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ACCS contributes to a range of key inquiries, consultations and research projects. ACCS National submissions will be added to this page when they are submitted on the public record. Individual ACCS State & Territory Branches also make submissions to State & Federal consultations and inquiries. Contact the relevant branch for further information.

ACCS Responds to Senate Inquiry into Government Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

By Submissions

ACCS has alerted the Senate to the strengths of the community early childhood sector that have sustained it through the pandemic when combined with the government business continuity payments. We also advised on the challenges alerted to us by our members and the significant variations across jurisdictions. We outlined the dangers of immediately returning to the previous funding arrangements and supported the transitional proposals developed by ECA in collaboration with ACCS and other national peak bodies.

Submission: Red Tape Senate Inquiry March 2018

By Submissions

ACCS submitted to the Senate Inquiry into the impact of red tape on child care services stressing that the focus on compliance linked to quality ensures safety and well-being for children and safeguards against the use of Government funds to subsidise poor quality and unsafe services that would have potential to harm children.  Community children’s services remain very supportive of the National Quality Framework and associated law and regulations.

Opportunites for Data Collection on the Impact of the Jobs for Families Child Care Package Aug 2017

By Submissions

ACCS presented ideas to the Australian Government Department of Education and Training on ways to gather clear evidence of the impact of the new Child Care support system on:

  • women’s workforce participation
  • the participation of families experiencing vulnerability
  • sustainability of the service system in communities where many families do not meet the new Activity Test.

ACCS Response to ACCC Issues Paper on Proposed Merger between Camp Australia and Junior Adventures Group

By Submissions

25 August 2017

ACCS has provided advice to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on the potential establishment of a very large private provider in the Outside School Hours Services sector. We have drawn on the knowledge of our members and our observations about the dangerous impact of large corporations operating in the long day care sector.

Response to Draft Guidelines for Community Child Care Fund

By Submissions

ACCS is particularly pleased with the eligibility criteria requiring not-for-profit status for the recipient agencies. However, we believe that the goals of the Community Child Care Fund would be better served if the Guidelines recognised that some services will not be able to transition to a model of operation that is self-sustaining. Entrenched poverty, long-term unemployment and disadvantage make sustainability without additional government funding impossible in many communities.

ACCS CALLS FOR ACTION TO CLOSE POOR QUALITY REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANISATIONS

By Submissions

ACCS rejects a proposal from the Commonwealth Education Department to set up a Preferred Provider Scheme as a strategy to improve the quality of training in the Early Childhood Education and Care sector.
We believe that resources are more effectively directed to strengthening the capacity of the regulator ASQA to regulate RTOs.
Our submission sets out ten actions that government and the regulator can take to put poor quality RTOs out of action.

Response to Early Childhood Development Workforce Productivity Commission Draft Research Report, June 2011

By Submissions

ACCS is excited about this timely review by the Productivity Commission. There are significant changes occurring in the early childhood sector through the Council of Australia Governments (COAG) process and the early childhood reforms it is implementing. These changes will impact on the quality assurance frameworks applied to children’s services, the regulations that underpin this frameworks and the early childhood sector workforce that will be implementing these changes…

Response to Commonwealth Commissioner for Children and Young People Bill (2010)

By Submissions

The Bill provides the opportunity to entrench the intent of key principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC) into a separate statutory office which values children as citizens and holders of rights.

ACCS welcomes the Bill’s intent for the Commissioner to coordinate policies, programs and funding across Australia which impact on children and young people (Bill 2010 3.3.c; p3). Such an approach is long overdue and will overarch the current fragmented approach to policy as it relates to children, young people and the families and communities that surround them.

Response to Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Child Care Budget Measures) Bill 2010

By Submissions

ACCS has always argued that the CCR is a flawed mechanism and calls on the Government to abandon the rebate and roll the funds into increasing CCB fee subsidies for low and middle income families. High income families on $100,000 a year or more receive double the rebate of families on low incomes of under $30,000. Child Care Benefit is a progressive system of support
for families, offering the highest assistance where it is most needed. The rebate undoes all of the good work of CCB…

Submission to Australian Treasury Inquiry into Creeping Acquisitions – The Way Forward, 2009

By Submissions

ACCS believes that government must use both regulatory and public policy levers to ensure that what remains of ABC Learning does not grow again and that no future child care operator can grow to be such a monolith in the children’s services sector.

The government must maintain control in children’s services as the market does not deliver consumer power for families…