I WRITE in response to Kylie Ovenden’s letter "Reconsider childcare hike" in Monday's Bendigo Advertiser.
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The City of Greater Bendigo provides childcare across three long day care centres and one occasional care centre. The City’s childcare fees for 2015-16 have been set with the aim of the services being as cost neutral as possible.
Over the past few years, the City’s childcare fees have increased to cover the costs associated with the introduction of the National Quality Framework (NQF) in 2012.
Under the Education and Service National Law, the NQF required changes to child-staff ratios so there are fewer children per educator. Previously ratios for children in care under three years of age were 5:1. Under the NQF the ratio is now 4:1.
To meet these new ratios, two of the City’s childcare centres reduced by two childcare places as it was not feasible to employ an additional staff member.
In 2016, the ratio for children over three years of age per educator will change from 15:1 to 11:1, which means the City must either increase the number of staff required or have less children attending and therefore impacting on the viability of the service.
The City is also required to comply with the state government’s Competitive Neutrality Policy for significant business activities that it provides, including childcare, and adjust its service prices to neutralise any competitive advantages when competing with the private sector.
In setting childcare fees for the next financial year, local market research was based on the 2014-2015 financial year as other childcare services within the municipality had not yet set their fees for the 2015-2016 financial year. It is anticipated that other childcare centres are likely to increase their fees in the new financial year.
The state government’s plan to cap council rates will also have a significant impact on the range and standard of services the City provides to the community. With the community already impacted by the closure of the Bendigo Early Learning Centre this December, the City is keen that the remaining two childcare services are as cost neutral as possible despite the need for increases in child-staff ratios.
The other key difference between other childcare service providers and City-operated services are the internal charges associated with the staff Enterprise Agreement, although the agreement does mean the City is able to attract and retain highly skilled and committed educators.
The City prides itself on its high quality staff and high staff retention rates, which clients have commented is a positive aspect of City childcare service. This does, however, come at a cost.
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