Occasional Childcare in the news

from WINTV

Families pay the price

Media Release from ANHLC January 17th 2012

Families across Victoria are paying the price of State and Federal government funding cuts to occasional childcare (OCC) according to research from the Association of Neighbourhood Houses and Learning Centres (ANHLC).

The Take a Break OCC program was axed by the State Government following the withdrawal of Federal funding toward the program in 2010. Funding for the program ceased in December 2011.

ANHLC Policy and Research Officer, David Perry, said early indications from an annual membership survey show that less childcare is available this year and it will cost more.

‘While the data is only preliminary at this stage there are clear trends already emerging,’ Mr Perry said.
According to the ANHLC, around 60% of respondents to date who lost Take a Break funding have increased the cost of the childcare they offer in an effort to maintain services. The increases range from 4% to 40% with the average increase in excess of 15%.

These findings are significant as Neighbourhood Houses deliver the majority of OCC services in Victoria.
‘We have also seen a decrease in the availability of OCC,’ Mr Perry said.

‘Almost 20% of respondents have cut the number of childcare places or the number of days their service is available. In one rural community, the OCC service has been cut from 5 to only 2 days per week’.

Mr Perry also said that a number of OCC services had closed completely.

‘The exact number of services that have closed altogether is still unknown although early indications are that rural services are more likely to close.

‘While closures are significant they are not the only measure of the impact of these funding cuts.

‘We are already seeing people unable to afford the higher fees our members have been forced to charge. Obviously this impacts disproportionately on the most financially vulnerable families but it also threatens the viability of the service if they can’t attract sufficient numbers able to afford the fees’.

Mr Perry said that while the early figures show an overall loss of affordable OCC the full impact of the funding cuts will not be known for some time.

‘There is still a lot of uncertainty for many of our OCC providers who have elected to cover the loss of funding from other sources as a temporary measure until there is more clarity about the future from both levels of government.

‘We will need to see how and where the new federally funded OCC places announced last year are rolled out and we are still waiting to hear from Minister Lovell as to whether the State Government will honour its commitment to reinstate its share of the Take a Break funding now that the Federal Government has reinvested in OCC in Victoria,’ he said
For comment / further information:
David Perry, ANHLC, ph. 0400 329 597

Childcare fund slash a real danger

Letter to the Ed published in The Weekly Times

Dec 28‏th 2011

The slashing of funding for occasional care centres leaves many Victorian families vulnerable.

 

Many of us who used these services, did so to access off-farm income to support farming businesses after years of drought.

 

Most of us have been the stay-at-home mother who have attempted to stay connected to the workforce on a casual basis, thus only requiring care occasionally.

 

The Liberal Government is very short-sighted, and the ramifications of the closures will be felt keenly in rural areas. I especially worry about those women who need occasional care for their mental well-being and used the service for respite.

 

Shame on you Minister Wendy Lovell, for you have not been an advocate for women, children or families.

 

And, sadly, many in your own rural electorate are now left stranded.

 

It will not be a happy new year for thousands of Victorians left without care.

 

Catherine Dooley, Tatura

 

 

Campaign Postcard - Gets Festive

Some of the holiday postcards sent this season to Canberra and Victoria politicians

Please feel free to use any of these images to send your own or check out the album on our Facebook page here

Taken from au.prime7.yahoo.com

Pangerang Community House Occasional Childcare

Take a Break child care funding confusion

By Joseph Thomsen ABC Goulburn Murray

New federal government funding for occasional child care in Victoria fails to clarify future of Take a Break service.

Will the Take a Break occasional child care program be able continue its critical role in regional Victorian communities?

A dispute between the federal and state governments will end the program's funding from next month, with the Victorian state government refusing to inject any funds after the federal government announced it would no longer contribute approximately one million dollars per year to the program.

Then, after a passionate community outcry, Federal Minister for Children Kate Ellis recently announced new funding for up to 260 occasional child care places across Victoria.

