Thanks, but not enough: Thrive by Five says new Government measures are inadequate

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) campaigners Thrive by Five have hit back at last week’s support measures put forward by the Department of  Education, Skills and Employment, saying the additional measures are not enough to prevent future centres closures as a result of the Omicron wave.

“The plans announced yesterday do not address the critical issues early learning providers are experiencing during this wave of the pandemic,” CEO Jay Weatherill said. 

“Unless the Federal Government offers more support directly to providers, we will continue to see hundreds of centres closing their doors every day,” he continued, saying that the extra supports for parents and families around allowable absences and gap fee waivers do not address the urgent workforce issues the sector is facing,

“High case numbers are leading to staff shortages. Operators are struggling to meet educator to child ratios and many centres are operating at reduced capacity. The inevitable effect of closures is that parents are unable to go to work and children miss out on the vital education and socialisation opportunities they need.”

Thrive by Five is calling for urgent Federal Government action to address critical workforce shortages in early learning and childcare and to provide further financial support to ensure centres can keep operating.

For more information about Thrive by Five please see here.