Thursday, 5 October 2023

Southern Metropolitan Region

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:52): (450) My constituency question is for the attention of the Minister for Local Government, and it is in relation to support to local councils regarding early childhood centres. I received a letter from the Glen Eira council this morning, and I heard on the news that they are considering closing three small early learning childcare centres located in Caulfield, Carnegie and Murrumbeena. In their letter they talk about the need for an increase in childcare places. There are older buildings that lack basic amenities and need upgrades, and they talk about the increasing costs and economic uncertainty around councils being able to run services. They also state that the centres are expected to operate at a loss of at least $570,000 each year, so they are under enormous financial pressures. So the question I ask is: what is the local government minister doing to support councils like this to enable these centres to remain open for families?