00:21:03 Jane - Tech Support: Hi all, my name is Jane Garcia and I’m on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation today. I’ll be one of the tech supports for this event along with my colleague Zerene Catacun. Send us a direct message if you’re having any tech issues and remember to “join audio” in the bottom left. We’d love to hear from you. Feel free to add questions/comments to the chat throughout the event. 00:21:38 Maki Morita: *** Chat Guidelines *** Hello and welcome everyone! I’m Maki, part of team VWT. Some quick guidelines for the chat during this panel talk: The chat is for general discussion amongst attendees and with the teams at VWT and Thrive by Five Make sure to select ‘Panelists and Attendees’ to join the conversation Please keep the chat friendly We reserve the right to remove people who are rude or abusive in the chat (note: removed participants can not re-join the webinar) Thanks for looking out for each other and I hope you enjoy today’s discussion. Best, Maki 00:22:05 Maki Morita: *** Live captions *** We have live captioning available today. Participants can view live captions by clicking the CC icon and select "show subtitle". 00:22:24 Maki Morita: *** Support Services *** If this discussion raises any issues for you, contact: Beyond Blue Ph: 1300 22 4636 https://www.beyondblue.org.au/ Lifeline Ph: 13 11 14 https://www.lifeline.org.au/ Or see our website for more support services: https://www.vwt.org.au/support-services/ 00:30:28 Lee Cameron: The slides are very tiny- any chance we could make bigger please? 00:30:36 Michael (he/him) - The Parenthood: You can find the report here: https://www.theparenthood.org.au/back_of_the_pack 00:30:40 Teresa Jung: It's in presenter view 00:30:41 Bec Greenwood: they aren't full screen sadly Angela 00:30:53 Helen Lees: we are seeing your presenter screen not the presentation screen 00:31:18 Jeanette Jensen: reduce the right side where all the small windows are it will increase the slide area 00:35:12 Jane - Tech Support: Interested in reading the full Back of the Pack report? You can take a look here: https://www.theparenthood.org.au/back_of_the_pack 00:36:33 Rachael Imam - VWT: Apologies for the slides glitch. Thank you to everyone for the impromptu tech support. Much appreciated! 00:36:50 Naomi Byrnes: In terms of affordability, have any economists applied a Modern Monetary Theory lens to achieving adequate and equitable childcare arrangements in Australia? 00:41:29 Lee Cameron: This is incredibly interesting data Jacqueline- can you share the source please? 00:42:50 Susan Benedyka: Yes Jacqueline - this data is very interesting esp from regional areas. Can you please share those key facts again? ta 00:43:51 Jane - Tech Support: Here’s a link to the current data and report: https://www.aedc.gov.au/ 00:44:02 Susan Benedyka: ta 00:45:19 Cathy Tischler: Happy to share our report on cultural/structural Childcare issues in Wimmera Southern Mallee: 00:45:42 Cathy Tischler: c.tischler@federation.edu.au - Childcare in Wimmera Southern Mallee - PDF 00:47:45 Jane - Tech Support: Australia’s early learning and childcare system needs reform. And you can help make it all happen. Sign the petition now: https://thrivebyfive.org.au/actions/petition/ 00:50:44 Hiba Casablanca: Women for Progress call on all political parties to commit to 10 policies that will make Australia fairer for women and children. To see all 10 policies including early learning and care, and add your voice to the call for real action on gender equality, please visit: minderoo.org/wfp/petition 00:52:41 Hiba Casablanca: https://minderoo.org/wfp/petition/ 00:54:03 Annie Pearson: Love what Jay is saying - this saves lives, has people treat each other better, will permeate out to educators and parents, reduce violence against women and children, reduce other discriminations - all equals positive economic impacts - it's a no brainer. https://thinkequal.org/ THINK EQUAL is a global not-for-profit charity. Our mission is to teach all children that all humans are equal and equally to be valued. We want to eliminate discrimination, disrespect, and violence from the next generation, and bring empathy, wellbeing, loving relationships, pro-social behaviours and attitudes in their place. 00:54:28 Naomi Byrnes: Shift workers in essential services such as health and logistics is an area that might help get things on the national agenda, especially in pandemic times. What are the dimensions of this study around equitable access to quality childcare care for women who work shifts? 