EXCERPTS
Parents, neighbourhood houses and childcare workers will rally to save occasional childcare funding this Thursday, after state funding cuts threatened fee hikes and closures.
The rally, on the steps of Parliament, will protest the Baillieu government's decision to cut the $1.8 million Take-A-Break program, which subsidises short-term childcare.
In a June 3 letter, Victorian Early Childhood Development Minister Wendy Lovell wrote to childcare providers pledging occasional childcare will continue until "at least" September 30. While Ms. Lovell had promised funding until December, she admitted some services would close earlier to pay out redundancies and leave entitlements.
Ms. Lovell defended the decision, saying: "Childcare is a federal government responsibility. The program is not sustainable with state funding alone."
Take-A-Break was jointly funded by state and federal governments until the Gillard government cut its $1.1 million share last year.
Northcote's Jika Jika Community Centre provides occasional childcare for 28 children. Manager Gena Wittingslow said Jika Jika was unsure whether the service would be closed.
"We haven't given up the fight yet [but] maybe there will be shorter services, or more expensive services, or no services at all."
Association of Neighbourhood Houses chief executive Angela Savage said the funding cuts would affect more than 9000 families.
Ms. Lovell said the Baillieu government was willing to reinstate its share of the fund, if the Gillard government would reinstate theirs.
Federal Child Care Minister Kate Ellis said the federal government already provided long day care, family day care and after hours care places, and $210 million for kindergarten reforms.
-reprinted from the Melbourne Times Weekly