Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard will lead South Australia’s Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care.

Delivering on another Malinauskas Labor Government election commitment, Ms Gillard will begin immediately.

Julia Gilliard was the Prime Minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. From 2007 to 2010, Ms Gillard was the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Education, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, and Minister for Social Inclusion.

Ms Gillard oversaw major reforms to the Australian education system, including the most significant education reform in a generation – the Gonski Review. She also established the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, the Digital Education Revolution, and the Building the Education Revolution program.

In 2012, the Gillard government introduced the National Quality Framework and National Quality Standards, a major reform that set the standard for early childhood education and care across Australia.

Ms Gillard is currently the Chair of Beyond Blue, Chair of Wellcome, a global charitable foundation which supports science to solve urgent health challenges, Inaugural Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, and a patron of the Campaign for Female Education. She is also an Honorary Professor at the University of Adelaide, and Distinguished Fellow at the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institute.

Ms Gillard also served as chair of Global Partnership for Education from 2014 to 2021. It is a global funding body that works to ensure that every child receives a quality school education, prioritising the poorest, most vulnerable and those living in countries affected by fragility and conflict.

In July 2015 Ms Gillard was also appointed to the Commission on Financing for Global Education, tasked with identifying more effective and better coordinated ways to deploy resources to ensure that children are in school and learning.

The Royal Commission’s line of inquiry will include:

• How South Australian families are supported in the first 1000 days of a child’s life, with a focus on opportunities to further leverage early childhood education and care to improve outcomes for South Australian children.
• How universal quality preschool programs for three and four-year-olds can be delivered in South Australia, with a goal to achieve this in 2026.
• How all families can access out of school hours care at both preschool and primary school ages, including accessibility, affordability and quality.
• The benefits of increasing workforce participation from parents through improved access to childcare, early childhood education, and out of school hours care.

The Royal Commission will bring together a range of expert opinions and research along with the lived experience of families from all backgrounds to shape actionable recommendations for the government over the short and longer term.

The Royal Commission is expected to be completed in the second half of 2023.

Quotes

Attributable to Peter Malinauskas

Today’s announcement is a significant step towards delivering the biggest reform to early childhood education our State has ever seen.

We have an ambitious goal and we want to get it right.

Julia Gillard has the depth of knowledge and the experience to lead the charge on this mammoth task.

This Royal Commission is a unique opportunity to understand what we need to do to establish our state as a place where all families have the support they need to give their children the best start in life.

Quotes attributable to Blair Boyer

We have a goal to create a system that makes it easier for modern working families, who might be grappling with the balance that comes with working and raising children.

Examining services and supports in the first few years of a child’s life is critical to understanding where the gaps in the early years system are when compared against research into best practice.

This Commission will also look at ways to make childcare and preschool more accessible.

Attributable to Royal Commissioner Julia Gillard

As former Prime Minister and Minister for Education I’m proud of the reforms I achieved in this area during my time in government.

Education policy has been a career passion of mine, and I am delighted to now have the opportunity to support the next important steps to improve the early childhood education system in South Australia.

I am very conscious that I could not have become Prime Minister without my family’s focus on learning and the education I received at high quality government schools right here in Adelaide.

Life chances are defined early and I want every child in SA to be set up for success.

As a proud South Australian, I thank the Premier for inviting me to play role in helping all our children to thrive in the first five years of life through access to high quality early childhood education and care. I look forward to working collaboratively with the sector, experts and families to define the reform path.