MEDIA RELEASE: NSW EDUCATION COMMITTEE TO SCRUTINISE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE INDUSTRY FOLLOWING FOUR CORNERS EXPOSÉ

21 MARCH 2025

In the wake of the explosive revelations of the Four Corners episode Betrayal of Trust: Australia’s Childcare Crisis, and allegations that NSW is leading the race to the bottom in terms of early childhood education and care provider quality, the NSW Parliament Education Portfolio Committee has resolved to conduct an inquiry into the Early Childhood Education and Care industry.

Quotes attributable to Abigail Boyd, Greens NSW MLC and Chair of Education Committee:

“All week, my office has been inundated with an outpouring of support for urgent action on the failures in our early childhood education and care sector, with industry insiders and concerned parents and carers insisting that these horrifying stories be brought out into the open. That’s what we intend to do with this inquiry.

“Dropping your child off at an early learning centre in the morning is an enormous act of trust, but it doesn’t need to be a blind leap of faith. Families deserve transparency and accountability, and that’s what a parliamentary investigation can help to deliver.

“I’m pleased to have managed to secure unanimous support from all committee members, from the government, opposition and crossbench, to enquire into the early childhood industry. The safety and wellbeing of the children of this state is an issue that transcends political persuasions, and I am pleased to be Chairing this inquiry of members who unanimously agree something has gone terribly wrong here and is in urgent need of investigation and reform.”

Find out more about the inquiry and make a submission here: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/inquiries/Pages/inquiry-details.aspx?pk=3098

Submissions close at 11.59 pm on Friday 30 May 2025.

The inquiry is seeking submissions from organisations and individuals, including parents and carers, anyone who has worked or is currently working in the sector (including teachers, educators, support staff and departmental staff), academic experts and anyone with lived experience.

If you have any experience or information you’d like to share, please consider making a submission to our inquiry. You can request for your submission to be kept confidential.

Check out the inquiry’s terms of reference to get an idea of the scope: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/inquiries/3098/Terms%20of%20reference%20-%20Early%20childhood%20education%20and%20care%20-%20Updated%2025%20March%202025.pdf

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

No matter who you are or what you do, everyone has the right to share in the wellbeing of our country.

But at the moment the essentials so many of us need – a place to call home, food on the table, and everyday essentials like electricity, internet, medicine and water – are simply out of reach.

Instead of supporting us, our government is choosing to prop up huge corporations with massive subsidies, and to give away our collective wealth through record tax cuts for the wealthy. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left to live paycheck to paycheck or trapped in the dehumanising bureaucracy of our existing welfare system.

Now, in the midst of a pandemic, and following quickly on the heels of the bushfire crisis, more of us than ever before are experiencing what it’s like to lose our jobs, be without a home, or worry about where the food for our next meal will come from.

It’s time for us to choose to prioritise the wellbeing of everyone.

And that’s exactly what the Universal Wellbeing Payment will do.

It’s a regular payment made to each of us to ensure our minimum standard of wellbeing. No means testing, no bureaucracy, no strings attached.

It’s the amount you’re owed simply for being a participant in our society.

It means you are free to live your life and contribute to society as you see fit, whether you’re a carer, an artist, a student, a parent, an entrepreneur – you can get on with what you need to do, knowing that you will always be supported regardless of your income.

It means that we’re choosing to structure our economy for the benefit of all of us, not using our collective wealth to prop up the interests of big business and the wealthy few.

It means you will always have what you need to live a good life, no matter what.

The Universal Wellbeing Payment is for everyone. Help us make it happen.

For more information, head to universalwellbeingpayment.com.au

115

3,000 signatures

Will you sign?

First Name

Last Name

Mobile phone

Home Phone

Address (Street, Suburb, State, Postcode)

Country

Join with Facebook

Join with Twitter

MEDIA RELEASE: NSW EDUCATION COMMITTEE TO SCRUTINISE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE INDUSTRY FOLLOWING FOUR CORNERS EXPOSÉ

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

Will you sign?

Join the Campaign

Join 51,144 other supporters in taking action