The Parenthood, an advocacy group, outlined problems with the current system in its pre-budget submission.
“Despite success in lifting enrolments of children in preschool programs in the year before school (four-year-olds) Australia is in the bottom third of countries ranked by the OECD in relation to enrolment of three-year-olds,” the group wrote.
Last month a group of prominent Australians, including business and union leaders, called on the government to invest in and reform the system and to “work to the goal of universal access to quality early childhood education and care”.
There has also been growing global momentum for reforms, including in the US, where Joe Biden last month announced a plan to provide universal, high-quality preschool to all three- and four-year-olds.