More than fifty advocacy groups have called on the Federal Government to reform access to early childhood education and care in rural, regional and remote areas.
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00:00There was a lot of pressure. I wanted to keep my nursing registration.
00:03Obviously farming has its ups and downs. I'd like to contribute to the community
00:08and contribute financially to our family.
00:11And yeah it just felt really unfair and it was a lot of pressure and a lot of
00:14juggling in logistical nightmares when you already
00:17live 30 ks out of town trying to trying to juggle and drag your kids
00:22out of bed at six in the morning to drop them to someone else's house so then you
00:25can get to your shift on time. It was not great fun.
00:30To call on the Federal Government today to improve early learning access
00:34in the regions. It's clear that there is a major shortage of early education
00:40services in regional rural and remote Australia.
00:4350% of regional families and 80% of remote families are currently
00:48stranded in childcare deserts. This is not a new issue. Early learning
00:54and accessibility has been a problem spanning decades because of market
00:57breakdown. Under its current settings the early
01:00learning market does not adequately serve
01:02regional rural and remote communities. Without fair access to early learning
01:08regional rural and remote children do not have the same opportunities as their
01:12city counterparts. This Federal Government has made a
01:15commitment to universal early education and that must
01:19include all regional rural and remote children.
01:23Every family deserves the freedom to make choices about
01:26parenting, life, work and education that are best for them.
01:30Every child deserves to grow up in well-supported families and well-
01:34supported communities.