Two Outside School Hours Care services at risk of closure in Indi have received a welcome reprieve after intervention from Independent Federal Member for Indi Helen Haines.
Dr Haines welcomed the funding lifeline given to two out of six services at imminent risk of closure, hoping similar funding would soon be secured for the remaining services.
“A number of Outside School Hours Care services in Indi were rejected for funding for the next year,including some that have been receiving this support for more than ten years,” Dr Haines said.
“On becoming aware of the issue, I took it to the Minister for Early Childhood Education in person and worked with her office and the services on an interim solution.”
Services at Whitfield Primary School and Mt Beauty Primary School have now received approval forspecial circumstances funding for 12 months, with four more awaiting news about their emergency applications, including at Moyhu, Greta, Rutherglen and Yackandandah.
“I am glad that two of the services will remain open and I am hopeful of a good result for all our services affected,” Dr Haines said.
Under the Community Child Care Fund, more than 800 services across Australia were found suitablefor funding, but only 475 received funding, as part of a competitive grant allocation process.
Dr Haines said she welcomed the government stepping in with a short-term solution to keep the services open but said both the funding available and the administration of the Community Child Care Fund was having an unfair impact on regional services and needs to change.
“We have a situation where regional communities are fighting over the same bucket of funds as metro services, a bucket that is too small and which disadvantages regional communities,” Dr Haines said.
“Time and again we see examples of national funding arrangements that don’t provide for the unique experience or needs of regional, rural and remote communities.
“Many of these services in Indi are based in small communities and support hundreds of families that need before or after-school care in order to work.
“Not only does it make the logistics of these families’ lives harder, but it also puts the long-term sustainability of these smaller schools, part of the fabric of our small towns, in jeopardy.”
Dr Haines said she was meeting with the Minister for early Childhood Education in the next Parliamentary sitting week and would be pushing for changes to the funding model, saying a competitive process did not reflect the essential nature of childcare services.
“Regional communities need funding that reflects their experience and need, and I will be making that case to the Minister in person next week.”
“It is my firm view that this failing funding model needs to change, because services who meet the criteria should not have to compete for funding.”
Dr Haines work on Outside School Hours Care funding is part of a larger advocacy piece to improve accessibility of childcare for regional communities.
“Early childhood education and care is foundational to the development of children and a key component of the support that families need.
“Earlier in the year I hosted playdates with The Parenthood, providing families with a direct voice to one of the key advocacy groups in the early childhood education and care sector.
The Parenthood recently released their report, Impactfulwhich includes stories from across regional communities, including families in Wangaratta and Yackandandah.
The report finds the absence of accessible and affordable early childhood education services in the regions has far-reaching consequences for regional, rural and remote communities, including exacerbating cost-of-living pressures. A copy of the full report is here.