MEMBER for Murray Plains Peter Walsh says his office is “under siege” from exhausted parents asking why they are Number 70 on the waiting list for childcare.
Mr Walsh asked the Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep Ingrid Stitt in Parliament last week what advice she could give Murray Plains’ constituents as to the work being done to relieve the “overworked childcare system” in the electorate.
“My office has been under siege from parents wanting explanations as to why they are Number 50, Number 60 or Number 70 on the waiting list for the limited number of childcare facilities in the major towns in my electorate, and my constituents in the smaller communities are in an even worse position,” Mr Walsh said.
“At a time when our economy is crying out for more staff, a better, larger and more affordable childcare system that actually works, that is actually designed to cater for the needs of towns like Swan Hill, Kerang, Echuca and Kyabram, would instantly unlock hundreds of people to return to the workforce.”
Young Adventurers Early Childhood Education Services co-owner Marg Hartshorn last month told The Guardian there were about 100 families on waiting lists for childcare in Swan Hill, even with five childcare centres and two kindergartens.
Forewarned about the lengthy waiting lists for childcare, Sheydin Hansen contacted several centres in September last year not long after she became pregnant.
Ms Hansen’s son Huxlee was born 12 weeks ago and she’s still unable to get a place for him so she can return to work at least part-time when Parental Leave Pay ends.
“If I can’t go back to work when that cuts out, it’ll be financially quite difficult,” she said.
Ms Hansen said she’d been told not to expect to be offered a place for Huxlee before the end of the year.
“One of them told me that it still could be another year before we’re even considered,” she said.
“Some of them said it could be at the end of the year, just because that’s when some kids would go to schools or kinder. The only hope that I’ve got at the moment is that new one (Montessori). But that still might not be open until next year depending on when they can get staff.”
