Bogan Shire families are struggling under the weight of limited childcare positions as more and more families attempt to get back into the workforce to make ends meet.

With local facilities having long wait lists, this means that one parent is forced to stay home, putting pressure on finances and family relationships.

According to the recently published Council minutes and report from the Shire’s Early Learning Centre (ELC), capacity is currently constrained by the number of qualified staff (educators) employed. 

With 60 children on the current wait list (in March 2021 there were 0 on the waitlist), more staff could mean a 100% availability for the Centre, which in turn would free up people to take on vacant employment positions within the town.

A recent meeting saw Bogan Shire Council take the unusual step of prioritising places for essential workers.

The shortage of staff mirrors a nationwide trend in early childhood education. One current estimate by the Australian Childcare Alliance of NSW puts the shortage of early childhood educators in NSW alone at up to 17,000, according to the report prepared for local shire councillors.

Despite Council extensively advertising to recruit educators, factors such as changes to qualification requirements and disincentives for people to enter the field, have markedly decreased the number of educators, putting pressure on the system.

Also, since 2014 the Productivity Commission has flagged that the population of children aged birth to 13 years in Australia was set to grow by 23% between 2011 and 2025.

Bogan Shire Council is fully aware they will need to act to provide the required infrastructure to address this projected increase.

The ELC currently has five new school-based trainees attending the Centre in the hopes that once they complete school, they will become full time employees to address some of the workforce needs.

Meanwhile local families are leaning on grandparents, friends and independent childcare facilities (of which there are a small number), to meet the need for childcare, which for some/most families is unsustainable in the long term.

Megan Payne, a counsellor, has two children and is currently a stay-at-home mum.

“As a mum I have been quite happy with the day care Centre, but we did have to wait 12 months before a spot came up for my daughter Izzy. I have had to structure my work around the days available at the day care, but my workplace is flexible so I am lucky,” said Ms. Payne.

Bogan Shire Council have been working on ways to address the situation with applications for grants that will allow fee relief for families along with being awarded Start Strong 2023 three- year trial funding which is to support the Centre with funds for programming resources, professional development and additional staffing costs.

While Council is also working on extensions to the Centre to increase available places for children, this will only be beneficial if the problem of staffing can be addressed.

An analysis of the current waitlist shows that Police, Ambulance, Nurses and Teachers rank the highest in demand of occupations of parents seeking childcare, with mining and agriculture following and ELC educators coming in third.

Following a Council meeting on Thursday night 23 March, a decision was reached whereby Early Learning Staff, Medical Centre staff and Nurses will be placed at the top of the wait list to alleviate staffing issues for frontline services.

"Council made the decision to elevate certain community workers to the top of the Childcare waiting list to allow vital positions within our community to be filled," Bogan Shire Mayor Glen Neill told the Western Plains App.

"It didn't make sense to withhold Early Learning Staff from having a place for their child when provision of a care position for their child meant they could return to work and thus allow another four children be able to attend the centre," he said.

"There are currently four ELC staff on the waiting list so if they are able to return to work then a possible 12 care positions become available for children of other families."

"We made a decision following much discussion that Nurses, Medical Centre Staff and Early Learning Centre Staff will be prioritised for childcare positions with a review to take place in twelve month’s time," said Mayor Neil.

‘We are working hand in hand with all of these services to provide the best possible outcome for our community and it’s members. Council is well aware of the issues being faced and are trying our hardest to put into place measures that will assist as many people as possible.

 We will continue to research every avenue that will lead to better and more beneficial results for all families moving forward,” said Mayor Neil.