Australian and international studies have shown that children’s literacy and numeracy skills at age four to five years are a good predictor of academic achievement in primary school. Therefore, investment in early years care and education is critical to ensuring that children have developed sufficiently to engage and thrive when they arrive at school.

Based on our experience to date, we provided a series of recommendations to the Productivity Commission review into childcare in Australia. These recommendations will help create the best early learning and childcare environment for all children, fosters their broader developmental needs and also provides additional targeted support for vulnerable children.

We believe that affordable and accessible high quality early learning and care is in the social and economic interests of all Australians.

We put forward the following recommendations and supporting evidence:

1. Increase overall investment in early education and care (ECEC) because it delivers social and economic returns and creates a strong foundation for a child’s future schooling and employment prospects.

2. Reform the payments to ensure all children can access ECEC but provide additional assistance to centres serving low and middle income families and vulnerable children.

3. Maintain the National Quality Framework, including the National Quality Standards and Assessment and Ratings process to ensure an evidence-based national minimum benchmark for ECEC in Australia.

4. Enhance the evidence base for ECEC by developing a child outcomes system that capitalises on existing data and process, including the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI).

Download in full: SVA recommendations to the Productivity Commission review into childcare (PDF, 533KB)