Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Neighbourhood houses in my electorate of Melbourne are likely to close their doors to occasional child care because of a stand-off between the federal Labor government and the Victorian Liberal government. The Take a Break program had a joint-funding arrangement until 2010, when the federal government ceased its contribution. The state government in Victoria has now removed its funding, vowing restoration if the federal component is also restored.

Despite both governments claiming to value quality, affordable and flexible care opportunities for children, this political stand-off is delivering the opposite. According to research by the Association of Neighbourhood Houses and Learning Centres, which is located in Melbourne, more than one-third of occasional childcare services in Victoria may close. Areas hardest hit will be low socioeconomic areas, where families will not be able to afford the fee increases.

With my Greens colleagues I am calling for the funding to be restored. The government's National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care provides a framework for such funding. Lifting the existing cap on the number of approved occasional childcare places would also assist centres. The federal minister has written to providers suggesting they may like to convert to long day care, but this ignores the important role played by occasional child care for parents in part-time, job-seeking or training positions.

Tomorrow a rally will be held in Melbourne again asking the two governments to end their squabble. Neighbourhood houses in my electorate will then be meeting at my office to discuss further the future of the services that they provide. I ask the federal government to remove their anxiety by restoring this essential funding as soon as possible. (Time expired)