Mums were ticked off about flexible-work threat. The Coalition needs to step up again

When you have small humans running around, and both you and your partner need to work, two things are crucial - flexible work arrangements, and affordable, accessible early childhood education and care and outside-school-hours care.

Without them, families are pushed into impossible choices - between earning the income they need or staying home; keeping their job or affording care; giving their child the best start or making rent.

Without these supports, the equation for juggling work and family life simply doesn't add up.

Last Thursday, just three weeks out from the federal election, the Coalition finally broke its silence on its vision for childcare in Australia, with the announcement of their Regional Australia Future Fund.

And with the fund being one of the few passing mentions of "childcare" in the Coalition's campaign so far, you can't blame parents of young children for wondering: Is this all we can expect from a Dutton-led government?

It's a welcome step toward tackling Australia's childcare deserts - but with no detail yet, and a focus seemingly limited to access, not affordability, this fund is just one small piece of a much bigger puzzle. And right now, that puzzle is trapping millions of families in financial distress

Female voters have consistently shown limited support for Dutton and his position around working from home has deepened the frustration, especially among mothers

The Coalition's backdown from banning Canberra public servants working from home was a relief for the 36 per cent of Australians who rely on flexibility to support their families and make ends meet. But for many parents, it left a bitter aftertaste.

The backlash to the policy stretched far beyond the public servants it targeted - because flexibility isn't a niche perk. It's essential to family life and to a functioning modern economy.

As a parent, and as CEO of an advocacy organisation representing 80,000+ parents and carers, I know how much hinges on access to affordable, high-quality early childhood education and care. It determines whether parents - especially mothers - are able to return to work, whether children have the opportunity to enjoy the lifelong benefits early learning affords, and the extent to which families can - or can't - make ends meet.

It determines whether parents - especially mothers - are able to return to work, whether children have the opportunity to enjoy the lifelong benefits early learning affords, and the extent to which families can - or can't - make ends meet.

Last week, The Parenthood released its 2025 Early Learning Scorecard, assessing the early childhood education and care policies of Australia's major political parties.

The results are stark. While the Labor Party and the Greens have put forward clear, forward-thinking commitments - including significant investments in expanding access, improving quality, and supporting the workforce - the Coalition has offered next to nothing.

Ensuring early education and care is affordable and accessible is referenced in their brochure to Get Australia Back on Track.

And, if invested wisely, Funding for regional Australia is no doubt a good thing for the quarter of Australians living in a childcare desert, where three or more kids compete for a childcare spot.

But there is not a single publicly available policy specifically on early learning and care. Not one commitment to addressing the workforce crisis that's forcing services to cap enrolments and turn families away.

No vision on how to make early education and care more affordable or accessible.

No plan to support children's development or support parents to work.

This silence is more than a missed opportunity - it's a profound disservice to the millions of Australian children, parents, educators and employers for whom early childhood education is a daily necessity and a national priority.

This is not a fringe issue.

Beyond the household level, early childhood education and care is a nation-building investment. Every dollar spent returns up to $2.80 in long-term economic benefits.

It boosts workforce participation, lifts productivity, improves educational and social outcomes, narrows the gender pay gap, and lays the foundations for lifelong learning and wellbeing.

Investing in childcare is smart economic policy. And Australians have every right to expect political representatives to take it seriously.

Parents are not just voters - they're the backbone of our communities and their children are our future. They deserve more than vague policy positions. They deserve transparency, certainty, and policy.

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So, we are calling on the Coalition to step up. To tell Australians: what is their plan to support families?

What are their commitments to fix Australia's early learning system? How will they ensure that every child - no matter their postcode or background - has access to high-quality education and care?

At The Parenthood, we represent more than 80,000 parents and carers across Australia.

They're not asking for the world. They're asking for something deeply reasonable: policies that make it possible to provide for their family and know their children are safe, supported, and thriving.

Australians are ready to listen. It's time for the Coalition to speak up.