Parents and children from Whitfield Community Childcare Centre
Victorians love occasional child care. Nearly half the total number of children using occasional child care in Australia are in Victoria (Butlin et al. 2007. Occasional Care: Flexible child care for Australian families. Amity Management Consulting Group, 2007, p.25). And when the Federal government axed funding for Neighbourhood Model Occasional Care in the May 2010 Budget, nearly 60% of affected child care providers—220 out of the 389 affected child care centres—were in Victoria.
Occasional child care (OCC) subsidies were provided through the Take A Break program in Victoria. A $1 million shortfall in TAB funding caused by the federal withdrawal was met by the then Brumby Labor government in 2010-11. However, in May 2011 the new Baillieu Coalition government in Victoria announced it would no longer fund OCC without a federal contribution. Over 9,000 children in 220 services across the state are affected.
Neighbourhood Houses & Learning Centres are the largest providers of OCC in Victoria. ANHLC research suggests without funding subsidies more than one-third of occasional child care services in Victoria may have to close their doors, starting in September. Nearly 60 per cent of these services are in small rural towns and provide the only centre-based care in their communities. Also vulnerable are low socio-economic areas in metropolitan Melbourne where local families cannot afford fee increase and providers struggle to generate income from fundraising or other fee for service programs to cross-subsidise th echild care. Shutting down OCC services closes an important pathway for families into Neighbourhood Houses.
The grassroots response to the state government’s announcement has been remarkable. Parents, carers and providers throughout Victoria have mobilised to make their voices heard through letter writing, social media, petitioning, representations, demonstrations and rallies. Last month families from the Goulburn Valley in northern Victoria transformed State Childcare Minister Wendy Lovell’s electorate office into an occasional child care centre (see ANHLC News, July 2011). The group followed up with a ‘mobile child care centre’ and on 18 August covered the steps of the Victorian Parliament with teddy bears and soft toys, representing the children who will miss out on care as a result of the funding cuts.
Catherine Dooley from Tatura described how the group in the Goulburn Valley was formed. ‘We were united because of our belief in the value of occasional care but also in our disbelief that the government would cut funding for a service which is a lifeline to our communities,’ she told the rally. She described the effects of OCC services closures as ‘more isolation, more struggle and more strain. In our own rural communities we do not have alternatives, we are isolated by distance and circumstance.’ She also described her frustration at ‘the politics of the situation’.
This frustration was echoed by other speakers. Father of five Ian Andrews from Mooroopna captured the thoughts of many when he said, ‘We are so disappointed that the politicians that we elected into office are making no effort to represent us, no effort to empathise with the families affected by these funding cuts, not listening to our concerns or consulting with grass roots families to try and find any solutions.’
Author and mother Kasey Edwards from Port Melbourne called on governments at all levels to ‘sparkle with leadership.’ She described the situation as ‘an opportunity to do the right thing for our children, our mothers and our community.’
Following the 18 August rally, a group of parents met with the Minister to ask her to show leadership on the issue of occasional child care and to give it higher priority. They were told they should be directing their advocacy efforts to Federal Child Care Minister Kate Ellis.
Minister Lovell maintains childcare is a Federal responsibility. But just 14 months ago she called on the then state government to commit to funding Take a Break. Her own Liberal Party colleagues said a ‘worst case scenario’ would be if the State Government used the Federal funding withdrawal as an excuse to withdraw its own share. ‘My gravest fear,’ said Liberal Party MLC for Northern Victoria Donna Petrovich, ‘is that it [the Brumby state government] will scrap its component of the funding, leaving this great community service high and dry’ (Hansard, 27 May 2010, p.2031).
The Federal Government’s line is that in light of significant increased investment in other areas of child care and early education, the Victorian government should pick up the tab for OCC as other state governments have done. However, there was never any formal agreement struck between the federal and state governments on neighbourhood model occasional care.
Minister Ellis has written to providers listing all the ways the Federal government supports parents and child care providers, failing to mention that OCC providers and parents who rely on OCC are currently ineligible for any of these supports. She suggests some OCC providers might transition to Long Day Care services and by this means become eligible for Federal government funding; ANHLC’s research suggests this might apply to approximately five per cent of providers under the current regime.
There is no logic to the current political stand-off. Organisations such as the Victorian Farmers Federation, Country Women’s Association of Victoria, Save the Children, Australian Nurses Federation and local councils have publicly endorsed the call to reinstate government funding for OCC.
As Catherine Dooley said at the rally, ‘The protest today is about values because the finances don’t add up. Why would a government chose to close so many centres, affect so many lives for such a small amount?’
The ANHLC has expressed our willingness to work with the government on a solution to the current crisis in collaboration with our members. So far this invitation has not been taken up.
There are many ways in which the current stand-off could end, all of which we continue to advocate for. The State government could put its share of the funding—worth 45% of the total budget when the Federal funding was withdrawn—back on the table immediately to save services from closing down. Minister Lovell says she has the money but won’t commit it until the federal government reinstates its share. But that may be too late for many services.
The Federal government could admit it made a mistake in de-funding Neighbourhood Model Occasional Care, especially in light of plans to review the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education & Care in 2014, when OCC may be included.
The Federal government could also clear the way for more OCC providers to become registered as approved for Child Care Benefit. While this would not suit all providers, many would benefit from being able to offer this service, thereby increasing fees without adding to the cost burden for local families.
Another option for the Federal government is to diversify the Long Day Care service model to be more appropriate to rural communities. Indeed, the Federal Council of the Nationals meeting on 27-28 August 2011 heard two motions: one condemning the Federal government’s ‘decision to withdraw funding for the Take A Break occasional care program’ (sic.); the other supporting ‘a review of childcare funding to provide more flexibility in the provision of service to smaller towns which are discriminated against under the current model’ (The Nationals, 2011 Federal Council Program, p.16).
Options are out there. What is needed is the political will to focus on solutions.
At all levels of the Neighbourhood House sector, we need to maintain pressure on our political leaders to urge them do the right thing. This is not just about child care, important as it is. This about showing our commitment and capacity to advocate with and as part of our communities.
I had the privilege recently of hearing the inspirational Dr Cindy Blackstock, a member of the Gitksan First Nation and Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, who was a guest of the VCOSS Conference. As Dr Blackstock said, ‘Moral transgression on the part of another is not an excuse to stand back and do nothing.’ We must apply this to ourselves as much as our politicians.
Angela Savage
Executive Officer, Association of Neighbourhood Houses and Learning Centres