00:54:49 Angela Jackson: Apologies everyone! Didn’t see the comments while I was presenting! Angela 00:55:31 Steve Howland: I believe that the ABC Learning centres which were not picked up by another organisation were predominately those with / catering for more children aged 0-2 than 3-5. The implication is that the govt etc funding model is not adequate given the increased staffing level required for 0-2's. Centres, including the council run one that I am a long term committee member of, are generally more financial with more 3-5 age children vs 0-2 age. 00:55:34 Rob Roseby, Monash Children's Hospital: Jay and others, are the gains to be made by investing across the board or are there greater gains to be made by investing in this area for priority groups who are doing worse on measures of early childhood development (and health and wellbeing) already? 00:55:55 Lynne, Gowrie SA, Kaurna Yerta: I wonder if the financial aspect does rate - Heckman made this argument some years ago, but the status of early learning remains low, and the workforce, which is predominantly female, remains undervalued and underpaid. Perhaps consistent messaging about access to early learning as a right for all young children is a message priority from which all other messages should evolve as 'evidence' contributing to this priority? 00:56:18 Julia Fox: This is a research project the SDA has undertaken with the University of NSW. The report looks into the challenges retail workers face in managing their work, family and care. The retail industry employs over 10% of all working people in Australia, yet 50% of workers cannot access ECEC, and rely solely on informal care arrangements to manage their responsibilities. This report also highlights the important role employers play in ensuring they genuinely provide flexible work options which allow workers to access ECEC. the report is found here ; https://national.sda.com.au/care/ 00:57:33 Annie Pearson: FAR TOO MANY parents do not understand how important the 0-5 age is - how it sets the foundation for children primary and future years. Quality Early learning is important but We need to educate Parents so they can become more aware for themselves & do better at parenting and recognise and support better quality childcare can support them, their children and ultimately society as a whole 01:00:50 India Dechrai: The intersection of childcare benefit, family tax benefit and the taxation thresholds disincentivise (primarily) women from working more than three days a week. In some cases, women end up out of pocket in childcare fees. Our taxation system still primarily caters to the ‘male breadwinner:female caregiver’ model. The truth in Australian households is that independent parenting is becoming so much more commonplace. This system needs to be reformed. 01:01:03 Steve Howland: Privatisation of the sector makes things even worse. The private centres near where I am expect their staff to turn up UNPAID for staff meetings on weekends, and provide a minimal number of uniforms. Our centre provides 5 sets of uniforms, RDO's, all work time is paid, and we assist with staff training to increase qualification levels which actually means that we rarely have to use agency staff which costs heaps and wrecks the budget. So doing the right thing makes economic sense even at the individual centre level. 01:02:17 Naomi Byrnes: I think it's also good to give women language around the argument that "i'm just working to pay for childcare". Luckily at the time my partner was an economist and said to me "let's take the long term view of keeping your skills up and in the workforce". That said, it was so stressful 01:02:53 Joanne.Carter@thesmithfamily.com.au: We need to be careful that we're not telling parents what to do and come from a strength based approach. There's nothing worse then making parents feel like they're failing or not being good parents. In research we've done, parents feel real guilt about not being able to spend time with their child, while the struggle with juggling their other responsibilities. 01:04:27 Karen Hagen - BSL MCT: Nyadel thankyou for speaking on behalf of those living in Australia on restrictive visa .. especially related to those children who have experienced trauma as their family seek safety and stability 01:04:40 Samantha on Wurundjeri Land: I think we also need to educate the educators better. The fact that most tertiary qualifications have seen a decrease the how long it takes for educators to receive their certificate in for which ever position they want, means that there will always be a gap in parents understanding the importance of early childhood centre, and that fact that educators are not being trained to provide quality. Don't get me wrong there are some amazing educators out there, however when it now only takes 6 months to get your certificate 3 without needing to so any form of placement or 12 months to complete a diploma, let alone how there is now talk that particularly in Vic the government is going to reduce the time it takes to complete your bachelor, how confident can we be that we are training our educators to provide quality when they are going into centres that are already not providing quality education. You only need to look at the amount of centres that are sitting at working towards on ACECQA's website. 