Early Childhood Education & Care
About
Access to high-quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is known to support children to thrive.
We are committed to working with our communities to ensure our rural children don’t miss out because of where they live.
Childcare in the Wimmera Southern Mallee
Understanding the Story
An accessible, quality ECEC system is a critical element in supporting children to thrive. In 2022, By Five sought understand the local landscape in relation to childcare; the funding and operating environment to enable us to identify opportunities to ensure our children can access what they need, when and where they need it.
In 2024, we revisited this data, and also explored and consolidated new avenues of information and relevant local barriers and enablers to equitable access to quality childcare, providing a better understanding of the evolving story across the Wimmera Southern Mallee (WSM).
What we found in 2024:
More than 415 children are on known waitlists.
11 of 19 towns in the WSM with populations over 300 don’t have a childcare service.
Workforce, Viability, Infrastructure and adequate funding are barriers for entry into the market in rural areas.
Only Not-for-profit providers operate in low population areas across the WSM.
Sustainable Childcare for Rural Kids Project
By Five were commissioned in 2023 to undertake additional work to support communities in navigating the childcare system. This project involved the WSM, Loddon Campaspe & Mallee Regional Partnerships joining forces to address the shared challenges currently being faced in the ECEC space.
The work in this project involved working with people from similar rural and remote settings across Victoria and Australia to identify specific changes required in legislation to move childcare funding from having to be viable to equitably accessible, as rural communities always struggle to deliver services under viability models.
This work culminated in By Five along with our allies and partners came together from across the Wimmera, Loddon Campaspe and Mallee region to passionately articulate the challenges our small rural communities face when it comes to equitable ECEC to the Productivity Commission inquiry.
