5 years ago
LIBERAL CUTS FORCE RURAL AND REGIONAL EARLY EDUCATION
AMANDA RISHWORTH MP
Families from across the Albury-Wodonga Region are searching for vital early education services as it was revealed Albury Wodonga Community College have been forced to shut up shop, leaving families in Mitta, Walwa, Bellbridge, Baranduda, Kergunyah (Victoria), Henty and Walla (NSW) in limbo.
Albury Wodonga Community College relied on Budget Based Funded (BBF) funding to provide early education services to rural and regional families in outlying towns of Albury-Wodonga.
Under the Liberal Government’s child care changes, the BBF program has been dismantled, and regional services have been told to become commercially self-sufficient. This has left Albury Wodonga Community College unviable.
Labor has long been saying that these cuts will see more and more rural and regional services forced to the wall.
Families in these communities face a range of social, emotional, cultural and geographic isolation and barriers to accessing services.
Families in remote and regional Australia need better access to services, and yet this government wants to take them away. These families will have no other services to turn to.
Services like that of Albury Wodonga Community College provide a vital social and education service – and yet this government have ripped away critical funding resulting in children without access to early education.
The government needs to recognise that rural and remote and Indigenous mobile services around Australia are vital community services.
It is particularly galling that the Nationals have been silent whilst services in regional Australia have been forced to close their doors.
In addition to the forced closures across Albury-Wodonga, the Department of Education confirmed 19 services have already been forced to close down due to the Liberal Government’s child care changes.
This list will continue to grow.
Rural and remote families deserve better.
Albury Wodonga Community College relied on Budget Based Funded (BBF) funding to provide early education services to rural and regional families in outlying towns of Albury-Wodonga.
Under the Liberal Government’s child care changes, the BBF program has been dismantled, and regional services have been told to become commercially self-sufficient. This has left Albury Wodonga Community College unviable.
Labor has long been saying that these cuts will see more and more rural and regional services forced to the wall.
Families in these communities face a range of social, emotional, cultural and geographic isolation and barriers to accessing services.
Families in remote and regional Australia need better access to services, and yet this government wants to take them away. These families will have no other services to turn to.
Services like that of Albury Wodonga Community College provide a vital social and education service – and yet this government have ripped away critical funding resulting in children without access to early education.
The government needs to recognise that rural and remote and Indigenous mobile services around Australia are vital community services.
It is particularly galling that the Nationals have been silent whilst services in regional Australia have been forced to close their doors.
In addition to the forced closures across Albury-Wodonga, the Department of Education confirmed 19 services have already been forced to close down due to the Liberal Government’s child care changes.
This list will continue to grow.
Rural and remote families deserve better.