FIVE KIDS AND ONLY ONE PLACE: CHILDCARE SHORTAGE DRIVING SOUTH AUSTRALIAN TOWNS TO BREAKING POINT
13 February 2025 – In Whyalla, Port Lincoln and Port Pirie, around five children are competing for every available childcare place [1], leading 23 local councils to urgently call for more Federal Government investment.
Now national advocacy group The Parenthood and Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five campaign, which represents more than 100 organisations around the country, has thrown its weight behind the councils’ calls.
Thrive by Five’s Jay Weatherill, himself a former Premier of the state, said the shortage did not just affect parents.
“Local businesses are suffering. Schools and hospitals are suffering. Parents cannot get the childcare they need to go back to work, and all of these teachers, doctors, nurses and other workers’ much-needed skills are being wasted,” Mr Weatherill said.
In December the Federal Government announced they would spend $1 billion to build or expand more than 160 early learning centres in underserved areas of the country.
The Parenthood’s Campaign Director Maddy Butler said it was crucial that the government step in.
“Ensuring children and families have access to early education and care cannot be left to the private sector alone. There is just not the profit motive for them to set up in less populated areas,” Ms Butler said.
“Regional and rural communities should not have to accept a dud deal when it comes to access to services like childcare and early learning.
“A child’s education should not depend on their postcode. Parents’ ability to get back to work and earn an income should not depend on their postcode.”
Mayor of Lower Eyre Council and spokesperson for the Regional Childcare Deserts Advocacy Project, Jo-Anne Quigley, agreed this would be a key issue for voters at the upcoming federal election.
“Now is the time for all parties and candidates to be clear on what action they will take to address the childcare desert in regional communities across the electorate of Grey.
“Supporting the priorities outlined by organisations like Thrive by Five and the Regional Childcare Desert Advocacy Project is the best approach for our communities.”
