Distraught families campaign to save Prahran Place Occasional Childcare Centre from closing

Devastated parents are desperately rushing to find alternative arrangements for their children after Prahran Place Occasional Childcare announced it was closing.

Families are campaigning to save Prahran Place Occasional Childcare Centre from closing down.

An occasional care centre’s decision to discontinue its service due to “costs and high level of governance and compliance” has local families reeling, with one dad fearing its closure will leave a “significant gap” in childcare facilities in the area.

Parents are rallying to save Prahran Place Occasional Childcare in Melbourne’s inner suburbs, after they received a letter announcing it would shut on June 28 due to a lack of feasibility to continue servicing families.

“Prahran Place is very proud of the quality of childcare that we have provided many families over time,” Prahran Place principal executive officer Shima Ibuki told families.

“However, sadly, I need to now inform you that the Prahran Place Board and management have assessed that it is not feasible for us to continue to offer childcare alongside our other programs, due to associated costs and the high level of governance and compliance.”

Prahran Place Occasional Childcare Centre will close at the end of June.

Unlike standard childcare and long daycare facilities, occasional care allows parents to drop their children off at the centre with minimal notice at an affordable price.

Prahran Place Occasional Childcare was one of the only occasional care providers in the suburb and was used by about 30 families – most of which are now scrambling to find alternative childcare arrangements for their children by the end of next month.

Dad Yulian Siderov, who is leading a campaign to save the centre from closing, described Prahran Place as a “cornerstone of our community” that provides reliable and high quality care for working families.

“Its closure will place immense pressure on parents and guardians who rely on these services to balance their work and family responsibilities,” he wrote in a letter to Stonnington Council Mayor Joe Gianfriddo.

“It will create a significant gap in childcare services within our area and as far as we are aware, there is no such facility in the vicinity.”

Mr Siderov told the Herald Sun the closure will place “immense pressure” on households who use the facility for children not old enough to attend kinder.

“If they shut down the centre, 30 plus families will be unable to leave their kids anywhere, or will have to travel a far distance from Prahran because they will not be able to leave their children anywhere (on short notice),” he said.

A mum who didn’t wish to be identified said her son who has a global developmental delay has thrived in the short time he has attended the centre, with news of the closure leaving her devastated.

“Not all childcare facilities suit all children – diversity of care provision is imperative in the conversation around inclusion, particularly for neurodivergent children,” she said.

“We’re absolutely distraught at the prospect of the centre closing, let alone the unceremonious notification of said closure – nor does it appear that the community impacted by such an event were consulted on the matter at all.

“We weren’t even given an opportunity to suggest or make the necessary changes to possibly facilitate ongoing operations.”

Families say the closure will leave a ‘gap’ in the childcare services available in the area.

A single dad who also wished to remain anonymous said he dreaded telling his daughter about the centre’s closure.

“She loves her little community-run centre. It is the stability that is so imperative for early childhood,” he said.

“This is yet another example of the can being kicked down the road, and the youth are the ones to pay. Kids really are the future.”

Steven Galanos, whose boys also attend the centre, said he and his wife would have to pay “ridiculous $80 per day fees” if they were to send their children to a different occasional care centre.

“(Prahran Place Occasional Childcare was) an affordable option where parents that don’t work could also get a mental break away from their children for a few hours and catch up with friends, or go to the gym,” he said.

A change.org petition, started by Mr Siderov, to “cancel the closure” of Prahran Place Occasional Childcare and for Stonnington Council to assist in keeping it open by providing more funds has gained almost 200 signatures.

But a City of Stonnington spokesman said Prahran Place Occasional Childcare was independently operated and not owned by the council.

“While the service itself has never been funded by Council, Prahran Place Neighbourhood Centre is charged a very nominal license fee to use the space for its various programs,” he said.

“We were recently notified that the Committee of Management itself made the decision to close the service in late June to explore other potential programs, including services for adults.”

Prahran Place Occasional Care Centre declined to comment on the matter.