and about whether a child can walk through the doors of an early learning centre and be safe, supported and given the opportunity to thrive. That is the kind of early childhood education system we should be building. I commend this bill to the House.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
“The advice of the education department is that, if this legislation does not pass, childcare fees could rise by around 17 per cent, and I urge all members in this House to pass this bill. It's incredibly important for young families and for our kids. For families in Dickson juggling a mortgage, insurance, groceries and day-to-day cost of living, 17 per cent is a lot. That is a decision about whether they can actually afford early childcare education at all. What this bill means is that the average family will save about $1,500 over the next two years. That's a lot of money for a young family—$1,500 over two years. This bill gets a lot done in one go: workers are paid more, parents pay less, and children are safer. Achieving all three at once is what good policy looks like. I commend this bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“So I commend this bill. This is one of the things that doesn't just support our early educators now; it helps us change the future for every child that has the opportunity to be in quality early childhood education.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Labor knows that paying educators properly isn't separate from building a high-quality early education system; it is absolutely fundamental to it. And making sure our children are safe isn't negotiable. This bill locks in better pay, it protects families from excessive fee increases and it strengthens quality and safety requirements for services receiving Commonwealth funding. I'm proud to support this bill, and I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“One of the things in my role as member for Lingiari is that I go around the electorate talking to young people, to try and get them engaged and back in a system that we need them to be in, because, without that education, their life is pretty meaningless. We need to give them hope that an education can turn their life around. I support this bill.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“At its heart, this bill reflects a simple principle: work that matters deserves to be valued. For too long, some of the most important work in our society has been among the least rewarded. This legislation continues Labor's proud tradition of addressing that imbalance. It continues the work of those who fought for pay equity before us, and it delivers practical benefits for workers, for children and for families right now. It says that early educators matter. It says that caring work matters. It says that when women dominated industries have been undervalued for generations, governments have a responsibility to act. I am incredibly proud to be part of a government that has heeded that. We support our early childcare educators, we support our nurses and we support everyone in the care economy. I'm proud to support this bill. I commend it to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“But that funding was due to run out on 30 November, and so this bill makes sure that it doesn't. It credits $3.65 billion to the special account upfront, covering the pay rise all the way through to 30 June 2028. This means the money will keep flowing as the sector needs it and to the workers who need it, rather than hanging on a budget cycle and the uncertainty that that brings year to year. So educators and services can plan ahead.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“But this bill goes further than just funding. We are requiring, as part of this legislation, that early childhood education services strengthen quality and safety standards. From July 2027, if services don't meet certain requirements under the national quality standard when it comes to safety, their funding may be cut or suspended. This bill is good for early childhood educators, it's good for parents and, most importantly, this bill is good for our children.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Child care has changed significantly. I remember, over 40 years ago, I used to drop my twins off at the Humpty Dumpty centre in Ulverstone. Things have changed a lot since then. That was almost just an opportunity for me to go and do a few things by having a bit of a babysitting centre. That is no longer the case. Early childhood education sets our children up for a life of good learning and great opportunities by the time they get to school. These early educators deserve more than our thankyou. They deserve our respect and they deserve our recognition, but they also deserve decent pay. This bill delivers that while supporting affordable, safe and reliable early learning for families. I commend the bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Today, almost seven years to the date of saying those words, I could not be more proud to stand here, as a member of the Albanese Labor government, in support of a bill that locks in the 15 per cent pay rise for early childhood educators for another two years. This is a bill that changes our path.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I acknowledge the Minister for Education, the Hon. Jason Clare MP, and the Minister for Early Childhood Education, the Hon. Jess Walsh, for their leadership in bringing forward this legislation and for their continued commitment to delivering wage justice for educators, easing cost-of-living pressures for Australian families and ensuring the highest safety standards for our children. This is what good Labor governments should do. They should listen to workers, ease pressure on families, lift standards and ensure that every public dollar serves the public good. This bill backs our educators, it backs our families and, above all, it backs the future of Australia. I am so honoured to commend this bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“A big thankyou to all our wonderful early childhood educators—we want you to know that we're backing you. I want local families in Gilmore to know that I support you. Today I support this bill because building a strong community starts with our youngest, and that is something I'm always passionate about because children are our future, after all.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026. In June this year, the Labor government announced that we would be locking in the pay rise for another two years, to retain and grow these benefits. The bill before the House fulfils this commitment. With a $3.6 billion investment in the special account that is providing this funding, this bill locks in the pay rise over the next two years. Additionally, all centres approved for childcare subsidy will be eligible for funding if they meet grant requirements—including that all educators are engaged under a workplace instrument, ensuring that the government investment is passed on to the workers.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“It establishes a new object and condition of funding for the Act which puts service quality and the safety of our children at its heart.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Hansard records 2 separate contributions by Libby Coker on this bill. They are grouped here so the speaker is listed once.
