EARLY CHILD CARE AND
AFTER-SCHOOL CARE — KIMBERLEY
468. Hon WILSON TUCKER to the Leader of the House
representing the Minister for Communities:
I refer to reports of early child
care and after-school care staffing shortages in the Kimberley, particularly
the limited places at Broome Daycare Centre
and Indigo Montessori Child Care and Kindy in Broome, and the suspension
of after-school care at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in
Kununurra.
(1) When did the
minister first become aware that staffing shortages in the Kimberley would
impact services?
(2) To what does the minister
attribute the staffing shortage?
(3) What actions is the minister taking
to address the cause of staffing shortages?
(4) What support is the government
providing to service providers and families during this crisis?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1)–(2) The Department of Communities' education
and regulatory care unit is responsible for approving provider and
service applications, completing assessments and ratings against the National
Quality Standard, monitoring compliance and completing investigations and
compliance actions. The federal government is responsible for the funding of
the childcare sector through childcare subsidies.
Staff resourcing in regional areas
has been a challenge for the sector throughout the pandemic. This issue exists
across all jurisdictions, and is not limited to the Kimberley region nor solely
to Western Australia.
The Department of Communities'
education and care regulatory unit is assisting services by waiving the cost
for staffing waivers during the pandemic to support services being able to
remain operational.
(3)–(4)
The McGowan government has committed $5.1 million
towards retaining childcare workers in the regions and establishing
sustainable models to support regional child care.
A
total of $1 million has been allocated to local government authorities over
four years to develop attraction and retention workforce packages
specific to their regions to assist with workforce shortages.
A further $4 million will go towards
supporting the viability of services in the regions through the development of
new models of early childhood education and care services specific to a region.
In addition, the McGowan government
has introduced the Lower Fees, Local Skills initiative to reduce the course
fees for the Certificate III and Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care
qualifications.