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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-03-21 Daily Xml
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Out-of-School-Hours Care

Ms SAVVAS (Newland) (14:57): My question is to the Minister for Education, Training and Skills. Can the minister update the house on the rollout of pre-school out-of-school-hours care in South Australia?

The Hon. B.I. BOYER (Wright—Minister for Education, Training and Skills) (14:57): I thank the member for Newland for her question and for her invitation to come to the Fairview Park Kindergarten this morning where I was joined by the Premier and the Treasurer as well. We were welcomed there by Michelle, the Director of the Fairview Park Kindergarten and a parent of a child there, Sarah, as well.

For those not familiar with this kindergarten, it is hard to imagine a more picturesque site. It is beautiful. It is very popular with the community. It was wonderful in such lovely weather to be there making a really positive announcement with the four year olds who were there enjoying their fantastic centre. It was very opportune today, given that we were joined by the Treasurer and given the amazing announcement about the 3.2 per cent unemployment rate today, and the two things are not dissimilar in many ways and are tied together.

This is delivering on a recommendation from the royal commission delivered and handed down by Julia Gillard to conduct a trial into what we are calling Kindy Care. Kindy Care is essentially out-of-school-hours care but for pre-schools, which we know has been a big gap in the system. We know that we have been slow right across Australia, and South Australia has not been immune from this, but slow to adapt and change the structure of our school day to make sure that it is actually fit for purpose for the 21st century where we have 100 per cent of parents in the household working, whether it's a two-parent or one-parent household, parents who are much more time poor than they have been in the past, who find it very difficult to be dropping off kids to school or pre-school at 9 o'clock in the morning when the bell goes and picking them up at 3 o'clock in the afternoon when the bell rings for the last time.

This trial will start in July across 20 sites, and I am pleased to inform some of the members opposite that there will be a number of trial sites in their seats as well. In fact, I was just doing a little bit of a list myself before. We have a very even balance, I think, in terms of the 20 trial sites that we have conducted across the state. In terms of held seats, there will be trials in nine Labor seats, nine Liberal seats and two Independent seats as well, which I think is important. Of course, we are making sure—three in the seat of Chaffey. In fact, I think the seat that has the greatest representation here first is Chaffey with three, Morialta with two and Black getting one as well, and I support that. I think that is a very important thing.

As someone who grew up in a regional area, too, and knows a little bit about sometimes the battle to get these kinds of services and childcare arrangements in these areas, I am pleased that we are prioritising a number of regional sites as well. As I said, the trial will start in July. It will run for a year. We will then have a look at it and evaluate it to see how it works because as Michelle, the director at the Fairview Park kindy said today, they are surveying their parents, they will be talking to their parents, to see what works best for them in terms of the time of the morning that kindy care might start and what time it might end.

We had a very positive development in the last 24 hours to do with this announcement. We had the federal government and the federal education minister Jason Clare come onboard to make sure that the childcare subsidy, which was not previously able to be claimed by parents for this, will now be able to be claimed by parents. That will make sure that it is not only accessible, that it is not only convenient for parents in terms of getting that care before the school day or preschool day starts and after, but it's going to make it really affordable too, which we know is important in the context of the cost of living.

I must say that with my skills and training hat on, we know that the workforce challenges ahead of us in terms of some of the great projects that we have before us as a state are going to necessitate that we have all hands on deck, and making sure that those who are seeking longer hours or getting back into the workforce can get the childcare arrangements that they need.

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