Message from the CEO: 15 June 2022

With the recent change of Federal Government and the upcoming NSW State Budget, it’s starting to feel like the early childhood education and care sector is really gaining momentum as an area of increased political and public interest. It is exciting to hear the challenges we have been talking about for years being recognised by the wider community, and to hear our concerns publicly acknowledged by Governments and in the media.

This week the NSW State government has made a number of pre-budget funding announcements aimed at supporting and growing the early childhood education and care sector. Yesterday measures to support the workforce were announced, including early childhood teacher higher education scholarships of up to $25,000, VET scholarships of up to $2,000 and employer supplements for staff retention. This morning I met with Minister Sarah Mitchell and Treasurer Matt Kean at the latest NSW Budget announcements for early childhood education, including the Affordable Preschool Program and additional funding for the Brighter Beginnings Program to expand the number of Aboriginal Child and Family Centres across the state. 

You can read more about these announcements on our 2022 NSW Budget Announcements page, and we will keep you updated as more details on the implementation of these funding packages are released.

CCSA welcomes these announcements which respond to our advocacy priorities over the past few years: funding certainty for community and mobile preschools, increased affordability and accessibility to preschool programs for all NSW families irrespective of the setting, and a focus on early childhood education and care for First Nations children

And at the Federal level, CCSA would like to congratulate Dr Anne Aly on her appointment as Federal Minister for Early Childhood Education and Youth. We look forward to building a working relationship with Dr. Aly to make further changes to support good outcomes for children.

It is exciting to see these positive results from our advocacy, and we will continue to work hard representing and advocating for our sector to keep early childhood education at the forefront of policy making and funding decisions at all levels of Government.

Sarah Mitchell, Minister for Education and Early Learning,
Meg Mendham, CEO CCSA and Matt Kean, Treasurer
at this morning’s NSW Government Budget announcements

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