01:05:02 Annie Pearson: What about shifting it to be "all children" get free & or low cost(very low) childcare because then it covers a) men and b) every single child in this country should enjoy access to quality early learning because it is foundational to optimal human development 01:06:32 Naomi Byrnes: I like that @annie pearson, sounds very inclusive of all and puts the child's interests front and centre too 01:06:55 Naomi Byrnes: appreciate your answer @angela Jackson, thanks 01:07:14 Cathy Tischler: migration supports often only for first 5 years, if you are a migrant spending time caring for children, you can miss your opportunity to upskill for Australian workforce 01:07:25 Anthony Hockey: I guess my question is around about creating the workforce to support universal free childcare. Where is the thinking around training, retaining early childhood staff, especially in areas which will continue to be transient.. eg remote and regional. It has to go beyond increasing wages. 01:08:05 Hiba Casablanca: CPD Starting Better Report: https://cpd.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/CPD-Starting-Better-Report.pdf 01:08:38 Prathiba S: Hi, I am clinical child and family therapist and been working with First Nations/CALD/fefugee asylum sector for 15yrs to help recover from developmental trauma…I see a gap in the system is few factors that needs to be addressed…(1) childcare is run in a business model vs an educational model - how do we incorporate that into the policy, (2) standardising resources into uni/TAFE training pertaining to culture, language, dvt needs, and untapped resource in CALD/First Nations to lead their childcare facilities using there cultural knowledge,language and resource 01:09:03 Cathy Tischler: Question - how do we manage guarantees for childcare in rural areas, when we have state-funded kindergarten model which is delivered (often in a way that doesn't support workforce participation) and doesn't talk to childcare systems. We believe in rural areas we need one system to even have chance of being economically workable 01:09:52 Nicole Pilsworth - Gowrie Victoria: The multi-benefit approach to the ECEC sector is vital. The workforce participation and economic arguments are important but the benefits for children as citizens now and as future citizens is equally as important. 01:10:14 2 Eva Cox: congrats Jay for stating market flaws. We need to build community bases for services that have emerged from households. Feminism plus collective care as essential to god societies. CostsARE SHARED MORE BROADLY eva 01:11:27 Sarah Fernandes: Great points about all women - including those on temp visas and refugees - needing to be included in a universal ECEC program. With more support for the ECD workforce we should also continue to build cultural competence and anti-racism skills for all staff working with young children. Agree with Prathiba’s comment, there are great opportunities to work with CALD and First Nations leaders. 01:12:29 Claire Stonier-Kipen: Jay - given your political experience - and given the science and economic evidence base is long settled - what is at the heart of the inertia in Australian political culture across the board that results in this depressing too little too late apathy? 01:12:43 Annie Pearson: that savings we would make on cost on the reduction of 'reported' family violence let alone under the radar and very very common disfunction that inhibits/impacts child development - divorced and or separated families where children aren't provided with foundation on how to deal with that emotionally that then flows on and costs society in $$ and human potential, love and life. 01:12:47 Jane - Tech Support: Australia’s early learning and childcare system is outdated and expensive. Chances are, you’re here because you understand the impact it is having on Australian children and families. Do you feel comfortable sharing your personal story about family and early learning and childcare? Share with Thrive by Five now: https://thrivebyfive.org.au/actions/story/ 01:13:00 Jay Weatherill: The paradox is the bolder the reform the easier to achieve - you build a broader coalition for change -and targeted systems fail to find all children 01:13:51 Steve Howland: Cathy Tischer, Childcare centres can run Kindergarten programs, but they require the appropriately qualified staff (different from childcare) who are also paid more vs childcare. Plus States changing hours/days required with best intentions makes it more difficult for Childcare centres. Also, often Kindergartens compete with Childcare centres and parents end up paying separately and additionally for Kindergarten! 