What would that watchdog look like?

Steph Hodgins-May:

Essentially what it will do is ensure that we don’t have that patchwork implementation of standards across the country. Australia does have some of the world’s leading national quality standards, but the truth is that they’re not enforced.

So that national watchdog will have teeth, and it will have the power to enforce the National Quality Framework, but it will also have important powers to be able to gather information and be able to lay the foundations for a childcare system that actually prioritises children over profit.

And, look, we know that’s the elephant in the room – in the last 10 years, more than 90% of childcare providers that have come through are running for profit. It’s the Greens’ view that, if a centre is running for profit, profit is the number one priority of that centre, rather than the education and safety and wellbeing of our children.

So that watchdog will crack down on national standards and ensure that they’re enforced, but essentially create a genuinely universal system of early childhood education and care that’s high-quality and really prioritising the needs of our children over the profit margins of, many times, offshore corporations that are running these outfits.

Advocacy group The Parenthood is also pushing for a national watchdog.