Regional Childcare: More respect and investment in educators

Repurposed town halls and disused farm houses could aid the fight against the ongoing shortage of childcare options in regional and remote Australia.

Repurposing town halls and disused farm houses into family daycare centres could be one solution to the ongoing shortage of childcare options in regional and remote Australia.

That’s the idea one agricultural industry group is putting forth in a bid to address the effect limited early childhood eduction resources has on remote communities, rural families, and women.

GrainGrowers chief executive Shona Gawel said while childcare and the agriculture industry may not seem interrelated, limited childcare was “such a personal issue” affecting many across the sector.

The Weekly Times last week reported how a lack of affordable, accessible childcare in regional Australia is affecting rural women, with ramifications for the labour supply nationally.

Representatives from the GrainGrowers national policy group travelled to Canberra last week to advocate for practical solutions to regional Australia’s lack of childcare places.

Ms Gawel said GrainGrowers was working with Family Daycare Australia on a pilot program looking to use existing infrastructure – such as disused farm houses and town halls – as accessible early childhood education locales.

“We’re working with Family Daycare Australia around some calls they’ve got, really common sense, good sensible suggestions that could make a real difference in regional areas,” Ms Gawel said.

A pilot program looking at creative ways to accommodate a growing need for early childhood education in the regions is underway, as part of a GrainGrowers’ focus on the issue. Picture: Supplied

“There are costs to bring a location up to spec, but they’re not huge. With some creative funding, you could create some real opportunities, and put some good solutions out there.”

Nationals MP for Gippsland Darren Chester said building more centres across the regions was not the sole solution to the broader early childhood education problem, with a “more holistic look” required, particularly for regional areas.

“The current system is fundamentally flawed and struggling on many fronts with a shortage of long daycare places, and a lack of trained staff which is being exacerbated by burnout and an exodus of workers to the higher wages in the disability sector,” Mr Chester said.

“It’s leaving many parents exhausted, dissatisfied and feeling guilty, while undervaluing childcare workers and placing enormous pressure on them to shoulder the early learning burden of the nation.”

Mr Chester said regional business and the public sector would struggle to attract and retain skilled workers in future due to a lack of access to childcare, “and just building more centres to create additional places is not the only answer”.