Second reading speech
Coker supports the bill because it extends government funding for higher early-childhood educator wages while limiting fee increases for families and making service quality and child safety conditions of funding.
“Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026, builds on that progress. It locks in the government's investment in the early childhood workforce and makes sure the benefits of that investment continue. The Albanese government has committed $3.6 billion over the next two years to continue this historic pay rise for our early childhood educators and teachers. This bill delivers on that commitment. From talking to the educators in my electorate and visiting early-years centres, I know how much they value this pay rise and what it means to them. It extends the arrangements that allow the government to provide funding to early childhood education and care providers to support higher wages and, importantly, it strengthens the conditions attached to that funding, because when taxpayers are investing in higher wages we should expect that investment to reach the workers it's intended to support.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
Second reading speech
Coker supports the bill because it extends wage support for early childhood educators, protects families from higher fees and ties government funding to stronger safety and compliance standards.
“This is why the pay increase matters. It's helping retain experienced educators, attracting more people into the sector and building the stable workforce that children and families rely on. I see the importance of that stability in my electorate every day. I speak with families who are trying to make work and family life fit together. I speak with educators who are passionate about what they do and want to build a career in the sector. I speak with services that are working hard to provide high quality care while managing the realities of staffing costs and demands. They all have a stake in getting this right, and it's why I support this bill.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
“This bill delivers on that commitment.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Finally, this bill includes technical amendments to ensure the workers retention payment grant is available to all providers. This government is delivering real change—real change for childcare educators, real change for families and real change for children. I am proud to support this bill. I'm proud to be in the same team as this minister, who's working tirelessly for families and for our kids and who wants to see outcomes for families. Thank you. I commend the bill to the Senate.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Hansard records 2 separate contributions by Carina Garland on this bill. They are grouped here so the speaker is listed once.
Second reading speech
Garland supports the bill because it will secure the 15 per cent pay rise for early childhood educators, help retain workers and limit fee increases for families, while making national safety standards a condition of funding.
“Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026 today. This is essential legislation that will lock in the Albanese Labor government's 15 per cent pay rise for early educators while strengthening safety requirements for services. This bill will deliver more than $3.6 billion to fund this pay rise and put into law the requirement that services meet national safety standards to receive the payment.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
Second reading speech
Garland supports the bill because it locks in a 15 per cent pay rise for early childhood educators, helping attract and retain the skilled workforce needed to provide stable, high-quality care.
