Regional parents want change to childcare crisis

Australian Community Media

More than fifty advocacy groups have called on the Federal Government to reform access to early childhood education and care in rural, regional and remote areas.

Transcript

00:00There was a lot of pressure. I wanted to keep my nursing registration.

00:03Obviously farming has its ups and downs. I'd like to contribute to the community

00:08and contribute financially to our family.

00:11And yeah it just felt really unfair and it was a lot of pressure and a lot of

00:14juggling in logistical nightmares when you already

00:17live 30 ks out of town trying to trying to juggle and drag your kids

00:22out of bed at six in the morning to drop them to someone else's house so then you

00:25can get to your shift on time. It was not great fun.

00:30To call on the Federal Government today to improve early learning access

00:34in the regions. It's clear that there is a major shortage of early education

00:40services in regional rural and remote Australia.

00:4350% of regional families and 80% of remote families are currently

00:48stranded in childcare deserts. This is not a new issue. Early learning

00:54and accessibility has been a problem spanning decades because of market

00:57breakdown. Under its current settings the early

01:00learning market does not adequately serve

01:02regional rural and remote communities. Without fair access to early learning

01:08regional rural and remote children do not have the same opportunities as their

01:12city counterparts. This Federal Government has made a

01:15commitment to universal early education and that must

01:19include all regional rural and remote children.

01:23Every family deserves the freedom to make choices about

01:26parenting, life, work and education that are best for them.

01:30Every child deserves to grow up in well-supported families and well-

01:34supported communities.

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