Tuesday, 25 August 2026

 Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (13:00): (2537) My question is to the Minister for Children. Castlemaine is in my electorate, and a parent contacted me to raise concerns about the potential closure of the Mount Alexander family day care at the end of this year, a service that supports around 100 families. Mount Alexander shire is experiencing unprecedented demand for child care, kindergarten and early years services, with current waitlists now exceeding 440 children across the shire and demand continuing to rise. Despite this demand, this year the region was assessed as no longer high priority by the Commonwealth government under the Community Child Care Fund and their grant application was unsuccessful. Family day care is a home-based model of care where educators run small services from their own homes. It is a valuable service that families rely on. The board of the Castlemaine Child Care Co-operative expects to make a decision about the future of the service in early September. I ask the minister to work with the co-op and the local community to support childhood development and ensure that families can continue to access the services that they need.