“WHEN CAN WE GET BACK TO OUR CAREERS?” RURAL MUMS AND LOCAL BUSINESSES CALL FOR MORE CHILDCARE IN NEW VIDEO SERIES
3 October 2024 – The severe shortage of childcare and early learning places in regional, rural and remote Australia is hurting families, local economies and entire communities.
The problem is the subject of a new video series from Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five campaign, featuring mothers whose careers have been put on hold and small businesses struggling to keep staff.
In the Queensland town of Goondiwindi, Chamber of Commerce President Peter Travers said 78 per cent of businesses were impacted by the childcare shortage. Pharmacy owner Lucy is one of them.
“I have about 20 staff and they’re all female, and childcare is a huge issue for my business,” Lucy says in one of the videos.
Emily, who works on the Inland Rail Project, put her name on a childcare waitlist before she even told her family she was pregnant.
“We sit at home all day thinking about: when are we going to get back to our careers?” Emily said.
Dental clinic owner Olivia said she would not have started her business if she had known how bad the childcare situation was.
“If you have to wait two years to wait for [your employee to get] a place in childcare, how could you possibly run a business?” Olivia said.
Thrive by Five’s Jay Weatherill said there were thousands of towns like Goondiwindi all over Australia.
“Childcare and early learning are essential services. Children who attend do better at school, and having the option available means parents can go back to work when they want to,” Mr Weatherill said.
“But beyond that, childcare has a flow-on effect for entire communities. If we do not have enough childcare, we do not have enough nurses, we do not have enough teachers, we do not have enough workers for local businesses.”
Thrive by Five is calling for a legislated guarantee for all children – no matter where they live or what their parents earn – to have access to three days a week of early learning.
“Universal access to three days of early learning is the goal set by last month’s landmark Productivity Commission report, and we know this is the Prime Minister’s goal too,” Mr Weatherill said.
“A legislated guarantee would ensure all State, Territory and Federal Governments – current and future – are held accountable to this.
“Governments must take a more active role in setting up and funding early learning services outside of cities. The primarily private, profit-led model we have now is failing our regional and remote communities.”
