Thursday, 23 March 2023

Latrobe Valley child care services

Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (16:34): (151) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep the Honourable Ingrid Stitt. It relates to the lack of childcare places in the Latrobe Valley. The action I seek from the minister is for her to expedite the childcare reforms that she has been spruiking this afternoon into the Latrobe Valley. Let me give you an example of why this is such an extreme necessity. With her youngest son at eight months old, Kate Taylor wants to return to the workforce in May this year, but her hopes are being dashed because she cannot access child care for her son. Her son has been on the waitlist with six different childcare centres since he was born. He has been turned away with ‘No openings yet’ eight months later. Indeed Kate has been advised that she needs to actually put her children on a waitlist before they are born. If you wanted to join the Melbourne Cricket Club, you would get an MCC membership quicker than you would get into a childcare place in the Latrobe Valley.

There is a very good report that was recently released. It is a Victoria University Mitchell Institute report from 2022, which examined child care in over 50,000 neighbourhoods across the nation. The report is designated Deserts and Oases: How Accessible is Childcare in Australia?. It describes the Latrobe Valley as being an area where there are more than three children per one place – three children to one offering – a dearth of places by any measure. The report goes on to say that 76.2 per cent of the region is in the desert category – so not the oasis but the desert category. My constituent Ms Taylor certainly is experiencing that.

We know that the government is spruiking that in November all will be wonderful in the childcare world, but we can see that there will only be four centres by 2025 and the next 26 centres will not be up and running until 2028. These include Glengarry, Yallourn North et cetera in the Latrobe Valley. So this child will now be in primary school by the time there is a centre available. I call on the minister to fast-track these into the Latrobe Valley. Fast-track these. They are absolutely needed.