Community Forum on the Future of Early Childhood Education in NSW with Greens MLC Abigail Boyd

A Community Forum on the Future of Early Childhood Education with Greens MLC Abigail Boyd will be held at the Gosford Library from 1.30 pm to 3:30 pm on Saturday, 16 th May.

Abigail has worked alongside early childhood professionals, whistleblowers, and investigative journalists for over a year to expose the scandalous flaws in the early childhood education sector.

Abigail was the Chair of the NSW Education Committee when she began a legal fight to have documented reports of abuse and neglect in child care centres held by various state bodies released to the public.

The reports detailed breaches, enforcement actions, suspected criminal conduct and other serious problems afflicting the state’s childcare system. What Abigail learned from these disturbing reports has fuelled her to fight for a radical rethink of the childcare system.

Abigail worked closely with investigative journalist Adele Ferguson on her Four Corners exposé of problems within the sector, for which Ferguson received 10 awards, including a Gold Walkley and a Logie.

“Working with Adele to expose the abuse of children and the exploitation of workers in Australia’s early learning centres has been the hardest and most rewarding work I’ve done - and it isn’t over,” said Abigail.

Changes are being made in response to this work. The NSW Department of Education has established an Early Learning Commission, appointing Daryl Currie as its Commissioner this week. The goal is to provide stronger protections, clearer accountability, and higher-quality early learning services.

However, systemic issues remain, and Abigail continues to push for a number of bold reforms to the early education and childcare sector. The Greens have a clear preference for community- and public-delivered childcare/early education, preferably free or low-cost.

Abigail remains determined to keep fighting for an early childhood education sector that our children, families, and early childhood professionals deserve - one that puts the dignity, safety, and rights of children and professionals above all else. And one that is not an exorbitant burden on household budgets.

Childcare is “after all, an essential public service”, she says.

Join Abigail Boyd at our free community forum to find out more about this important work and ask the questions important to you about early childhood education in NSW and on the Central Coast.

It is free, but to attend the Community Forum, please register here:

https://contact-nsw.greens.org.au/civicrm/event/register?reset=1&id=24110