More than 1,200 early childhood professionals from around the country will hear today how important the Australian public thinks it is to improve quality standards in early childhood education and care for Australian children.

A new poll, which found 92 per cent of Australians think quality of early childhood education and care is more important than cost,* will be presented at the Early Childhood Australia national conference in Adelaide today.

Speaking at the Early Childhood Australia conference, CEO Pam Cahir said it was time to start focusing on how the quality standards could be implemented and still keep childcare affordable, rather than quarrelling about the cost.

“What this poll tells us is that it is quality, not cost, that should drive advancements in early childhood education and care.

“What childcare professionals want to hear is how quality standards can be improved, and how we can help early childhood education and care services implement the reforms without their fees blowing out.

“Rather than continuing to focus on costs, we need to move on and start thinking about and preparing ourselves for when the quality reforms are eventually implemented in 2012.”

Ms Cahir said parents knew the value of quality early childhood education and care and the Government needed to stick to its reform agenda over the next three years.

“The Government now needs to focus on making sure early childhood education and care is affordable as well as meeting the quality standards that are expected by families.

“We saw recently with the National Childcare Accreditation Council that too many early childhood education and care services are failing basic standards. This is not good enough, and reinforces the need to implement the National Quality Standards.

“Australia wants better quality early childhood education and care, so let’s start focusing on how we can make it happen.”

*Q. Thinking about education for children up to the age of eight, what is more important to you?
Response %
The quality of the early childhood education and care they receive 92%
The cost of the early childhood education and care they receive 8%

All media enquiries: Claire Johnston, 0434 489 533