So is this funding a lifeline for the Take a Break service or not?

Minister Ellis says Take a Break is eligible for the funding but each service will have to put in an application.
"All interested Take A Break services can apply to become approved occasional care services. That means that they will then administer child care benefit which they haven't previously, and the parents will be eligible for the child care rebate. That being said, we say that this is not a perfect substitute for Take A Break."

It appears that for all Take A Break services to continue the Victorian Government would have to more than match the Federal Government's contribution.

"I believe it's about $1.8 million at the moment, which is the combination of federal and state funding. So if some of those places move to approved occasional care, of they put in just over a million dollars, then we would see that there wouldn't be much change to Take a Break at all."

However the Victorian Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development Wendy Lovell says she will not re-fund the Take a Break service in the wake of this new federal funding, as the funding model has changed.

"So what she's just told us is that she's putting $2.2 million into funding occasional care places through approved providers, but she's withdrawing $1.1 million from the Take a Break service. So she's doubled the funding while providing less places. She could've just re-funded the Take a Break service ... and that is the model that we have said, if she re-funds it, we would happily continue to fund the state government share of that."

Please see the online article at ABC Goulburn Murray that include the full interviews with Wendy Lovell and Kate Ellis

Campaign Postcard

Some of the latest that have been used and sent out to ministers across the State and to Canberra

6 months of blame between State and Federal government has left many families feeling let down disappointed with what has clearly been seen as a political point scoring game by many. See politicians shouldnt play hardball with childcare in the Age for one example

Rural families feel especially concerned as they simply have no alternative in the local area

We have written to Kate Ellis who has told us to lobby Wendy Lovell and the Victorian Government - They are the only state to not pick up the bill for Take A Break.

Wendy Lovell has responded telling us childcare is a Federal issue and we should be lobbying Kate Ellis.

Now centres are closing and the children and families are the one's to suffer.

We have written, we have sent petitions, we have rallied in rural areas we have rallied at Parliament House TWICE!

STOP THE BLAME

Dear Editor - Is Minister Lovell doing enough?

As a father of two small children who attend Occasional Child Care I asked myself this question recently in relation to the abolition of state funding for the Take a Break service that provides a few crucial hours of child care a week.

State Member for Northern Victoria and Victorian Minister for Early Childhood Development, Wendy Lovell refuses to find the $1.9 million needed to fund the program. 

Rather than acknowledge this program is worth fighting for Minister Lovell has simply pointed to the withdrawal of Federal funding, a convenient argument, however one which is wearing thin as centres close or raise fees to cover the loss of the funds.

Other state governments of both political persuasions have decided Occasional Child Care is too important not to continue and have stepped in with their own funding.

Some $1.9 million provides child care for over 9000 children across Victoria, and in our case, with no local family support or alternative child care services nearby, is so appreciated and vital.

Isn't it time Minister Lovell came out and communicated some really legitimate reasons why the State government won’t fund the program as the current state-federal standoff smacks of political opportunism. We need a minister who is a passionate advocate of early childhood development, someone who won’t let Take a Break go, not someone who gives up too easily and hides behind a convenient "get out” clause.

Charles Leone from Moorilim

Dear Editor - Bendigo Rally for Occasional Childcare

Dear Editor,

Peter Ryan will be the focus of a demonstration tomorrow in Bendigo to call on the Nationals to keep their promise to protect country services.

The call is part of an ongoing campaign seeking the restoration of state and federal funding for Take a Break services and comes as Occasional Childcare Centres begin closing their services.

I am a mother of two young children, living in rural Victoria, without other options for child care. These services are important for country families and the State government needs to put its share of the funding back into the services now, not if the Federal government do.

Centres were jointly funded by the State and Federal governments but when the federal government withdrew its share of the funding, the Baillieu state government cut the program completely in the May budget.

