‘People are leaving’: 600 childcare places needed immediately in Eyre Peninsula ‘childcare desert’

Parents in SA waiting years for – or being refused access to – childcare, amid a postcode lottery of centres. Do you live in a daycare desert? See the map.

Nearly 600 childcare places are urgently needed on the Eyre Peninsula to meet demand, which is likely to worsen it prepares for $28bn of development and nearly 30,000 new jobs over the next decade.

A Community Early Learning Australia report found the region needs 10 long daycare centres with 598 places to support more than 1000 children – most attend part-time so multiple children can occupy a single place.

The $55m investment needed for the centres would pay for itself in the first year, the report found, with parents returning to full-time work or increased hours worth $44m in earnings and up to $11m of jobs created in the sector.

Regional Development Australia Eyre Peninsula commissioned the report which “crystallised that there is an unmet demand across the region”.

“One of the biggest issues for us is retaining, attracting and supporting a workforce that is needed to support the predicted growth in industry, both new and emerging,” RDA EP chief executive Ryan Viney said.

“Childcare is very much a key ingredient of liveability in regional areas and … we need to get it right to maximise the investment planned.”

Jess and Stephen Watson, with children Edward and Edith, have been affected by the lack of childcare in the region. Picture: Ona Janzen

Port Lincoln Council economic and tourism growth manager Naomi Blacker said there were reports of people leaving the town due to being unable to find childcare, with the town in immediate need of 89 places.

“Additionally, our aged care facilities have advised they have staff who wish to work more hours, but cannot due to the lack of childcare availability,” Ms Blacker said.

The report comes as all 28 councils within the wider federal electorate of Grey join forces to create a working group and an advocacy plan for the provision of childcare.

In 2022, the Mitchell Institute found that childcare access in the electorate of Grey was the worst in the country and deemed it a “childcare desert”.

Orroroo Carrieton Council chief executive Paul Simpson, who has spearheaded the advocacy project, said it was “not a mantle South Australia should be known for”.

“We as communities and the subsequent council areas are seeking meaningful inroads from all levels of government to address this obvious imbalance,” Mr Simpson said.

The number of children aged 0-4 in Orroroo grew from 38 to 52, according to the census and as a community of under 1000 people it cannot encourage a commercial childcare operator.

The council recently sought expressions of interest from within the community for family day care providers and offered $5000 grants, but it had no uptake.

Federal Early Childhood Education Minister Anne Aly said all children should have access to childcare and the government was supporting services to open and stay open, particularly in remote areas.

“We’re also looking to the future with a vision for universal access to early childhood education and we’ll shortly receive the final report from the Productivity Commission, which will help us chart the course to universal early learning,” Dr Aly said.

The government said 22 services across the Eyre Peninsula had been funded under the Child Care Community Fund since 2018, including nearly $500,000 towards a new centre based daycare in Streaky Bay.