Parents and families in the rural South Australian town of Padthaway have spoken out about the challenges of extensive commutes for working families in rural areas to access childcare, and the challenge of finding viable alternatives to care in small communities.

Queensland not for profit (NFP) early childhood education and care (ECEC) provider, South Burnett CTC advised staff and parents on 7 February that childcare services in Nanango, Queensland, would be closing, effective 29 March, following “ten years of financial losses”.

The number of new long day care (LDC) services which opened in the period between October and December 2018 fell to 35 according to the Australian Children’s Education and Care Authority’s (ACECQA) latest national report on children’s education and care services operating under the National Quality Framework (NQF).

A company connected with Justin Laboo, former CEO of Affinity Education Group (AEG), has purchased a 7,732 sqm site in Robina on the Gold Coast that is to be developed into a 148 room intergenerational care facility adjacent to a new 95 place early education centre, the Gold Coast Bulletin has reported.

Parliamentarians in the United Kingdom have called on the sitting Government to urgently review the 30 hour childcare package to address what they termed as the “perverse consequences” of the programs implementation, which they say are contributing to a “growing gap between disadvantaged children and their peers”