Childcare Qld: Plea to fund council facilities in remote areas

Are regional kids worse off than city children? The debate ends now.

Local Government Association of Queensland CEO Alison Smith

Children in regional and rural Queensland will be left worse off unless the federal government forks out dedicated ongoing cash to keep council-operated childcare facilities afloat.

The plea from the Local Government Association of Queensland comes after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, in a pre-election cash splash, promised $1bn to build 160 new childcare centres in poorly serviced parts of the country.

Queensland’s cash-strapped councils in rural, regional and remote areas in places like Moranbah, Longreach, and Julia Creek have to run their own childcare centres because there is no local operator available.

But this comes at great cost, according to the LGAQ, with councils often providing housing and other incentives like higher wages in order to attract workers to the Queensland Outback.

Instead of regular funding those councils are fighting for government cash through grants, including through the Community Child Care Fund.

The CCCF has a number of streams including injecting cash into disadvantaged and vulnerable communities to keep childcare services afloat while they get back on their feet.

LGAQ chief executive Alison Smith said the federal government should set up a stand-alone fund or specific stream under the CCCF and recognise the critical nature of council’s delivering childcare.

“Councils are doing this amid a challenging financial environment with small rate bases, limited ability to raise own-sourced revenue and a high reliance on grant funding,” she said.

“The reality is that without these local councils stepping up, there would be no childcare services at all in some rural and remote areas.”

Early Childhood Education Minister Anne Aly

The Albanese government has promised, if re-elected, a new $1bn Building Early Education Fund. Half of the funds will be grants for providers, including local councils, to establish new services and increase the capacity of existing services.

It is expected priority locations for Labor’s promised fund will be released in coming months.

It is understood the federal education department is open to meeting with the LGAQ to help determine those priority locations.

Isaac Regional Council Mayor Kelly Vea Vea said regional councils were forced to set up critical childcare services where the private market had failed.

“The cost of doing business in regional communities usually means that many private childcare operators don’t see regional centres as viable commercial businesses,” she said.

“In our region, we pay 30 per cent above the award, provide housing subsidies and cover visa processing costs, just to attract childcare workers.”

Early Childhood Education Minister Anne Aly, announcing the election platform in Brisbane last week, also flagged the government’s review of the “service delivery price” to determine what it costs to provider quality early learning in different areas.

“We know that it costs more to deliver quality early childhood education and care in rural and regional areas than it does in perhaps a suburb,” she said.

“We’ve funded the work that’s necessary to look at a service delivery price.

“And that will give us the guidance that we need around how do we fund early childhood education and care in a way that’s responsive to the needs of every community.”

Originally published as Childcare Qld: Plea to fund council facilities in remote areas