“This legislation is so important, locking in a historic 15 per cent pay rise for hardworking early childhood educators. This marks an important step for better wages for the dedicated professionals who help give children a great start in life. We know quality early learning starts with valuing and supporting our educators. This investment recognises their work and helps to continue to attract and retain the skilled workforce families and children rely on every single day right around our country, including, of course, in my wonderful electorate of Chisholm. Our government is committed, absolutely, to building an early learning system that is high quality, more affordable and available where and when families need it, and this legislation is significant for us to be able to realise that. On that note, I commend this bill to the House.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
“Our government is putting in place the building blocks of universal early learning every single day. We are building a system that is high quality, affordable and available where families need it. We have done more in the last four years than happened in the previous decade. This bill is a critical building block. So is our billion-dollar Building Early Education Fund. Just this morning, I was proud to stand with my colleagues in the Mural Hall to celebrate having reached building early education agreements with all eight states and territories. These agreements will deliver 42 new services, 33 of them co-located with our schools. We are the party of universal early learning and we are building it piece by piece every day. I encourage all senators to lock in this pay rise and to support this bill.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The bill also includes technical amendments to clarify that, where an approved provider is not a legal person, such as a partnership, the worker retention payment grant agreement can be made between the Commonwealth and the person acting on behalf of the approved provider. The passage of this bill is required by the end of September to ensure that there are sufficient funds in the special account to continue funding higher wages through the worker retention payment grant, and I strongly encourage this parliament to make sure the bill is passed, to help both workers and their families.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I want to commend the work of the Minister for Early Childhood Education, Senator the Hon. Dr Jess Walsh, the Labor caucus and the mighty United Workers Union, who we have listened to. It shows that we have listened and heard, and we appreciate, recognise and value the work of early educators. I'm pleased to say that, as part of the whole package of reform around this area, a new ECEC centre will be built in my electorate, collocated at the Greenmount Primary School, funded by the federal government, built by the state government and to be tendered out to a not-for-profit to run it. Parents appreciate the collocation of these early childhood education and care centres at primary schools, and that's exactly what we're delivering. I commend this bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Early educators carry a lot of responsibility. It's not just educating little people; it is supporting the family. In the case of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early educators, it's often doing the community work too, outside of that. As such, they do absolutely deserve fair wages. They do deserve decent conditions and recognition as the professionals that they are. This bill delivers exactly that, and I am immensely proud to commend this bill to the Senate.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill introduces a new object and condition of funding through the wage justice special account, building on the government's commitment to strengthen quality and safety in early learning. From July 2027, services that fail to meet quality area 2 of the national quality standard, relating to children's health and safety, may have their funding reduced or suspended. Almost 95 per cent of services already meet this standard, but parents should be confident that every service receiving public funding is providing children with a safe environment where they can learn and grow. This bill strengthens that expectation and reinforces the simple principle that quality early learning and children's safety go hand in hand, and it delivers a practical and balanced package as a result. More than that, it recognises the value of educators through better pay. It supports services to attract and retain skilled workers. It keeps costs down for families. It strengthens safety and quality standards for children. Early childhood education matters, and the people who do this work matter. I'm proud to support the bill, and I commend it to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Before I finish, I want to return to the educator whose story first appeared in the ASU's strong and committed campaign for fair wages for early educators, the woman who said these pay rises were the difference between paying her rent and facing homelessness. She was not asking for special treatment; she was asking for the dignity that comes with fair pay for important work. She wanted to continue helping children learn. She wanted to continue supporting families. She wanted to continue being part of a profession she loved. For too long, workers like her carried an early learning system that depended on their goodwill. This government chose to do more than simply thank them. We chose to act. We listened to educators, we listened to providers and we backed those words with funding, because if we believe children deserve the best start in life—and we do—then we must also believe the people helping deliver them that start deserve fair pay. Labor believes every child deserves the best start in life. So do I. That benefit sits behind all investments in early learning. It sits behind cheaper child care. It sits behind paid parental leave. It sits behind stronger Medicare, urgent care clinics and our investment in women's health. And it sits behind this legislation because, when a child is thriving, families are stronger; when families are stronger, communities are stronger; and, when we