Jennie George (Throsby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The wonderful organisation Barnardos operates the only after school and vacation care program for 25 children in the suburb of Warrawong in my electorate. That area is classified as highly disadvantaged, servicing the postcode areas of 2502 and 2505 in the Throsby electorate. Warrawong appears on the New South Wales list of highly disadvantaged areas, produced by the Jesuits in their recent research study.

The OOSH service at Warrawong has been in operation since 1994. It has been at the point of closure each year that I have represented the electorate. As it is a highly disadvantaged area, the program currently receives block funding and not CCB, as the block funding has become a more financially viable option. Regrettably, other local services provided by Barnardos South Coast have been forced to close because of financial viability problems, for example, the Berkeley OOSH service, which was CCB funded, closed in 2006. Barnardos have struggled to maintain the after school and vacation care program at Warrawong, committing around $145,000 of their own funds this year to remain viable. This commitment has been the situation for a decade and is now beyond the resources of the organisation. These financial problems have seen 141 childcare places handed back since 2004 in this very disadvantaged area.

Every time Barnardos South Coast have marginally raised fees parents have withdrawn children from the service. Currently the fees are $9 per session for after school care and $13.50 for vacation care. Even with these modest fees, the vacancy rate is around 30 per cent. On budgetary projections, Barnardos estimate that they would require recurrent funding in the order of $260,000 per year, with a contribution from both federal and state governments to remain viable.

I have raised this issue with the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services because I believe that the forced closure of this service on financial grounds would be totally at odds with Labor’s commitment to a social inclusion agenda. The parliamentary secretary recently visited Barnados at Warrawong and I think he knows of the wonderful commitment of the staff in providing early intervention and support for children in need.