IEU will have a voice at National Early Years Summit

IEU Federal Secretary Christine Cooper and Cronulla Preschool Director Janene Rox will represent the union at the Federal Government’s National Early Years Summit at Parliament House in Canberra on 17 February.

The Government’s invitation states the Early Years Summit will start a conversation on developing a Commonwealth Early Years Strategy.

Janene represented the IEU at an ACTU event in Canberra in August last year, where she said she was “fighting for the future of the profession”.

The Government’s invitation says the summit is “developing the strategy to shape our vision for the future of Australia’s children and their families”.

It continues: “Recognising how critical the early years are for children’s development and later outcomes in life, the strategy will aim to create an integrated, whole-of-Commonwealth approach to help ensure children aged five and below, as well as their families and communities, have the tools and supports in place to thrive.

“It is our shared ambition that the strategy will support improved integration and coordination across all Commonwealth programs, expenditure, functions and activities that impact early childhood development, ultimately supporting better outcomes for young childrenin Australia and their families.

“The Summit will bring together a diverse range of stakeholders including industry experts, sector leaders, and families/carers. It will focus on:

  • exploring how the Government can best support Australia’s children and their families in the early years
  • synthesising views on the vision, outcomes and priorities for reform
  • promoting and guiding ongoing engagement in the consultation processes.

“While the strategy’s focus will be on Commonwealth programs and policies to better target investment and maximise outcomes, we recognise the early years system is broad and encompasses reform work and activity underway across all jurisdictions and early childhood sectors.

“We want to ensure the strategy and all Commonwealth early childhood policies are complementary and not duplicative of this support for the early years.”