invest in people who educate and care for our young Australians, we invest in the future of our country. I commend this bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The Albanese Labor government has a focus on families and children, and we understand the enormous challenges that families and children have to navigate. Our government is committed to making this process easier for them. We have, for example, expanded the eligibility for parenting payment (single), raising the cut-off age from eight to 14, which has benefited 200,000 single parents in three years since the measure was introduced. We have increased the family tax benefit through indexation, which has benefited 1.2 million families with children. From July this year, the government extended paid parental leave to 26 weeks, allowing parents to access up to $30,000 for paid leave. That's six months that parents can spend with their new baby during one of the most important periods of that baby's life; six months to create long-lasting memories, because as difficult and exhausting as this time can be, it is also incredibly rewarding and very fleeting; six months during which parents can plan their financial futures, their future in work and the future for their family.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
7 speakers · 5 support · 1 oppose · 1 unclear
“The coalition will support this bill because we support better pay for educators. We support workforce retention, and we do not want families or providers facing a sudden price shock when the current arrangements expire in November. But our support comes with clear expectations. The government must fix the eligibility settings that risk excluding family day care and in-home care. It must justify the industrial requirements attached to the scheme and remove unnecessary barriers. It must explain how the new safety provisions will operate in practice and what they will achieve for children's safety.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The coalition will not oppose the bill's package, but I want much more ambition for Australian families than another temporary Commonwealth grant. I want an early childhood education system that values educators; that allows the family-day-care educator in a country town to participate on equal terms; that helps Gloucester create the places its community desperately needs; that recognises the realities faced by shift workers, farming families and small businesses; that puts child safety above everything else; and that trusts parents—because, ultimately, parents should not be forced into the childcare arrangement Canberra thinks they ought to choose. They should have genuine options: centre based care, family day care, in-home care, grandparents, kinship care, caring for the kids themselves or some combination of all of them. The goal shouldn't be one-size-fits-all child care. It should be strong children, supported parents, valued educators and, most importantly, strong families, particularly in regional Australia. That means building a system around how families actually live, not how Canberra assumes they live.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“These are just some of the responses I've received from my childcare survey, and they are not isolated stories. Across Grey, families are waiting years for a place. In some towns, waitlists run past 100 children, and every single one of those families is being told 'no'. With wage justice for workers in centres that don't exist in my electorate, or centres with staff shortages that no pay rise alone will fix, this bill does nothing for the families I represent. Families in Grey know what works for them. We need to listen to what they are saying.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“As I said in my introduction, the opposition will not oppose this bill. We have amendments that we hope can be supported, but we recognise that the certainty that this extension provides and the importance of avoiding a sudden funding cliff for educators, providers and families is important. We will not ignore the economic problem that sits behind it. We will not pretend that extending another temporary program is a sustainable plan, and we will not accept that having family day care and in-home care included in the government's announcement but excluded by the fine print is OK.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026 deals with the wages and the pay conditions for our early childhood teachers, and I acknowledge that, yes, they should be paid a decent and appropriate wage, because they are looking after our most important asset—that being our children or our grandchildren. I appreciate that work has been done in this regard to ensure that we don't have early childhood teachers leaving the industry simply because they can't afford to sustain themselves in a cost-of-living crisis or because other sectors of the economy are getting paid more for, perhaps, doing jobs that some could argue are not as important as theirs. I do understand that. As I say, we are in a cost-of-living crisis, and it is difficult for anyone, whether it's in a capital city or remote Australia, to make ends meet.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The coalition welcomes the certainty this bill provides, and we will not oppose its passage. Early childhood educators perform important work. The reason I want to stand today is to talk about how important early childhood education is in the city of Townsville, which I'm privileged to represent, and to tell a bit of a personal story.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I particularly want to reinforce the comments of Senator O'Sullivan with respect to family day care. There's no point in claiming or saying that family day care qualifies and then writing rules that make it difficult for it to do so. In that sense, I very much support Senator O'Sullivan's second reading amendment to this bill, which I foreshadow.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
1 speaker · 1 support
