Today in Parliament, Abigail gave notice of a motion commending everyone who added their voice and expertise to the ground-breaking Early Childhood Education Summit in February.

Abigail said:

I give notice that on the next sitting day I will move: 

(1) That this House notes that:

• the inaugural Early Childhood Education Summit was held on Saturday 21 February 2026 at the University of Sydney and online, with the mission of pushing for meaningful reform led by early childhood educators and teachers that will improve the safety and quality of early childhood services;
• organised by Dr Red Ruby Scarlet, hosted by Professor Marianne Fenech and supported by a coalition of 4 nationwide education unions, the Summit captured the views of more than 1,400 early childhood professionals;
• the Summit was attended by Greens NSW MP Abigail Boyd, frontline early childhood education professionals, academics and representatives from the Australian Education Union (AEU), the Independent Education Union (IEU), the United Services Union (USU) and the United Workers Union (UWU);
• the Summit found that recent State and Federal government reforms responding to the crisis in our early childhood education and care sector were inadequate;
• the Summit endorsed a statement of demands to reform the sector, which are set out under ten key issues and call on the government to address the structural factors in the sector that are leading to exploitation and abuse of children and workers; 
• these demands are grounded in the lived working experience of thousands of frontline early childhood professionals who have seen for themselves how the profit motive corrodes quality and safety for the young people in their care. 

(2) That this House recognises the ten key demands of the Early Childhood Education Summit, which are: 

• Because children’s safety is compromised by corporate providers and private equity firms - cease government funding for corporate and private equity providers;
• Because children’s safety is compromised by weaknesses in the National Quality Framework - appropriately resource regulatory authorities so quality ratings are reliable, reform the National Quality Framework, and legislate stricter licensing approvals;
• Because children’s safety is compromised by weak child to educator ratios - improve child-to-educator ratios, legislate group sizes in the National Quality Framework, and introduce space limitations (for ratios and group sizes);
• Because children’s safety is compromised by inadequate inclusion support funding and inclusion workforce funding and models - appropriately fund inclusion support programs and staffing;
• Because children’s safety is compromised by an inadequately prepared workforce - raise the quality of early childhood teacher and educator preparation programs;
• Because children’s safety is compromised by low wages and poor working conditions - secure pay parity for all early childhood teachers with teachers in government schools, bring about professional wages for educators commensurate with the responsibilities and expertise required, and strengthen working conditions to better support educator wellbeing and retention;
• Because children’s safety is compromised by limited access to quality professional development - provide a federally-funded coordinated approach to professional development;
• Because children’s safety is compromised by limited workforce diversity - support diversity and difference in the workforce;
• Because children’s safety is compromised by the absence of an independent authority to oversee sector planning that supports quality - establish an independent national Early Childhood Education Commission, and enforce public reporting of financial data; and 
• Because children’s safety is compromised by parents being treated as consumers, not allies - build parents’ understanding of the importance of the early years so they advocate for quality early childhood education that keeps children safe.

(3) That this House commends all who were involved in this ground-breaking summit and calls on the NSW government to meet the demands of early childhood educators and teachers and urgently implement the evidence-based reforms needed to build an early childhood education and care sector that is safe, high quality and sustainable for children, families and workers.

19 March 2026