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An Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, which will be officially released in Italy on Tuesday, shows Australia spends less on early childhood education than any other nation in the industrialised world.
Figures in the Starting Strong II report show Australia spends about 0.1 per cent of GDP on preschool education.
Norway spends the most - just over one per cent of GDP.
The OECD report also found Australia's childcare and kindergarten workers are among the lowest-paid and most poorly-trained of the nations studied.
It shows only 57 per cent of staff working in private kindergartens hold a teaching degree, and just a quarter of all family daycare workers are formally qualified in childcare.
The report says significant public funding is needed to support a sustainable and equitable early childhood system.
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- reprinted from The Age