General News
27 June, 2022
Care 'game changer'
LETTER TO THE EDITORSir, Child care fees are crippling family budgets and holding back parents – mainly mums – from returning to work. And as far too many of your readers would personally know, there’s not even child care options available in...
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Sir, Child care fees are crippling family budgets and holding back parents – mainly mums – from returning to work. And as far too many of your readers would personally know, there’s not even child care options available in the Loddon Shire. It’s bad for hard-working families and it’s holding back our rural communities.
My sister is raising three young boys in country Victoria and right now she’s really feeling the cost of child care and kinder. It means she can’t get back to work full-time because she’d actually lose more money than she’d make.
That’s why last week the Andrews Labor Government announced a once-in-a-generation reform to Victoria’s kinder and child care system to save local families money, get parents into work, and give every child the best start in life.
Kinder will be completely free for three and four-year olds from next year. It will save families up to $2,500 per child every year.
To address the current shortage of available child care places, the State Labor Government will also establish 50 government-operated child care centres, opening from 2025. Where possible, the centres will be co-located with schools to avoid the double-drop off, with more details on locations to be announced soon.
And finally, they will transition four-year-old kinder to a new year of ‘pre-prep’ rolling out from 2025 with universal access. It will mean every child – no matter where they live – will be able to access 30 hours a week of free, play based learning. This will deliver immediate relief to household budgets and just makes sense to create an early education system that actually works for families.
It’s yet another game changing announcement from the Andrews Labor Government and a win for families in Wedderburn, Inglewood, Bridgewater-on-Loddon, and the whole region.
Martha Haylett
Labor candidate for Ripon
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