Kangaroo Island Children’s Services Centre to receive funding boost

Kangaroo Island Children’s Services Centre will receive $368,000 in funding to deliver services in Penneshaw and Kingscote as part of a new round of federal funding which has seen $750,000 allocates to boost early childhood education and care (ECEC) in the region, local news source The Islander Online has reported.

South Australian Senator Andrew McLachlan said he was especially pleased to see the funding being delivered to services in Kingscote and Penneshaw that need assistance to keep operating or to fund improvement projects and increase available spaces. 

Kangaroo Island Children’s Services – Penneshaw will receive $99,000, while the Kingscote branch of the service will gain $175,000 and the Kangaroo Island Children’s Services Centre will receive $94,000.

Families recovering from the impact of the catastrophic bushfires in Parndana continue to lobby to support the service, with Parndana Community Children’s Centre committee chairperson Steph Wurst outlining the need for early childhood education and care (ECEC) services which existed “well before the fires”.

More than 40 families have expressed an interest in a Parndana ECEC service. $1.8 million in funding has been allocated from the Local Economic Recovery Funding program, and the committee has engaged an architect, earmarked land adjacent to a community garden, and continued advocacy efforts with the South Australian education department. 

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