Introduction

Recommendation 1:
That preschool education must be an integral part of the early childhood education offered by a high quality, properly resourced system of public education. It must be publicly funded, free, and accessible to all eligible children in Australia irrespective of their location or background.

The role of the Commonwealth in preschool education

Recommendation 2:
That, in partnership with the states and territories, the Commonwealth Government as a matter of national urgency assumes a responsibility for preschool education to ensure that all Australian children have access to a high quality, free, public preschool education before entering school. This includes both a Commonwealth contribution to the funding of public preschool education and the development of a national framework for early childhood education.

Recommendation 3:
That, in partnership with the States and Territories, the Commonwealth Government develops national goals for preschool education.

Recommendation 4:
That funding agreements should determine the specific responsibilities of each level of government in the development of a national system of preschool education.

Preschool enrolments and participation rates

Recommendation 5:
That the Commonwealth Government reaffirm its commitment to universal access to preschool education for all Australian children in the year before school.

Recommendation 6:
That the NSW Government establish a commitment to universal provision of preschool education within the framework of a high quality, properly resourced public education system.

Recommendation 7:
That the AEU support the 1996 recommendation of the Senate Employment, Education and Training References Committee for the establishment of a National Centre for Research in Early Childhood Development, Education and Care and urges its establishment through the Minister for Employment, Education and Training. One of its urgent tasks would be to establish a consistent and reliable data base on the provision of and participation in preschool education and other early childhood services.

Recommendation 8:
That the AEU support the Senate Employment, Education and Training References Committee's proposal for the Commonwealth, States and Territories to devise consistent nomenclature and descriptors for the years of early childhood education as well as common starting ages for schooling.

Recommendation 9:
That the development of a national policy framework for preschool education address the optimum period of preschool education and develop strategies to ensure funding for any resultant additional access beyond the year preceding school.

Recommendation 10:
That states and territories currently offering access to more than one year of preschool at least maintain their existing provision.

State and Territory Departments with responsibility for preschool education

Recommendation 11:
That the Department of Education in each state and territory be the single agency responsible for preschool education in each system. This is currently the case in most systems in whole or in part.

Recommendation 12:
That the development of a national framework for preschool education be coordinated through MCEETYA and that this include consideration of the development of a common framework for departmental responsibility over time.

Recommendation 13:
That a representative national Education Commission be established to provide advice on education, including preschool education within the overall framework of early childhood education.

The structures of preschool provision in the States and Territories

Recommendation 14:
That a national policy framework for preschool education be developed within an overall policy perspective on early childhood education. This should take into account both the developmental needs of preschool education and the curriculum frameworks of the early primary years and provide for articulation between them.

Recommendation 15:
That where this does not exist, links be established between preschool education and Departments of Education, including the development of transition programs, early childhood curriculum guidelines, networks and, where possible, integration or co-location of preschools with primary schools.

Recommendation 16:
That recognised models of good practice in relation to quality preschool curriculum and transition programs be investigated and disseminated.

Recommendation 17:
That the Commonwealth, in partnership with the States and Territories, provide funding and support for the development of early childhood educators' networks, to ensure that information, strategies, experiences and resources can be shared and educational innovations disseminated.

Recommendation 18:
That all preschool programs be delivered by qualified early childhood teachers and education workers. In partnership with the States and Territories, the Commonwealth Government should develop a strategy for ensuring that this objective is fulfilled as soon as possible.

Recommendation 19:
That the Commonwealth, in partnership with the States and Territories, investigate and make available to all systems information about existing links between early childhood education and child care, and provide models for how such links should ensure that the best possible educational practice is paramount in the early childhood education sector.

Hours of attendance

Recommendation 20:
That the Commonwealth Government in partnership with the States and Territories must establish preschool attendance of at least an initial ten hours per week as the minimum entitlement for all Australian children for at least the year prior to entering school.

Recommendation 21:
That the national policy framework include determination of the optimum weekly attendance time for each child and develop strategies and time lines to ensure movement towards that optimum. States and Territories currently offering more than the proposed minimum should maintain their existing provision.

Children from special needs groups

Recommendation 22:
That the proposed Centre for Research, in developing a national data base on provision of and participation in preschool, give a particular focus to the identification of the barriers to access for individual children with special needs and for disadvantaged groups.

Recommendation 23:
That the Commonwealth Government ensure that a national picture of programs and supports currently offered by individual states and territories for children identified as disadvantaged or with special needs is developed, with a view to identifying gaps and under-resourcing as well as exemplary models which have the potential to deliver quality education.

Recommendation 24:
That the Commonwealth Government, in funding partnership with the states and territories, develop and fund a Preschool Equity Program to ensure that all children have access to high quality preschool and that their special educational needs are addressed.

Recommendation 25:
That within the framework of a national Preschool Equity Program, the Commonwealth Government retain responsibility for the provision of targeted funding for preschool places and programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Affordability

Recommendation 26:
That in partnership with the States and Territories, the Commonwealth Government ensure that all Australian children have access to a preschool education irrespective of their family's capacity to pay. High quality public preschool education must be free and properly resourced. Funding levels must be sufficient to end the reliance in some systems on parent fees and fundraising in order to fund basic services.

Recommendation 27:
That in the context of preschool funding agreements, the Commonwealth seek commitments from the states and territories to reduce and eventually eliminate their reliance on parental contributions for public preschool education.