01:14:17 Cathy Tischler: Steve - Yes, very true - big issue 01:14:26 Zerene - Tech Support: Hi everyone! We’ll be saving the chat after this event to circulate amongst our speakers. There are plenty of great questions! 01:14:53 Jay Weatherill: great question - really should be one seamless system of ECD 01:14:58 Fuller, Annette: We also need to shift the larger structural issues and ensure no child is livening in poverty, families have access to safe housing and can access the right services at the right time at the right place. Universal ECEC is not enough......we need to go bolder and get thebroader systems right as well. 01:15:10 Lee Cameron: Can the chat be circulated more broadly than just speakers? Keen to take away and digest and understand how we can support 01:15:54 Karen Hagen - BSL MCT: Thankyou Angela - unfortunately not all parents are able to engage at all times in employment however for wellbeing of child and family access to free early years services is time limited and challenging to access 01:16:06 Jane - Tech Support: Here’s some of the recent news from NSW Government https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/nsw-government-launch-landmark-womens-economic-review/ 01:16:14 India Dechrai: I second Lee’s comment. I would love a copy of these comments 01:17:04 Nicole Pilsworth - Gowrie Victoria: It is also about how the education and care services can work in an integrated way with other early years professionals (e.g. allied health, family services etc) to support the child in the context of their family. 01:17:36 Zerene - Tech Support: SUPPORT SERVICES: Beyond Blue - 1300 22 4636 - https://beyondblue.org.au Lifeline - 13 11 14 - https://lifeline.org.au 01:17:43 Hayley Cail - Regional Development Victoria: Control A (press together will highlight the Chat)… Control C (will copy) then open a word doc and Control V (will paste it) 01:17:43 Maki Morita - VWT: Hi everyone, we will have a recap, recording and chat log available on our website in the coming weeks. 01:18:53 Maki Morita - VWT: ***Thank You*** Thank you so much for joining us for today’s discussion, and thank you to our wonderful panellists. If you’d like to learn more about VWT or Thrive by Five visit https://www.vwt.org.au/ and https://thrivebyfive.org.au/. Keep an eye out for our upcoming federal election campaign–Matters That Count! 01:19:14 Ailsa Wilson: A recording would be very valuable for all of us to share in our other groups and on FB. 01:20:44 Maki Morita - VWT: Make sure you don’t miss our recap of this event by signing up to our newsletter: https://www.vwt.org.au/sign-up-to-our-newsletter/ 01:20:50 Hiba Casablanca: Reminder: Women for Progress call on all political parties to commit to 10 policies that will make Australia fairer for women and children. To see all 10 policies including early learning and care, and add your voice to the call for real action on gender equality, please visit: https://minderoo.org/wfp/petition/ 01:21:23 Hiba Casablanca: Also a valuable resource on early learning and care is the CPD Starting Better Report: https://cpd.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/CPD-Starting-Better-Report.pdf 01:22:08 Susan Benedyka: Please don't forget Senate candidates! Not just lower house candidates 01:22:18 Hiba Casablanca: You can also join the Thrive By Five campaign to support early learning and care reform” https://thrivebyfive.org.au/ 01:22:34 Sue Elliott: Integral to the agenda must be well qualified and well rewarded EC educators. This is a current issue impacting services nationally and the band aid approaches in play now are not sufficient for this long term agenda. Thanks all. 01:23:09 Heather Barnes: So agree, Sue Elliott!! 01:23:25 Hayley Cail - Regional Development Victoria: Thank you 01:23:28 Lee Cameron: Brilliant discussion- thank you so much 01:23:32 Sarina Kilham- Charles Sturt Uni: This is wonderful news. I am running as an independent candidate in Grayndler and have several colleagues running as candidates. I will share the news. 01:23:38 Julia: Thank you. 01:23:41 Hiba Casablanca: Thank you all for a wonderful event! 01:23:46 621958: Thank you all - from the junior doctors at Monash Children's Hospital 01:23:47 Margot Ayres: Thanks very much 01:23:51 Heather Barnes: Thanks so much, inspiring contributions. 01:23:54 Caitlin Graham - SVA: Thanks so much for the brilliant panel and discussion. 01:23:58 Nicole Pilsworth - Gowrie Victoria: Thank you - so good to make the time for these conversations 01:24:00 Marnie Scholes: Thank you 01:24:02 India Dechrai: Thank you to all the contributors. Fantastic discussion. 01:24:02 Ursula Harrison: Thank you a great forum. Happy International Women's DAy 01:24:14 Marina Spurgin: Thank you for organising!