“What all this comes down to is ambition—ambition to pave a world-leading early learning system, not just propping up the path that needs immediate fixing like workforce retention or to respond to the latest scandal or spot fire but building a new bold ambitious system from the ground up. This is the work that we are demanding Labor do. The Greens are ready to support ambitious reform to our early learning system. There is a huge Labor majority in the House, and the Greens are in the balance of power, ready to get this work done without delay. The Prime Minister has said that he wants universal early learning to be his legacy. Well, where is he? Where is the planning? Where is the ambition? He's four years in, and all we are seeing is some reactive tinkering around the edges. Families deserve more, and the Greens demand more. This is why we are supporting this bill whilst demanding and fighting for so much more for our kids and for our families.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
5 speakers · 5 support
“I think there is an issue over time of government cost shifting from one education program to another. I think we need to be finding economies of scale in the system that provide lower costs, career development and stability. I think the first step is to admit that we have a systemic problem with early childhood education in this country. Over the past 2½ days, we've heard plenty from the government about the merits of various provisions made in this term and the last. Many of them are worthy. I support what the government has done to ensure that childcare workers are paid more. I think that is appropriate. But let's not ignore the fact that this bill merely kicks a very big can down the road. My community want to know where that road is ultimately going to lead.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill is a worthwhile step. It supports better pay for educators, strengthens expectations around safety and helps give the sector greater stability. But our ambition—I urge the government—should go further. Families need child care they can genuinely afford, educators need sustainable careers, and children need safety and rights embedded at the heart of the system. We should treat early childhood education and care as essential national infrastructure, supporting children's development, parents' workforce participation and the strength of our economy. So I urge the government to build further action on affordability, workforce conditions, safety, a consistent approach and a national framework for the rights of every child.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“My ask of the government is this: I support the passage of this bill because the wage justice and safety measures that it includes are critical, but I ask the cabinet not to allow it to stand in isolation. I ask the Minister for Education to work with the Minister for Home Affairs and the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship to establish a genuine pathway for early-career ECEC workers to build experience in Australia, to progress towards permanent residency and to avoid them being caught in an unfair trap between a 407 they can't renew and a 482 that they cannot yet afford or qualify for. I ask the ministers to review the cost of employer sponsorship for critical and undersupplied sectors, like early learning and childhood education, so that responsible providers aren't pricing themselves out of the workforce that they need to meet this bill's own new safety conditions. I ask the ministers to commit to publishing, before any further net migration reduction measures take effect, an assessment of the impact specifically on the care economy workforces. These are sectors that parliament has already recognised, through legislation like this, as facing a workforce crisis that the House cannot afford to worsen by accident.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I acknowledge that the government is doing work on this. It has commissioned Deloitte to do a comprehensive study of what safe, quality child care actually costs to deliver. So, while I vote for this bill, I ask the government to do two things. Firstly, direct the department to ensure that low-fee, community and not-for-profit services can access the payment and are not adversely affected by the fee cap rules. Secondly, guarantee that this extension of the worker retention payment will be accompanied by a firm timeline and road map toward a needs based, supply side funding model. Another grant can buy the sector time, but what it really needs is new architecture to underpin its future. This bill is a welcome step, but it's a stopgap, and it should not be mistaken for the finish line.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“As I've said, early childhood education is an extremely high calling, and we need to support our early childhood educators, not talk them down. We need to support them. They deserve the thanks of our communities for all of the work that they do. For those reasons, I strongly support this bill and I strongly support the work of our early childhood educators.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
House · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
House · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Second reading agreed to
Second reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
House · Third reading agreed to
Third reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
Senate · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Senate · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Senate · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Senate · Second reading agreed to
Second reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Senate · Committee of the Whole debate
Committee of the Whole debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Senate · Committee of the Whole debate
Committee of the Whole debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Senate · Third reading agreed to
Third reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
Parliament · Finally passed both Houses
Passed both houses
Both houses passed the bill in the same form, completing parliamentary passage.
Assent · Assent
Assent
The Governor-General gave Royal Assent, turning the bill into an Act.
Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee
Report tabled 04 Sep 2026
Referred to Committee (13 Aug 2026): Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee; Committee report (4 Sept 2026)
APH bill page notes
