Childcare services uproar

ABout 140 families in Kyneton and the Macedon ranges could lose occasional childcare by January if crucial Take a Break program funding is not restored.Members of the Kyneton Community and Learning Centre yesterday joined about 150 people on the steps of Parliament to protest against the $1.9 million funding cut, which would leave many neighbourhood houses without the resources to continue occasional childcare.The Take a Break occasional childcare program was jointly funded by the state and federal governments until last year, when the federal government pulled its 70 per cent share.The Association of Neighbourhood Houses and Learning Centres executive officer Angela Savage said the Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development Wendy Lovell had told childcare providers the state would return its 30 per cent funding, but only if the Federal Minister for Childcare Kate Ellis agreed to fund the remainder.“The release of that money is conditional on the federal contribution,” Ms Savage said.She said even the state contribution would be enough to continue the childcare service for some time.“It’s not a huge outlay,” she said. “The closure would shut a doorway through which people enter community houses. Childcare enables you to access the flow-on services.”Regional Association for Community and Neighbourhood Houses co-ordinator David Perry said an additional 70 families were on the waiting list for Kyneton’s Take a Break-funded services.“The impact there is substantial. The majority of our childcare centres break even or are deficit. So that subsidy is critical to their survival,” he said.