Peter Dutton and the Coalition's plan to reinstate the activity test for parents wishing to access childcare has been panned as a "retrograde" move.
In February, Labor and the Greens voted for the three-day guarantee, which will abolish the Liberal-era Activity Test and allow families to access three days a week of subsidised early childhood education, regardless of how much they work or study.
The abolishment of the test was welcomed by Indigenous childhood education and care (ECEC) experts who have argued evidence showed "vulnerable children get the greatest benefit from accessing quality ECEC".
On Wednesday, The Australian reported the Coalition would reinstate the activity test for parents wishing to access childcare. They had previously been critical of the scrapping of the test, voting against it in Parliament and arguing it threatened taxpayer dollars being spent responsibly.
"The guarantee of childcare three days a week means absolutely nothing if you live in a community where you can't even get one day a week," Nationals leader David Littleproud said.
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In response to the Coalition's plans to reinstate the test, SNAICC – National Voice for our Children labelled it a "damaging move" that will ultimately "set back" Indigenous children.
"Removing the Activity Test and increasing access to ECEC has the potential for wider impacts with recent studies showing interventions in ECEC settings with vulnerable children and their families may be the key to reducing youth crime," SNAICC chief executive Catherine Liddle said.
"Many families require affordable childcare to be in place before they can re-enter the workforce – this policy puts them at a disadvantage."
Ms Liddle said the latest Closing the Gap outcomes revealed developmental readiness for big schools was "worsening".
"We simply cannot afford to remove equitable ECEC subsidies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children," she said.
"It's more important than ever that we see a bipartisan commitment to quality Early Childhood education and care to ensure our children get the best start in life. We urge the Coalition to reconsider their retrograde stance on the Activity Test."
Labor says scrapping the activity test for three days would benefit close to 66,000 families whilst costing $427m over five years. They previously said families earning between $50,000 to $100,000 will be better off under the legislation, arguing they are expected to save an average of $1,460 per year.
Speaking on Wednesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters the activity test, when it comes to child care, "keeps underprivileged and disadvantaged women in poverty".
"It means they can't go and get a job because they don't have that three-day guarantee of access to child care," he said, urging the Coalition to "rethink" their plan.
"The abolition of the activity test and the three-day guarantee for child care is based upon proper policy assessments, based upon the advice of people on the front line, based upon the statistics that show that abolishing the activity test will particularly assist disadvantaged women to escape poverty, to get a job, to look after their children, and that's why it should be supported."
Early childhood education minister Dr Anne Aly said in February the test "locked out the children who can most benefit from early childhood education and care".
"The Coalition would put universal access to early learning at risk; it's clear they don't understand the benefits of early childhood education and care," she said.
Opposition early childhood education spokeswoman Angie Bell said the government had "failed to meaningfully address issues around quality, affordability or access" over their time in office.
"We must create greater flexibility in early childhood education and care models so that children can have the best start in life and primary carers can re-enter the workforce should they choose to," she told The Australian.
SNAICC did welcome the Federal Opposition's announcement to support the Government's proposed Building Early Education Fund (BEEF), with Ms Liddle saying access to childcare places in regional and remote areas - where many Indigenous children and families reside - is a "significant factor in early learning".
The model will see the building or expanding of more childcare centres, as well as creating a new grant program to develop more flexible ECEC models in regional and remote areas.
Ms Liddle said the Aboriginal Community-Controlled (ACCO) sector sees "better engagement" from First Nations families because it "goes beyond the general approach to ECEC" by offering innovative models of early education to meet the needs of local communities.
"While ACCOs need a sustainable funding model so they can continue supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to access ECEC, grants that support ECEC services in delivering flexible models of care are a step in the right direction," she said.
