Cohuna child care
Rikkie-Lee TYRRELL (Northern Victoria) (17:58): (478) My adjournment matter today is for the minister for early education. After spending time in the Gannawarra Shire Council region last month, my attention was directed to a local concern that has the potential to impede parents’ ability to participate in the area’s enormous projected growth. The Cohuna township within the Gannawarra Shire Council has an education, health, industry and business centre. It has a high employment rate and had a growth rate of 17 per cent for children aged between zero and 11 years of age from 2016 to 2022. The community is in dire need of new pre-prep, childcare and kindergarten facilities to accommodate these children. Earlier this year the council undertook a feasibility study which highlighted the need for improved infrastructure to support kindergarten and long day care within Cohuna. The current data being utilised by the Department of Education to make assessments focuses on Gannawarra as a whole and on Kerang as the largest township rather than Cohuna specifically. Currently only 15 hours weekly of kindergarten can be provided for the community, as there is no centre-based child care. I request that the minister re-evaluate the current council data in order to make a funding commitment for this desperately needed infrastructure upgrade.