News_

Experts helping to shape the future of early childhood education

8 October 2024
Influencing discussion on policy reform
September 2nd 2024, the RD Watt Building played host to a gathering of early childhood education and care (ECEC) stakeholders to share insights. The intention was clear: to influence the next generation of policy reforms within the sector.
Research Impact Accelerator team stands in front of a whiteboard

As part of the 2022 federal election campaign, the Australian Labor Party (ALP) made reform to ECEC access a flagship policy in their agenda.

Now elected, the ALP tasked the Productivity Commission (PC) with producing a comprehensive review of the sector to set the scene for the Albanese Government’s forthcoming plans as they seek another term in power.

With the PC’s report recently released, a research team based in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, funded by the Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre (SSSHARC), is preparing a white paper to act in response.

Labor created Medicare – universal health care. We created the NDIS – universal support for people with disability. We created superannuation – universal retirement savings for workers. And – if I’m Prime Minister – I will make quality, affordable childcare universal too.
The Hon Anthony Albanese MP, then Leader of the Opposition in the Federal Budget Reply, October 2020

White papers are authoritative reports that have long been used by governments to guide decision-making and stimulate public debate.

By providing a clear and structured approach to complex challenges, white papers help policymakers make informed and strategic decisions.

The stakeholder workshop builds upon insights generated in an academic-focussed workshop in July that produced a discussion paper.

Circulated to key stakeholders, the discussion paper generated incisive and largely positive feedback from informed contemporaries who gave feedback on language and vision with a view to improving uptake in the policy conversation around ECEC reform.

The resulting white paper, which is now in penultimate draft, has been collectively authored by a research team headed up by Associate Professor Luara Ferracioli and Dr Ryan Cox, both from the School of Humanities.

This white paper argues that ECEC policy must be reframed through a lens of social justice to truly prioritise children.

It emphasises that children have full moral status, and their interests should be central in policy decisions.

Instead of focusing solely on the potential benefits of quality ECEC, the paper advocates for treating children's entitlement to ECEC as a matter of justice.

By adopting a social justice framework, ECEC policy can address what children are owed, alongside other concerns like workforce participation and economic productivity, ensuring their rights are recognized and respected.

Ferracioli and Cox received funding and project management support from SSSHARC through the inaugural Research Impact Accelerator (RIA).

The Accelerator acts as a launchpad to bring impact to the forefront of the research agenda, while also allowing space for leadership development and capacity building among FASS EMCRs.

A room with people sitting around tables

Project teams gathering at a Research Impact Accelerator workshop earlier in the year

No matter how good one’s ideas are, it can sometimes be hard for those ideas to make their way into public discussions on important social issues. The RIA has been invaluable in building my capacity to create the conditions for my academic work to have an impact on issues I care deeply about.
Associate Professor Luara Ferracioli

Associate Professor Ferracioli brings expertise on the interests of children as advanced in her 2023 book Parenting and the Goods of Childhood (Oxford University Press).

Dr Cox, also from Philosophy, brings his background in the philosophy of education, while Professor Elizabeth Hill from the School of Social and Political Sciences provides expertise in the field of gender equality and work as well as a strong track record in policy impact.

Jess Scully, former Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney and author of Glimpses of Utopia bridges the gap between community engagement and policy.

Annika Rees, who recently completed her Master’s in Public Policy at the University of Sydney brings skills in empirically informed research to the project.

Together, the group’s complementary skills create a dynamic and well-rounded team capable of tackling the project’s multifaceted challenges.

The SSSHARC RIA has allowed me to refocus some of my research priorities in ways that facilitate greater collaboration with other researchers and greater engagement with relevant stakeholders. It has provided the resources and training necessary for engaging with relevant stakeholders that otherwise would have been impossible.
Dr Ryan Cox

The Research Impact Accelerator will be running again in 2025, with eligible research teams able to submit an Expression of Interest to SSSHARC in December.

Related articles