Community steps up to address childcare shortage in remote west coast of Tasmania
Across Australia, regional residents are struggling to find childcare centres are at capacity, leaving them few options. It's a familiar story on Tasmania's west coast, so the town's residents are taking matters into their own hands.
Transcript
00:00 On Tasmania's rugged west coast, spots of this childcare are hard to come by.
00:07 Staffing the centre is a challenge, a familiar story for regional areas across the country.
00:13 Some days we've had to drive people out to replace staff for a week or two from our other services,
00:19 which then puts them under pressure as well.
00:21 A local study hub is doing its bit to respond to the problem.
00:25 Ten students are completing an early childhood certificate to help build a local workforce.
00:31 There's a couple of us that have just recently graduated from high school,
00:35 we've got some parents that are also doing the course.
00:38 For Adele, it's about being able to pursue her ambitions without leaving her community.
00:44 To have this accessible and ready and be able to get this into motion is...
00:49 [laughs]
00:51 It's awesome.
00:53 Not only are the students getting different experiences,
00:56 but the whole of the west coast is working together to meet the regional need,
01:00 which I think is exciting.
01:02 Works are also underway on two new daycare centres in the region.
01:06 Providers estimating there's a need for at least 90 spots for children.
01:10 The demand for childcare is actually a lot larger than what we had first thought.
01:16 The challenges being experienced here on the west coast are being felt right across regional Australia.
01:21 It's an issue that needs overcoming to keep parents in work and these communities growing.
01:26 My partner goes to work and comes back and tells me that all his workmates are telling me
01:30 to hurry up and get the course done because they need daycare urgently
01:34 because it's big shifts over there and there's nothing for people at all.
01:39 If there's a door, take it while it's open because you will never find out until you give it a go.
01:48 Local collaboration tackling a national challenge.
01:51 [BLANK_AUDIO]