Peter Ryan’s Federal colleagues see the importance of supporting these services, with the Federal Nationals member for Gippsland apparently having written to the State Coalition Minister, Wendy Lovell urging her to reconsider her decision to withdraw funding for the program.

We are asking Peter Ryan to take a leaf out of Mr Chester’s book.  It is time for him to use his position to fix this problem. Even his Federal colleague can see that this is the right thing to do.

With these services playing such an important role for country families and their town’s local economies, it makes no sense to destroy these services.

Many families fought long and hard to get these services years ago and it would be a betrayal of their work and for current and future families to just do nothing.

We can’t understand why the State government are refusing to put in their share of the funding, even just the state’s share of funding would ease the burden on the community and volunteer run centres.

We just want them to do what every government has done for the last 25 years – fund this low cost program that means so much to the families of the 9,000 children who use these services.

DEMONSTRATION DETAILS:

When: Tuesday October 18, 9.15 am

Location: The Capital, Bendigo’s Performing Arts Centre, 50 View Street, Bendigo

Fighting to Save Occasional Child Care in Victoria

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

Vic childcare centres hit hard by funding cuts

A squabble over funding between the Victorian and Federal Governments is leaving many childcare centres with no choice but to close their doors.

Shows Longbeach Occasional Childcare centre who has now closed and Chelsea Heights Occasional Childcare centre who may close in December without funding.

Kate Ellis and Sussan Ley both interviewed.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-23/vic-childcare-centres-hit-hard-by-funding-cuts/2940182

From ABC News aired 7pm Friday September 23rd

Petition's Signature Map

An overview of where the support has come from our online petition.  Although the centres involved are in Victoria the support has come from all over.  I have had people say they have moved interstate and missed the support occasional childcare gave them, I have had grandparents from overseas say their families rely on it as they cannot offer the support some grandparents can who live locally.

Please note an online petition aimed at the Federal Government is also available here from Kelly O'Dwyer's Office currently - please take two minutes to sign this also.

Launch of Campaign Postcard

Campaign Postcard is being launched and we ask that you join in and do your bit to save Occasional Care!

We are sending 130 politicians a series of postcards with different messages to let them know we are not going away.

We want every Take A Break funded Occasional Care centre to join in.

Will your centre?

To make it easy for you we have attached:

1.       A flyer explaining the campaign -

Campaign Postcard Flyer PDF 

2.       The address list of the Victorian politicians (and Julia Gillard and Kate Ellis) -

Victorian Politicians Address List
Labels for Members of Victorian Parliament

3.       A sample Media Alert to send to the media (to make the most of the campaign it’s worth getting your local papers and TV stations involved).

Media Alert - Campaign Postcard

We can also send you the photo’s to send to the politicians or you can create your own!

It would be great if your centre could mail postcards to all 130 politicians, but if this is not possible, then mail as many as you can – some is better than none!

• Check out Target, Big W, Ted's, Harvey Norman, Snapfish ect for cheap bulk printing
• Use your own centre as a postcard
• Recreate a message like the one above
• Hold a morning tea or open day to launch Campaign Postcard and invite your local paper and MP's
• Get creative and share ideas!

Just email savetakeabreak@gmail.com if you would like to use our photo’s or have any questions.

Thanks for getting involved and your continued efforts so far!

Don't forget to have some fun doing it!!

Families Fear Losing Neighbourhood Housing Childcare

Taken from the website of the Association of Neighbourhood Houses and Learning Centres (ANHLC)

Families Fear Losing NH Childcare

09 Jun 2011

Thousands of Victorian families could lose access to childcare from January unless the state and federal governments reinstate funding to subsidise community based occasional childcare.

 Over 9,000 families are now caught up in a stoush between the state and federal governments over the subsidies that keep these services operating.

 The crisis unfolded last year when the Federal Government cut their share of the jointly funded Take A Break childcare program. The Brumby State Government expanded their contribution to cover the full cost as an interim measure, but the Baillieu State Government elected to pull the plug on the program effective 31 December 2011.

