Cuts to TAFE and the shift to private training providers are causing serious staffing issues in SA’s childcare centres

Constant TAFE cuts make it nearly impossible for childcare centres to find qualified staff – and operators are seriously worried.

Cuts to TAFE SA have made it nearly impossible for childcare centres to find suitably qualified staff, sparking concerns over training of new recruits, industry figures say.

Rebecca Stiles, director of Hillbank Community Children’s Centre at Elizabeth East, said the decline in graduates has prompted the industry to shift towards workers trained at registered training organisations (RTOs).

Ms Stiles said the courses are not standardised, and students on placement do not receive the level of support they did from TAFE course co-ordinators.

She was recently contacted by a training provider that was offering students a qualification after just two weeks, and feared the shift would eventually force her to employ graduates of such programs.

Rebecca Stiles, director of Hillbank Community Children's Centre, says cuts to childcare TAFE courses over recent years have made it difficult to hire staff. Picture: Dean Martin

“We’ve got so many rules and regulations, curriculums that we need to run by, you need people who are going to know how to do that so the children get the education they deserve,” she said.

“Without quality care and education ... they’re going to be behind for kindy, it’s going to have a flow-on effect for school.”

TAFE SA last year announced it would scrap 20 courses from metro campuses in 2021, including all subsidised childcare, aged care and disability offerings.

Peak body Australian Childcare Alliance says the standard of most RTOs is acceptable, but cuts to TAFE have worsened a shortage of workers in the industry.

“It’s the worst I’ve ever seen it,” SA president Kerry Mahony said.

At the same time, childcare costs are rising rapidly for parents, but at an unequal rate in different areas.

A recent Auditor-General’s report revealed TAFE SA’s total funding and student numbers both decreased in 2020-21.

Opposition education spokesman Blair Boyer said the report exposes the extent of sustained cuts to the training system, but added “the real-world toll is far worse”.

“At a time when South Australia has the highest unemployment in the nation and a skilled worker shortage, the Marshall Liberal Government has taken the sword to our public training provider and closed campuses, cut courses and sacked staff,” he said.

An Education Department spokesman said the creation of a high-quality, sustainable workforce was a joint aim of the industry as well as the state and federal governments.

“A workforce strategy has been prepared by the Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority at the request of state and federal ministers, and an implementation plan is being prepared,” he said.

“The South Australian government is actively engaged in this process.”

TAFE SA chief executive David Coltman said the organisation remains committed to continuing the delivery of high-quality courses over an extensive range of program areas across all campuses.

“We are also committed to growing regional provision of vocational education and training,” he said.