❓ Mr. Love questions the Minister about the removal of operational grants for regional childcare, while the Minister clarifies the fund's purpose is for viability studies and facilitating community-based models, not direct service provision.
AnsweredQoN 577Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
REGIONAL
CHILD CARE
577. Mr R.S. LOVE to the
Minister for Community Services:
My question
concerns regional childcare funding. I refer to the minister's answer
during Legislative Council estimates in which she stated that no operational
grants would be issued under the regional community childcare development fund.
How can childcare centres in regional WA keep their doors open when the
minister has ripped the option to apply for operational grants away from them?
CHILD CARE
577. Mr R.S. LOVE to the
Minister for Community Services:
My question
concerns regional childcare funding. I refer to the minister's answer
during Legislative Council estimates in which she stated that no operational
grants would be issued under the regional community childcare development fund.
How can childcare centres in regional WA keep their doors open when the
minister has ripped the option to apply for operational grants away from them?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member
for the question. I am surprised that there has been a series of questions
around this fund because it was only ever meant to be a fund that looked at the
viability of childcare services in different areas. Two different programs are
being undertaken—one in the south west and one in the wheatbelt. It is
not a service provision fund. It is not to provide childcare services. The
state government does not provide childcare services; we regulate those
services.
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Moore!
Ms S.F. McGURK : In case the member did
not know, the commonwealth government provides financial assistance for child
care. The purpose of that fund, which we have maintained, is to ensure that a viability
study is done to see what sort of childcare services can be put in place for
regional areas so that they are ongoing in the long run. For instance,
community child care is a model that is undertaken like a parents and citizens
association. A community body, largely of parents or local community members,
sits on the governing committee of a childcare centre that runs as a not-for-profit.
Those centres often run very successfully. That might be surprising to those on
the National and Liberal side of the chamber because in government they
withdrew accommodation support for many of the community-based childcare
centres. When we met with some of those centres, the member for Carine, and
others on that side of the chamber from the Liberal and National Parties, were
surprised that there should be any community-based child care at all or that
the government should provide any sort of assistance to community-based child
care.
Mr A. Krsticevic interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Carine!
Ms S.F. McGURK : The member for Carine,
who is interjecting across the chamber, said —
Mr A. Krsticevic interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Carine, I call
you to order for the second time.
Ms S.F. McGURK : When we met at Sudbury
House in Mirrabooka —
Mr A. Krsticevic interjected.
Ms S.F. McGURK : The member insists on
yelling across the chamber because he does not want it clear —
The SPEAKER : I call the member for
Carine to order for the third time.
Ms S.F. McGURK : The member could not understand
the logic of a community-based service in which community members and parents
participate in the running of a not-for-profit centre. The member said that
when we met at Sudbury in Mirrabooka to discuss the accommodation cuts.
Point of Order
Mr A. KRSTICEVIC :
The member is misleading the house. We never met in Mirrabooka; we met in
Duncraig. The member is misleading the house and does not know what she is
talking about.
The SPEAKER : Member, that is not a proper
point of order. You are on three; I would be very careful.
Questions without
Notice Resumed
Ms S.F. McGURK : The reason I talk about
community-based child care is that it is precisely that sort of model that this
fund is intended to try to facilitate. It is not designed to provide services
itself, but to set up a model under which regional communities that have
trouble attracting for-profit childcare services on an ongoing basis might be
able to look at a more flexible arrangement, such as community-based child care
or other arrangements such as family day care and the like, to ensure that
those sorts of services are available to those communities in regional Western Australia
and that working parents can continue to participate in the workforce, as they
should, but also have their children cared for. That is a challenge for small
communities in regional centres because there is not the scale there. The fund
the member asked about was a facilitator fund. We have reinstated that money,
but it is not intended to be a service provider.
for the question. I am surprised that there has been a series of questions
around this fund because it was only ever meant to be a fund that looked at the
viability of childcare services in different areas. Two different programs are
being undertaken—one in the south west and one in the wheatbelt. It is
not a service provision fund. It is not to provide childcare services. The
state government does not provide childcare services; we regulate those
services.
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Moore!
Ms S.F. McGURK : In case the member did
not know, the commonwealth government provides financial assistance for child
care. The purpose of that fund, which we have maintained, is to ensure that a viability
study is done to see what sort of childcare services can be put in place for
regional areas so that they are ongoing in the long run. For instance,
community child care is a model that is undertaken like a parents and citizens
association. A community body, largely of parents or local community members,
sits on the governing committee of a childcare centre that runs as a not-for-profit.
Those centres often run very successfully. That might be surprising to those on
the National and Liberal side of the chamber because in government they
withdrew accommodation support for many of the community-based childcare
centres. When we met with some of those centres, the member for Carine, and
others on that side of the chamber from the Liberal and National Parties, were
surprised that there should be any community-based child care at all or that
the government should provide any sort of assistance to community-based child
care.
Mr A. Krsticevic interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Carine!
Ms S.F. McGURK : The member for Carine,
who is interjecting across the chamber, said —
Mr A. Krsticevic interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Carine, I call
you to order for the second time.
Ms S.F. McGURK : When we met at Sudbury
House in Mirrabooka —
Mr A. Krsticevic interjected.
Ms S.F. McGURK : The member insists on
yelling across the chamber because he does not want it clear —
The SPEAKER : I call the member for
Carine to order for the third time.
Ms S.F. McGURK : The member could not understand
the logic of a community-based service in which community members and parents
participate in the running of a not-for-profit centre. The member said that
when we met at Sudbury in Mirrabooka to discuss the accommodation cuts.
Point of Order
Mr A. KRSTICEVIC :
The member is misleading the house. We never met in Mirrabooka; we met in
Duncraig. The member is misleading the house and does not know what she is
talking about.
The SPEAKER : Member, that is not a proper
point of order. You are on three; I would be very careful.
Questions without
Notice Resumed
Ms S.F. McGURK : The reason I talk about
community-based child care is that it is precisely that sort of model that this
fund is intended to try to facilitate. It is not designed to provide services
itself, but to set up a model under which regional communities that have
trouble attracting for-profit childcare services on an ongoing basis might be
able to look at a more flexible arrangement, such as community-based child care
or other arrangements such as family day care and the like, to ensure that
those sorts of services are available to those communities in regional Western Australia
and that working parents can continue to participate in the workforce, as they
should, but also have their children cared for. That is a challenge for small
communities in regional centres because there is not the scale there. The fund
the member asked about was a facilitator fund. We have reinstated that money,
but it is not intended to be a service provider.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.