By CELA on 15 May, 2019

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In an election where early childhood education is being treated seriously, the Australian Electoral Commission is also reporting the highest enrolment rate in our history at 96.8%.

That’s 16.4 million people ready to have their say in the future government of this wide brown land. People are motivated, and even if they’re motivated by other issues, it’s a good time to be a little bit of an expert on yours. This is especially true if you are voting for the first time, or if you work or live with young people who are voting for the first time.

With only a few days to go, and all the major campaigns now officially launched, you might be feeling a touch of overwhelm on the path to ECE Election Expert status.

Never fear!

Amplify is here!

New Simple Guide

This post includes the release of our all new, printable CELA Simple Guide to #election2019 – the perfect one-pager for anyone interested in the four big advocacy questions facing the sector.

Click the image to download, print or share this guide, or head to this post for a full size screen version.

Tip: use the buttons at the top or bottom of any Amplify post to print, email, download or share stories and graphics with your networks and on social media.

But wait, there’s more!

We’re bringing you three additional amazing resources in this post, all designed to help you feel prepared to make good choices and enjoy your democracy sausage this Saturday. Or you can vote – without the snags – any time ahead of Saturday with a pre-poll ballot, just head here for early voting centre info and keep your weekend free!

Early Learning: Everyone Benefits Policy Guide and Infographic

The main sector campaign for greater investment in and recognition of ECE, Early Learning: Everyone Benefits (ELEB) has been understandably busy on many activities leading up to the #election 2019, including the creation of a star chart for the three largest political parties and a fact sheet explaining the party responses to the ELEB candidate survey.

ELEB Policy Guide #election2019, click to download

Launch into Learning Impact Estimator

One thing that’s clear this election, there are plenty of families looking for a reduction in their childcare costs as a deciding factor for their vote.

Launch into Learning has prepared this succinct score card for the parties, based on their responses to an earlier questionnaire. The team has also developed a nifty online ‘Impact Estimator’ you may wish to share with families to help them assess which set of policies would most benefit their situation.

Head here to try the Estimator out yourself, and share it with your families.

Try the Impact Estimator

CELA Broadside May 2019

Regardless of who wins the Federal election, a key challenge for the next government will be to address workforce issues in early childhood education and care. Workforce demand is about to hit a new high, with insufficient pipeline coming through to fill this demand. We are not training enough teachers to replace those leaving the workforce currently, let alone for an additional year of preschool. Within five years one in three teacher vacancies will remain unfilled unless urgent action is taken now.

This is an issue which has finally found a place in some major party’s policy platforms. It relates to pay, conditions, professional development, qualifications and educator recruitment and retention. Read this article by CELA Policy and Research Consultant Megan O’Connell in the May issue of Broadside, and be fully informed, and able to inform others, when it’s time to cast your vote.

Click to open this edition of Broadside

About CELA

Community Early Learning Australia is a not for profit organisation with a focus on amplifying the value of early learning for every child across Australia - representing our members and uniting our sector as a force for quality education and care.

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