ANHLC has called on both levels of government to come to the table to negotiate a solution to ensure the continued delivery of this vital service.

Without the subsidy Neighbourhood House occasional care centres will be forced to increase fees or shut down.

Many families using Neighbourhood House occasional care are on low incomes and can’t afford increased fees. In some towns there is no other centre-based childcare nearby. Some parents may have to quit work to care for children and others will miss out on essential respite.

Neighbourhood House occasional care centres already run at a loss and have to raise additional funds, others just break even. Childcare staff that may lose their jobs and people won’t be able to do courses/training activities that keep them connected with their communities.

A report prepared for the Federal government in 2007 highlighted the social and economic value of occasional childcare.

The report, written before the funding cuts were announced, also found that many occasional childcare services operate at or below break-even.

“We are talking about a low cost, high impact program,” says Association of Neighbourhood Houses and Learning Centres (ANHLC) Executive Officer Angela Savage. “Both governments are saving a pittance from cutting these funds, while causing real distress for the 220 communities that will lose services or incur unaffordable fee hikes.”

 The ANHLC is campaigning at state and federal levels for a sustainable solution to the occasional child care crisis. “We welcome state Minister for Early Childhood Development Wendy Lovell’s initial steps to sustain occasional childcare in small rural communities where services are at risk of closure,” Ms Savage said.
“But the community deserves a comprehensive not ad hoc approach, which recognises that affordable occasional childcare is needed by families throughout Victoria.”

“It is time for governments to stop pointing the finger at each other and to start working on a solution before it is too late,” Ms Savage said.

Sign the National Petition.

Stand up for Regional Victorians - Letters

Taken from La Trobe Valley Express (p11) 05/09/2011

OCCASIONAL Childcare services in Victoria have come under attack by the State Government when it
decided to cease funding to this style of childcare in its 2011-2012 budget.

This has the potential to leave families in rural regions with no continuing services in 2012.

Small providers such as Neighbourhood Houses will be faced with an untenable financial situation as they
continue to struggle to provide such services.

Families in Gippsland need the elected National Party members Peter Ryan, Tim Bull, and Russell Northe to stand up for regional Victoria, protect occasional childcare in their electorate by securing the release of the state's 45 per cent share of the Take a Break funding immediately.

The release of the 45 per cent funding will allow for the continuance of OCC in regional Victoria.

I ask the National Party ministers to remember what happened in the 1990s when they were a part of a
Coalition Government with the Liberals, and not allow the situation to occur again.

Stand up for country families; ensure the ongoing funding of occasional childcare service or hang
your heads in shame.

Glenys McBride, Heyfield.

Time to take a stand

Latrobe Valley Express 05/09/2011 By NIKITA VAZ

THE 'Save Take A Break' childcare fight has spurned passionate responses among residents who are calling on local politicians to "work for the country people".

A Gippsland resident has taken the region's National Party members to task, urging them to fulfil their

electoral duty.

"They were elected to work for the community people...the National Party need to remember to work for the country people because in this instance they are not doing that," Gippsland resident Glenys McBride

said.

She said the fight to reinstate funding has turned into a "political football", with the state and federal governments pointing fingers at each other, rather than addressing "real families who are going to be

affected".

When asked what the region's representatives were doing to address the issue, State Member for Morwell Russell Northe said he would continue to lobby on behalf of the region.

"We've highlighted the issue in Parliament and we're also urging the state Labor Party to lobby their

federal counterparts," Mr Northe said.

Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester recently addressed Parliament with a 1000 signature petition, urging the Federal Government to put in its share of funding.

"It should not be so hard for regional communities to get a fair go out of this government," Mr Chester

said.

"If the government is not prepared to listen to me perhaps they will listen to these 1000 Gippslanders

who are basically saying they want a fair go."

