Grain growing takes place in rural, regional and remote areas of Australia, where children and families experience more limited access to a range of quality ECEC services relative to those living in metropolitan centres, and in some instances, have no access at all.
Access to ECEC supports working parents living within grain growing regions by enabling them to pursue employment and education opportunities, thereby helping to alleviate workforce shortages in the grans industry and broader supply chain, and allows for greater economic productivity for our communities.
GRAINGROWERS SUPPORTS
- ‘Universal not Uniform’: Access to ECEC is a universal right for all Australians. Families in rural and remote areas must be guaranteed access to quality ECEC. However, the method of delivery will require a focus on tailored place-based solutions in light of the geographic and economic diversity or rural and remote areas.
- The quality of ECEC in rural and remote areas should be comparable to the quality of ECEC offered in metropolitan centres. However, it is crucial to prioritise access to childcare to ensure children have a safe learning environment and parents are provided with the support they need.
- The formation of a broader ECEC Workforce Strategy inclusive of initiatives such as wage subsidies, educator professional development pathways, relocation incentives, and professional support.
GRAINGROWERS RECOGNISES
- The ECEC sector is facing significant workforce constraints. These constraints are exacerbated in rural, regional and remote areas due to factors impacting regional liveability such as limited housing availability, insufficient infrastructure to support the growth of the sector and a lack of appropriate levels of government coordination and funding.
- The primary intervention by the Australian Government in ECEC markets and services, through the demand side Child Care Subsidy, while effective in many metropolitan situations, is a blunt instrument that hasn’t delivered outcomes for smaller communities or in communities with complex needs.
GRAINGROWERS SEEKS
- A Workforce Strategy tailored to regional, rural and remote areas is an essential safeguard for the early childhood sector, which is waning in these locations, and should be an Australian Government priority.
- Closer collaboration between all levels of government to manage, monitor, regulate, intervene in and shape the ECEC system to meet the objective of every child having access to quality services.
- A mix of supply-side options should be offered through partnership of the Australian Government with the States and Territories to better incentivise service provision in regional, rural and remote areas.
- The development of flexible policy options and market interventions to support the provision and accessibility of family day-care, in-home care and other care options, as models of service delivery more likely to prove sustainable in regional, rural and remote locations where a centre would not be viable.