I thank the shadow Minister for bringing this motion to the House. I move:
That the motion be amended by omitting all words after "House" and inserting instead:
(1)Recognises the importance of affordable, accessible and high-quality early childhood education and the New South Wales Government's commitment to expanding universal preschool.
(2)Acknowledges the serious concerns raised by community preschools, educators and families regarding the impact of the new Universal Preschool Funding model on existing services.
(3)Notes the petition in my name titled "Protect funding for community-based preschools", which has more than 39,000 signatures, and the letter from the Independent members of the Legislative Assembly to the Deputy Premier.
(4)Calls on the Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning to urgently work with unions, community preschool providers and the early childhood education sector to resolve these concerns, providing funding certainty, support fair wages for educators and ensure no community preschool is forced to close as a consequence of the reforms.
I want to take the politics out of this. I am an Independent and I do not give a stuff about either side of politics. We just want this fixed. Universal preschool is a worthy ambition. But this funding model threatens the viability of existing community preschools and fundamentally undermines that ambition. I acknowledge the outstanding leadership of Mittagong Preschool, whose advocacy was instrumental in initiating the e-petition that has now attracted over 39,000 signatures, as well as stakeholders for bringing their concerns to statewide attention. I thank the preschool educators, directors, volunteer management committees, parents, employee unions and my parliamentary colleagues on both sides of politics, including the Independents, who have expressed their support for community preschools to me. Their advocacy demonstrates what can be achieved when communities stand together.
Together, we call on the Minns Government and the Minister for Education and Early Learning to reverse the preschool funding changes, restore the Start Strong funding framework and increase funding for preschools to support fair wages and quality early learning in New South Wales. The Government has had considerable time to develop this funding model. Yet the sector has faced unacceptable delays in obtaining information. When the guidelines were finally released, many services discovered projected funding reductions of tens and, in some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sector research involving more than 140 preschools indicates that 51 per cent face projected annual losses exceeding $100,000, putting more pressures on the cost of living and stopping the affordability, quality and viability of community preschools.
How can a government claim to be strengthening early childhood education when its own funding arrangements risk destabilising the very services delivering it? I have two concerns. The first is the absence of meaningful consultation with the sector. Consultation after decisions have effectively been made is not genuine consultation. My other concern is perhaps the most serious: the apparent absence of the human factor in the funding formula. Community preschools are not simply numbers on a spreadsheet. Many are not‑for‑profit organisations, supported by volunteers, that reinvest every available dollar into children, educators and their communities. They must meet staffing costs, maintain buildings, manage fluctuating enrolments and support children with additional needs.
When funding falls short, the consequences are deeply personal. Educators face reduced hours or redundancy. Parents face closures of community preschools, increased fees due to choosing from a narrower range of preschools and enrolling children at long day care centres or even ending up staying at home. Children lose enrolment days. It may reduce hours for children with disabilities and from different backgrounds. We might lose services altogether. And the greatest consequences may fall on those least able to absorb them. Early intervention and inclusive education are investments in children's futures, not discretionary expenses to be removed when budgets become difficult.
There is a fundamental contradiction here. The Government wants more children attending preschool. Yet its funding model risks making that harder. The changes hinder educational equity and the most vulnerable communities will face the greatest disadvantage. That is not the outcome universal preschool was intended to deliver. I call on the Government to defer detrimental funding reductions, guarantee funding certainty for 2027 and 2028, protect educator wages, fully fund disability inclusion and undertake genuine consultation to redesign this model. Our children deserve better. Our educators deserve certainty. And our communities deserve a funding model that strengthens, rather than dismantles, the services they have built.
https://youtu.be/fJWkvtn-6Yk