Bourke and Cobar will gain over 120 combined childcare places after the State Government committed more than $3 million to increase staff and spaces.

The government announced on 8 November that it will provide Cobar Shire Council $1.3 million to expand family day care and help relocate Cobar Out of School Hours from a rented church hall to the Kubby House Childcare Centre.

Bourke and District Children’s Services will receive $1.85 million for a new childcare room and help recruit and keep staff.

The service will also have $900,000 to create 20-place out of school hours care program, which would run five days a week for 40 weeks of the year.

"The provision of high-quality early childhood education and care services has multiple benefits for the community, as an economic enabler for workforce participation in remote communities, addressing social disadvantage, linking to health and family supports, and creating employment opportunities," Bourke & District Children's Services General Manager Prue Ritchie said.

"We are excited for the children, parents and carers."

IMAGE: Western Plains App/ River McCrossen

At the service, which currently has up to 39 childcare places and a waitlist for 46 children, funding will create 20 childcare places for children aged zero to three, plus four full time jobs.

The new space will have with three child-accessible bathrooms and two craft sinks.

The government said relocation support will be offered to attract new staff and retention bonuses available to encourage long-term service. 

For the out of school hours program, the $900,000 will help replace the roof and install a new kitchen at the service's facility at Oxley Street.

It will also help cover a professional early childhood consultant and retrain staff.

“This program is a win-win, and one of the best things a government can invest in," NSW premier Chris Minns said.

“Not only does it increase access for children in our state to quality care and education, it also removes one of the barriers facing parents who may want to re-enter the workforce or enter it for the first time.

“I’ve heard countless stories of essential and skilled workers with young families who had considered making a move to one of our fantastic regional communities but were concerned about being able to access childcare. My genuine hope is that news of these extra places helps them to take that leap.”

At Cobar, the $1.3 million will help renovate the old location of the shire-owned childcare service, which this year moved to the Cobar Early Learning Centre.

Cobar mayor Jarrod Marsden said the old site will see toilets and facilities like baby rooms refit for older children during before and after school hours.

Mr Marsden said the Cobar Out of School Hours Service (COOSH) already meets demand, although the new home is expected to remove service interruptions from sharing the church hall with other users.

He said COOSH's new home will have capacity for 45 places.

"I think it's a really good example of Council listening to the community, listening to the business community, and being able to partner with the state government, who been really supportive to us and to deliver an outcome."

Funding will also be used to expand family day care services, which are trained and registered educators who provide childcare from the educators' homes.

Costs covered will include CPR and first aid training, working with children checks, public liability insurance and is expected to create another 102 childcare places.

The announcement is part of a $5.6 investment under the Regional Development Trust Fund’s Western NSW Workforce Activation Package, which will also fund 44 extra childcare places in Broken Hill.