Access to childcare in the region is still a significant challenge, and it’s been brought back up in Parliament.
The level of investment needed to address the issue has been looked into by Regional Development Australia Eyre Peninsula and participating councils.
Member for Flinders Sam Telfer says their report shows the lack of childcare is a restrictive force on regional growth and economic opportunity.
“This report has now been released and shows a clear need for an additional 598 places to be created across the Eyre Peninsula with an investment of $55 million for new and upgraded facilities, Mr Telfer said in Parliament.
“While that is a significant amount… there is a potential return on investment of around $44 million per annum in additional income through greater workforce participation, with more than 1000 parents able to re-join the workforce in a region which is crying out for workers in existing and future job opportunities.”
RDA EP and local councils have coordinated a regional approach to childcare, after being excluded from the state-wide approach.
“The most recent Australian Federal Government grants program – the ‘Community Childcare Fund’ – this fund was specifically established to increase childcare services in areas of the country where there was limited supply; however, the Eyre Peninsula is not eligible to apply.
“This is something which I believe needs to change, and something which I know the RDA and the EP Local Government wants to change, and that’s why they’ve worked together to coordinate a regional approach to both quantifying and aggregating the unmet demand for childcare.”
