Vol. No. Vol. 2518No. 2127
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Wednesday, January 23, 13, 2022 2016 Wednesday, November
CELEBRATING 70 YEARS: Goff and Joyce Letts, of Stawell, are celebrating 70 years of love, marriage and adventure next week. The pair were married in November 1952 in Melbourne and have called the Wimmera home for almost 40 years after time in the Northern Territory. Mr Letts said the best advice he could give about being married for seven decades was to fall in love and stay in love. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER
Childcare shortfall
A
BY ABBY WALTER
By Five Early Years Initiative study has found 65 percent of Wimmera and southern Mallee families with young children experience barriers to employment due to lack of access to childcare. The report, ‘Childcare in the Wimmera Southern Mallee – Understanding the story’ collected data about centre-based long day care demand and availability across Horsham Rural City municipality and Hindmarsh, Northern Grampians, West Wimmera and Yarriambiack shires. Across the region, 2021 Census data shows there are 2555 children aged four and younger. The By Five report reveals a capacity 869 childcare positions. There are 300 children on waitlists
for childcare, while five towns with populations of more than 500 people do not have access to childcare. Horsham mother Amanda Blake said she had experienced long childcare waitlists for her children, Harvey and Oliver Neville. “I have had Oliver on every waitlist there is since he was one week old and Harvey was on waitlists at a couple of childcare centres for two years,” she said. “I had even gone as far as emailing MPs Emma Kealy and Anne Webster to ask what they are going to do about the issue. “I am back at work now as I was lucky to just get a spot two weeks before I went back to work. However, until that happened, I was in limbo and telling my employer that I wasn’t sure if I would be able to come back.”
By Five executive officer Jo Martin said the lack of childcare access was holding families and communities back. “Sixty-five percent of surveyed Wimmera Southern Mallee families indicated they were unable to access the required 10 to 30 hours of childcare needed to return to work, or work in a higher skilled position,” she said. “The findings within this report emphasise our region’s extreme childcare shortage and the challenges with current market-based childcare delivery models, which are not fit for purpose in smaller rural areas. “It is essential that our region offers strong and stable childcare, enabling parents and carers to work and-or train while their children access highquality services.” Mrs Martin said the report delivered
data-based findings, which supported what By Five staff had anecdotally heard from local families and childcare providers for years. There are 34 job vacancies in the Wimmera and southern Mallee early childcare centres and to meet waitlist demands, another 84 staff are needed. Mrs Martin said staff shortages were a significant factor in delivering additional childcare placements. “Deep diving into the workforce retention and supply challenges are critical for attractive solution development,” she said. “Looking at how we can encourage school leavers to undertake childcare careers while supporting those working within the industry with ongoing training and mentoring is vital. “Advocating for pay parity across the sector is also crucial.”
Mrs Martin said investigating sustainable funding models for childcare infrastructure was also a priority. “To assist our children’s development and regional transformation, we’re proposing trialling transformational service models, including advocating for block funding in rural and remote areas – not relying on a shortterm grant-based funding approach,” she said. “Infrastructure is a critical component supporting service delivery. “We’ll be investigating infrastructure funding across the region, and exploring options to leverage local assets, attract development and maximise government infrastructure investments.” The report is available online at www.wda.org.au/services/byfive
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