Nationals Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland has criticised the Labor Government’s handling of childcare issues, saying regional communities continue to struggle with a lack of staffing, availability, and accessibility.
Speaking in Parliament this week, Ms Cleeland said Labor had failed to demonstrate how they would address staffing challenges as part of their plan to build early learning centres across the state.
“So far, there are very few details or a clear plan to overcome the very probable staffing challenges that will arise in the new locations,” Ms Cleeland said.
“We know that additional resources will be required at these centres, we can learn from the experience of trying to attract teachers to primary and secondary schools in regional communities.
“For the few childcare facilities that my region has, staffing is already a key issue despite them operating for years.”
In 2023, the Australian Childcare Alliance surveyed over 600 childcare centres, with over two-thirds responded saying they had capped enrolments due to staffing shortages.
As a result, around 16,000 childcare places lay dormant due to the workforce crisis.
“Given we are already at crisis levels of workforce shortages, any interventions in the sector must be well thought out, organised, and executed so there are no disruptions to existing service providers,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Disruptions and distortions to the market could result in a significant reduction in the number of childcare places.
“We must ensure that getting staff to these new facilities does not take away from our already struggling system.”
The Government estimates they will need 700 educators to man their childcare facilities, plus another 100 teachers, as well as administrators, support staff, cooks, and more.
“The hundreds of staff will need to be ready to go in these Centres from day one, and they have no plan to ensure that these staff are not coming from existing centres,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Neighbouring centres and kindergartens will be sacrificing their own staff for these new centres – continuing an ongoing cycle of staff shortages.
“They will have to reduce the number of places that they offer, taking places offline at a time when we need to be growing capacity in the sector.”
