Federal Member for Barker Tony Pasin has welcomed the allocation of an additional $2,274,701 to support vital child care services in the region and help meet the needs of local families.

Mr Pasin said 17 services across Barker will share in the funding through the Federal Government’s Community Child Care Fund (CCCF) which provides additional support to childcare services in rural, remote, regional and disadvantaged communities.

“This funding will help our local child care services remain sustainable, upgrade facilities and improve access to quality childcare,” Mr Pasin said.

“Supporting local child care services is good for our local kids, good for our hard-working families and ultimately for our community. It will also have a positive economic benefit by allowing more local parents to get back into work or to take on additional hours if they chose.

“The Federal Government’s Community Child Care Fund is geared to support services that may need extra support to keep operating, or to fund capital projects to improve services and increase the number of places available.”

Minister for Education and Youth Alan Tudge said more than 640 childcare services around Australia would share in more than $100 million through the program.

“We are committed to giving every Australian family access to quality childcare, regardless of where they live or their circumstances,” Minister Tudge said.

“In some remote areas, there may only be one or two childcare services operating and it is critical we keep these open and help improve and expand facilities so more kids can attend.

“This program also helps services to run initiatives that reduce barriers which may otherwise prevent local kids from accessing care.

Minister for Regional Education Bridget McKenzie said the CCCF would help ensure childcare continued to be available for many families in Barker.

“These grants will have tangible benefits for childcare providers that will flow to local children and their families,” Minister McKenzie said.

“It means more families in Barker can take advantage of our Child Care Subsidy if they choose to work, learn or volunteer.”

Including today’s announcement, the Government has allocated more than $220 million to over 1,000 child care services through the Community Child Care Fund since 2018.

The Morrison Government is investing around $10 billion in child care this year to support around 1 million families. Our Budget delivered further support to reduce the out of pocket costs for parents with multiple children aged under six in care and a commitment to a $2 billion preschool funding agreement for access to early learning for all children in the year before school.

More information on the Community Child Care Fund can be found on the Department of Education, Skills and Employment website.

ENDS