20 per cent fee rise in outback South Australia in a bid to keep service open

Parents of children enrolled at the Mini Gems early childhood education and care (ECEC) service in the outback community of Coober Pedy, South Australia, have been warned of a 20 per cent increase to their fees from January next year in a bid to keep the service open. 

The District Council of Coober Pedy was receiving a transitional grant of $200,000 a year that funded the operational costs, but that funding will cease at the end of this year, which has left the Council seeking solutions, including raising the fees from $100 a day to $120 a day. 

Currently there are 20 children enrolled at the service. If enrolments were to increase by 12 children, the service would be making a $70,000 profit, and could then potentially decrease the fees. 

“Twelve more children is a significant increase so I doubt we will get that many, but let’s have a crack at it,” Council administrator Tim Jackson has reportedly said to the parent community.

The District Council has asked the state and federal governments for support, noting that several of the families currently using the service have said they will be leaving town if they cannot access care from Mini Gems. 

The council is also open to the idea of a private investor or the Department of Education taking over operations, adding that it would review the Mini Gems fees every three months and will continue to seek further funding.

“It’s concerning, because half of the children we look after, their parents are providing public services like health, education and law and order,” Mr Jackson told the ABC.

“Population is a very important foundation for the town and childcare is something that attracts people to the town and retains them. We’ve got to ensure it stays open.”

To read the original coverage of this story, please see here.