Cobram faces childcare shortage

More than 47 per cent of Moira Shire is defined as being in a childcare ‘desert’, or an area where there are more than three children per place — or less than 0.333 places per child under four years.

Trikki Kids Early Learning group area manager Tara Middleton said some parents travel from Yarrawonga to Cobram for care because of a lack of places.

“It’s been huge ... our highest need is in infants and kinder, we would probably have 30 or 40 families on our waitlist ... kinder we’re probably at 20 plus (families waiting),” she said.

“The hardest part is once you’re full for the year, unless somebody leaves or reduces days, spots don’t come up.”

Across Victoria, 2.44 children compete for each place and 28.9 per cent live in a childcare desert. In NSW, 36 per cent are in a childcare desert and 2.55 children compete for each place.

In Melbourne, just 2.31 children compete for each childcare place, where the report found most of the state’s centres are concentrated in wealthy suburbs.

Trikki Kids has 33 kinder program places for three- and four-year-olds and can accommodate 110 children in total.

Their Barooga centre has a 66-place preschool program, but they will soon be opening a centre in Yarrawonga, where they have seen very high demand for care.

Ms Middleton also said Barooga families were sending their children to state government-funded kinder in Cobram, where the program is taught by university qualified teachers and provides other educational benefits.

“I definitely think we obviously need more services ... we’ve had a loss, a decline of people training too,” she said.

Some parents said they had spent many months on waiting lists for places at their preferred centres.

Centres are also limited by their licensing restrictions, which are based off building sizes, teacher numbers and council requirements — which limit the amount of children they can accept per centre and per care room.

Punt Road Kindergarten and Childcare Centre coordinator Breanna Anthony said availability is likely affected by staffing regulations.

“I think there would be a lot more spaces if centres could fill staffing positions,” she said.

“Say a centre in Yarrawonga had space for 12 nursery spots but only staff for eight, what happens to the other four?.

“I do feel like the government should be doing incentives of getting (staff) back into the industry — I think we just need support in general.”

The report, titled Deserts and Oases: How accessible is childcare in Australia?, also found centres were often found near major job centres with a correlation between higher childcare fees and availability.

The report’s lead author, Dr Peter Hurley from Victoria University, said the research found services were being established not only in areas with increased demand, but where they were likely to make better profits.

“These are not thin markets but rather an absence of a market, as the current policy settings mean it is not viable for providers to offer childcare,” Dr Hurley said.

“There is a huge body of evidence showing the positive long-term impacts produced by high-quality early learning in setting children up for success as they transition to school, with the benefits continuing throughout their life.

“It is children from disadvantaged background who benefit the most, but our research shows these children are the ones most likely to live in an area with a shortage of childcare places.”

Economic modelling from Victoria University also shows early learning investment mostly pays for itself from increased government taxes paid via more women participating in the workforce.

The sector currently gets $11 billion in federal funding through the childcare subsidy, with parents contributing up to $6.8 billion as of 2019.

It also received two economic pandemic bailouts but is continuing to face economic challenges around staff attraction and retention.