Recently, State Children's Minister Wendy Lovell told The Express she was urging the Federal Government to review the eligibility criteria for the Child Care Benefitand Child Care Rebate, in order to ease the problem.

Families who choose occasional child care are currently not eligible for the CCB and CCR.

"It is discriminatory and inequitable that families who choose occasional care may not have access to CCB

and CCR, purely because occasional childcare suits their needs better than long daycare," Ms Lovell said.

"(It) should be available to all eligible families regardless of the type of care they choose."

Care needs to be taken - Editorial

Taken from the Chelsea Modialloc Leader - Editorial 05/09/2011

CHILDCARE reform is well-meaning but too much of the cost is being dumped on parents.

New staff-child ratios and improved staff training create financial burdens kindergartens and the many other childcare facilities can well do without.

They must pass on the cost of running a system that is already struggling to cope with demand.
Mums and dads are being hit left, right and centre.

The State Government will stop funding the hugely popular Take a Break occasional childcare program by the end of this year.

Some are already closing and parents are now looking for alternative care, which simply isn’t there.

If the cost and availability of childcare isn’t problematic enough, the Federal Government will increase four-year-old kinder hours from 10 to 15 by 2013.

Grants are available for kindergartens to extend or renovate to make room.

After all, they don’t want to cut back on existing three-year-old programs to make room. But this is fast becoming a reality. A kindergarten in Bayside recently returned its $200,000 grant because the money isn’t enough to cover the extension.

Instead, it will cut back its threeyear-old kinder program.

Affordability is the key. What good is a gold-plated preschool service that can’t cope with demand and that few can afford.

Childcare is a right, not a privilege.

Murchidson Pre-School take part in Operation Big Fridge

Childcare centres to close

by Jesse Wray-McCann

MORE than 100 Mordialloc-Chelsea families are set to become the first victims of looming government childcare cuts.

The scrapping of the Take a Break program has forced Longbeach Place in Chelsea to close its occasional childcare service on September 23, after an impassioned campaign by parents desperate to save the vital funding fell on deaf ears.

Nearby Chelsea Heights Community Centre will end its service on December 16.

Distressed parents have flocked to the area’s only remaining centre, Chelsea Occasional Child Care, but director Lynne Blain warned it was already near capacity and had yet to determine its future.
Longbeach Place manager Lorna Stevenson said it had been an “agonising” decision and slammed both levels of government for “playing political games”.

“The parents and staff are all in disbelief that this has actually happened,” Ms Stevenson said.
Chelsea Heights Community Centre co-ordinator Janene Fussell said the decision to close its service had hit its 70 families hard.

“When you talk to parents about it, you see the tears well up in their eyes,” Ms Fussell said.
The Federal Government withdrew funding to the Take a Break occasional childcare program in May 2010, when the then Labor State Government picked up the tab.

But 12 months later, the new Coalition Government announced it would only continue funding the program until the end of the year.

Carrum state Liberal MP Donna Bauer said it was unsustainable for the State Government to continue to cover the Federal Government’s 70 per cent commitment to the funding.

Isaacs federal Labor MP Mark Dreyfus said while the Victorian Government blamed its federal counterpart, NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia continued to support the program.

Taken from Mordialloc Chelsea Leader 5th September 2011

Politicians shouldn't play hardball with childcare

Politicians shouldn't play hardball with childcare

Farrah Tomazin August 28, 2011 Opinion

TED Baillieu might be only 10 months into his first term, but when it comes to muscling up against Canberra, he's already had plenty of practice. The Premier reckons Julia Gillard has tried to dud her home state on several fronts, from the carbon tax and GST revenue to infrastructure funding and mandatory limits on pokie machines.

But a new battleground has emerged between the two tiers of government, whereby almost 10,000 Victorian kids have become the pawns in a petty political game. Boiled down, it's a Mexican standoff over childcare, a funding dispute worth a measly $1.9 million to save a much-needed community program: the Take A Break occasional childcare service.

