The Federal Government has hit back at claims it had cut early childhood funding in the NT without warning.
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Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the Government was focused on making early learning and child care affordable and accessible for families and children, not paying the bills of the NT Government to meet their responsibility to regulate service quality.
“This is typical of the NT Government who want a handout to fulfil their job as the regulators of early learning and child care services. Now that the National Quality Framework has been established, it’s time for the NT Government to do their job and step up to enforce it,” Mr Birmingham said.
“As well as delivering more support for more families, our overhaul of child care and early learning will mean even greater compliance powers to keep rorters and shonks out of the system.”
Yesterday NT Education Minister Eva Lawler claimed the Federal Government had turned its back on our youngest Territorians.
Ms Lawler claimed funding to the Territory had fallen from $840,000 in 2013-14 to $300,000 in 2017-18, before being completely withdrawn without prior warning in the latest federal budget.
Ms Lawler said the cuts will put the quality of more than 13,000 Territory childcare places at risk.
In reply, Mr Birmingham said the Federal Government had in fact committed extra funding to the national regulator to assist the states and territories improve quality within the early learning and child care sector.
“When will the Gunner Government take responsibility for the fact that 54 per cent of children in the NT enrolled for 15 hours a week in dedicated preschools aren’t attending regularly?”
Mr Birmingham said the Federal Government knows the value of early learning and had locked in funding for preschool for this year and next so there’s time to work through these serious attendance issues.
“The Gunner Government needs to come to the party so we can work together to develop an enduring policy beyond 2019 that ensures children are not just enrolling, but attending and benefiting from preschool programs.”
The states and territories are responsible for regulating the operation of their early learning and child care services and the administration of the National Quality Framework.