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Education and Childcare

Answer

Education is a foundational building block of life to realise opportunities. Both of my parents are teachers, with memories from my childhood of both mum and dad marking assignments during school holidays and writing school reports.

If elected as the Independent MP for Casey I pledge to take these policies to Parliament:

  • I support increased funding towards the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) to between 22.5% to 25%
  • I support fee-free TAFE 
  • I support a reduction to student debt
  • I support a meaningful increase to means-tested childcare subsidies
  • I support initiatives that will protect schools and early childhood centres from extreme heat.

Childcare is frequently raised with me as an issue for working families with a severe lack of availability. Access to childcare in the Casey electorate has been assessed as the worst in Victoria, with 72% of the electorate a childcare desert (analysis from Victoria University's Mitchell Institute).

Access to high quality childcare services is the largest barrier and the key that unlocks opportunities for women to work - both returning to work and the opportunity to increase hours worked. Childcare still largest barrier to female participation | Australian Bureau of Statistics

I played a leading role in the 5-year community campaign to save Sherbrooke Children's Centre which resulted in Local, State and Federal investment to build a new Children's Hub delivering high quality childcare and kindergarten services to hundreds of local families. I have experienced and know the positive impact of quality childcare that has enabled me to be both a parent and have a career.

A wage increase for early childhood education and care workers announced in 2024 was a good start but more needs to be done to increase the number of quality childcare places across the Casey electorate. Wage increase for the early childhood workforce - Department of Education, Australian Government