Take A Break was established in Victoria 15 years ago to give parents, particularly mothers in country towns, the chance to do exactly that. For a small fee, parents get to take a break from their children - for a few hours a week - to go to the doctor, work on the farm, look for a job. Or just sit without worrying about those adorable, screaming kids. In turn, the kids get to socialise in an early learning environment that helps prepare them for kindergarten or school. With more than 220 centres across the state, it's what you'd call a ''low-cost, high-impact'' program.

But we now have a farcical situation where Baillieu and his Children's Minister, Wendy Lovell, are locked in a battle with the Feds over who should fork out the $1.9 million required to subsidise the service.

That's right: $1.9 million. That's less than the $2 million we're spending to boost prizemoney for jumps racing, or to set up a business case for a new male prison. It's also less than the $4 million used to reinstate fox bounties or to breed fish for recreational fishing. And it's significantly less than the $212 million we'll spend putting two armed guards on every railway station. You could argue these things are important but, surely, so too are the childcare centres now at risk of closing.

Victoria, however, isn't budging. The state government argues childcare is a federal responsibility and picking up the slack would set a bad precedent. ''Levels of government can't just abrogate their responsibilities and expect the next level of government to pick it up,'' says Lovell, who has put about $850,000 on the table and wants the Commonwealth to chip in the rest. ''We're happy to continue with the state funding, provided the Feds put theirs in.''

But her federal counterpart, Kate Ellis, says Canberra stopped funding the national program more than a year ago and since then, states such as Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia have continued to support the service, so why can't Victoria do the same?

Both have a point - you just wish they'd put politics aside and sort it out. Until last year, Victoria's Take A Break service was jointly funded between the state and federal governments. But Canberra cut its share in its 2010 budget, and the Brumby government agreed to subsidise it until the end of June this year. When Baillieu came to office, he was faced with a tighter-than-expected budget, but funded the program until the end of December. After that, it's every centre for itself.

At the heart of this stoush is a broader debate about the need for governments to provide sustainable models of childcare to families, especially those in regional and rural communities.

Take a Break centres are faced with a grim choice: increase fees for parents or close. Already, centres in Swifts Creek and The Basin have said they'll be forced to shut. Dozens are also faced with the double whammy of funding cuts and the loss of their indemnity insurance once those cuts kick in. Others know they'll have to turn to fund-raising if they want to survive.

Baillieu is also feeling the heat: what started out as a trivial funding dispute has now turned into a political pressure point, particularly in country-held Liberal and National seats (including Lovell's in northern Victoria) where the Victorian Farmers Federation, the Country Women's Association, local families and the state opposition have all joined forces to demand a rethink.

It's ironic for the Premier, given the premium he has always placed on children's services. Anyone who has seen Baillieu in action knows he's in his element around children. As opposition leader, it was Baillieu who pushed for preschools to become a part of the education department - which Labor eventually adopted - to give more emphasis to early childhood development. And this year, in his first major speech to Parliament as Premier, he produced a ''families statement'' spruiking his commitment to family services.

Yet against the backdrop of state-federal relations, Baillieu is playing hardball. Some might say it's clever politics - there's nothing new in standing up to the Commonwealth, especially if it gives Tony Abbott another stick with which to whip the Gillard government (the federal Coalition has vowed to reinstate federal funding if elected at the next poll). But when you think about what's at stake - and the small amount of money involved - surely that's worth more than political point scoring.

Farrah Tomazin is state politics editor. Twitter: @farrahtomazin

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/politicians-shouldnt-play-hardball-with-childcare-20110827-1jfm3.html#ixzz1X8276JJI

Dispute puts childcare centres in jeopardy

ABC News coverage from Tuesday 30th August featuring Chelsea Heights Community Centre who are due to close next term if funding can't be found.



Online petition - Reinstate Funding for Occasional Care