ADVOCATES APPLAUD GOVT’S BILLION DOLLAR BUILD TO FIX “CHILDCARE DESERTS”
Wednesday 11 December – The government’s $1 billion fund to build or expand more than 160 childcare and early learning centres has been welcomed by advocates as a lifeline for rural and outer suburban communities.
Almost a quarter of Australians live in a “childcare desert” – where there are three or more children for every childcare place – and 680,000 Australians live in areas where there are no early childhood education and care services at all.
Jay Weatherill from Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five’s campaign said the investment – which would be aimed at areas with shortages – was a huge win for children, families, employers and entire communities.
“This is what rural and outer-suburban communities have been crying out for. Not having access to childcare and early learning affects everyone, because parents can’t get back to work when they want to, and local businesses and services suffer,” Mr Weatherill said.
“Communities will now be looking to the Opposition to match this policy, and we hope the Nationals in particular will take a lead on this because they know how important this is to their constituents.”
In announcing the initiative this afternoon, the Prime Minister said his government would work with state and territory counterparts to explore co-location at school sites.
“Co-locating early learning with primary school is something we have long been advocating because of the convenience and continuity it provides to parents and children. It also creates a powerful link between early childhood education and care services and the communities they serve,” Mr Weatherill said.
The Prime Minister acknowledged that Australia’s early learning system, which is dominated by for-profit providers, was not delivering for rural and outer-suburban communities because providers “didn’t see an opportunity to profit”.
Mr Weatherill said he was pleased to see the Prime Minister undertaking significant public investment where the market was failing.
“We heard the Prime Minster say that early education isn’t about making money, and childcare isn’t a luxury but an essential service in the 21st Century. We couldn’t agree more.”
The announcement followed media reports this morning that the government is also scrapping the childcare “Activity Test” which prevents parents who are unemployed or looking for work from accessing subsidised childcare.
“If a child turned up to their first day of primary school and was told, ‘sorry, you can’t get an education here because your parents don’t work full time’, we would be outraged. Why should this be the case for early learning?” Mr Weatherill said.
“This is a win for equity, as it will enable the children who are most likely to benefit from early learning to get access.
“The next step should be a commitment to free early learning for low income families and a $10-a-day cap on out-of-pocket fees for everyone else. This is the best way the government can deliver on their promise of universal early learning for all Australian children and families.”