Staff - student ratios

Recommendation 28:
That as a matter of urgency a minimum national standard be set to establish staff student ratios of 2:20 for all preschool education programs for 4 year old children, including at least one qualified early childhood teacher.

Recommendation 29:
That where preschools offer programs for 3 year olds, the minimum national standard for staff student ratios be 2:15, comprising one qualified early childhood teacher and one aide/assistant.

Recommendation 30:
That where the minimum staff student ratio comprises one qualified early childhood teacher and one assistant, groups sizes for 4 year olds programs be restricted to a maximum of 20.

Recommendation 31:
That a national standard be set to establish a maximum case load of 50 in the interim for all preschool teachers, to be reduced to 40 as the national staff student ratio is implemented. That this national standard be reviewed in line with increasing provision and changing patterns of delivery.

Recommendation 32:
That funding agreements established between the Commonwealth and the States and Territories ensure compliance with national standards on staff student ratios, group sizes and teacher case loads on an agreed time line. Progress should be reviewed at the end of three years with the view to establishing new and reduced ratio targets. It is noted that staff student ratios also remain the province of both national and state/territory industrial negotiations with the AEU and any other relevant unions.

Recommendation 33:
That national standards relating to staff student ratios, group sizes and teacher case loads for preschool programs apply to all locations in which such programs are funded and/or receive state registration/licensing.

Qualified preschool staff

Recommendation 34:
That all workers in early childhood education should be appropriately qualified for the roles and tasks that are performed in the settings in which early childhood education is provided.

All early childhood teachers must have pre-service and access to appropriate and accredited professional development. Pre-service qualifications should be the equivalent of four years of training, inclusive of any recognition of prior learning. Teachers should be allowed access to four year training through the recognition of prior learning and competence. In addition teachers from other settings should be provided with the relevant professional development and training to enable them to teach in early childhood settings.

Early childhood education workers should have access to a range of nationally accredited courses which provide credentials that recognise the important and evolving role they play. In addition there should be articulated and accredited pathways for early childhood education workers to seek further relevant qualifications, including to teacher status.

The AEU opposes the use of private providers for early childhood education.

Recommendation 35:
That the AEU supports the recommendation of the 1996 Senate Employment, Education and Training References Committee report, for the development of a draft set of national goals and guidelines for best practice in the pre-service education and training of early childhood practitioners, which should highlight the importance of working closely with parents. Such guidelines should be developed in consultation with all stakeholders, and that the proposed Education Commission be given carriage of this development.

Recommendation 36:
That all early childhood teachers and workers have access to a minimum of five days funded professional development each year within employed hours.

Recommendation 37:
That the National Professional Development Program be reinstated. The AEU supports the recommendation of the 1996 Senate Employment, Education and Training References Committee to include in the National Professional Development Program the in-service of qualified early childhood practitioners.

Preschool teacher salaries

Recommendation 38:
That preschool teachers and early childhood education workers be entitled to the same rates of remuneration as their colleagues in schools, and that these rates apply irrespective of location.

Recommendation 39:
That preschool teachers and early childhood education workers be entitled to fair and reasonable employment conditions and that the trend to increased casualisation and other forms of precarious employment in at least some systems be strongly opposed.

Parent involvement

Recommendation 40:
That the proposed Education Commission investigate and disseminate exemplary models and innovation in relation to the enhancement of partnerships between educators and parents in democratic and inclusive decision making and in the education of young children.

Recommendation 41:
That employment functions for preschool education workers, including funding, employment, personnel records and payments, should be undertaken by the appropriate central agency on behalf of all public and community preschool providers in each state and territory.

Towards a national funding plan for preschool education

Recommendation 42:
That defined Commonwealth and State and Territory roles be negotiated within a new funding and policy partnership aimed at delivering universal, free, public preschool education of the highest quality for all Australian children.

That one possible framework for cooperative funding arrangements for the next triennium would be:

• provision by the Commonwealth Government of a block grant to the states and territories, of 22% of total preschool funding, comprising:

  i. aba 15 % base block grant allocated on the basis of the proportion of 4 year olds enrolled in preschool education

  ii. aba 7% grant within the framework of a national Preschool Equity Program based on the numbers of children identified as disadvantaged or having special needs, targeted both at increasing participation and at redressing disadvantage/ meeting special educational needs.

• a commitment by the states and territories to maintain existing funding and to increase their total funding by a minimum of 5% in each of the 3 years, with the contribution from each state/territory negotiated on the basis of the gap between their current provision and the proposed national standards /average funding levels. Of this, the states would be required to make a contribution to national projects and infrastructure.

• negotiated commitments to form part of the funding agreements in relation to movement towards the proposed national standards and frameworks and for the achievement of additional places and enhanced participation rates.

• an additional 3% of funding by the Commonwealth Government to provide for [on a cost share basis with the states/territories providing 1% ]:
  National Centre for Research in Early Childhood Development, Education and Care
  inclusion of preschool education within the framework of early childhood education as part of the brief of a representative Education Commission
  inclusion of preschool teachers in a re-established National Professional Development Program
  development of Early Childhood Education networks to provide all early childhood educators with a forum for information sharing, advice, support, and innovation
  inclusion of preschool education within the role of MCEETYA