Gender Equity Victoria welcomes the announcement made by the State Government today of a transformative $9 Billion investment into Early Childhood Education.

“Universal kindergarten, with hours aligned to the working day of men, women and gender diverse people, is a critical step in achieving gender equality in Australia. We can’t expect parents of all genders to share the care of children, if basic Early Childhood Education infrastructure and policy settings don’t allow them to do this. That’s why this is game changing investment,” said Tanja Kovac, CEO of Gender Equity Victoria.

“Gender equity is critical to economic prosperity in Australia. For too long we have allowed gender discriminatory work practices and the under-funding of Early Childhood Education to be a brain drain on working parents, especially women. This announcement, along with the investments being made in NSW and the commitment to Universal Childcare announced by Prime Minister Albanese are promising signs of a new policy shift towards a care economy. It’s long overdue,” said Ms Kovac

“Universal kindergarten will be significant not just to working parents, but to all the other loved ones involved in the village of raising children – such as grandparents, foster families and siblings. Gender equity initiatives benefit everyone,” said Ms Kovac.

GENVIC has been calling for budgetary and policy investments that promote a Gender Equal Recovery from COVID19. Increased funding for Early Childhood Education, Kindergarten, Occasional care and before and after school care has been a cornerstone of our Imagining a Care Economy advocacy.

See: Towards a Gender Equal Recovery & Recovery and Resilience for more information.

–ENDS

MEDIA ENQUIRIES.  Tanja Kovac, CEO GEN VIC, Ph. Mob 0419 910 577, genvic@genvic.org.au