There’s plenty of things Hayley Brown would like to do with her life.
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She’s thought about having a larger family, and perhaps to contributing to local society and economy more by taking on more work.
But she can’t do either because of a severe lack of childcare options in Deniliquin.
In fact, Hayley can barely complete her allocated work hours in the days she has care for daughter Frankie.
To do so, she and husband Josh are already relying on family to provide care at least one day a week.
And then those care arrangements are thrown into disarray during the school holiday periods when Family Day Care is in recess.
Hayley says the flow on effects are numerous.
She fears for Frankie’s educational and social development in the lead up to primary school and her own capacity to work, and feels she is a burden on her parents who assist with care.
On a broader scale, Hayley says the lack of childcare is hindering Deniliquin’s capacity to grow and is preventing parents, particularly women, from being the contributing members of society they want to be.
“I want to work more, at least one day more, and other women want to be able to return to work, but we just can’t because we don’t have access to care; it’s just sad,“ Hayley said.
“And in this day and age, with the cost of living pressures, it is so rare to find families who can survive on one income.
“We’re lucky that Frankie has two days of care with Intereach Family Day Care, but the burden that is placed on grandparents to be our back-up plan is immense.
“I work in marketing and luckily a lot of my work can be done at home, but I still need care so I can complete that work adequately.
“I am fortunate that my employers are flexible as long as I make up my hours, but some businesses just can’t offer that.
“We need more daycare access so that parents can return to work, can contribute to the economy and have a place in society other than being a ‘mum’.
“We want young families in this town, and the opportunities are here, but the childcare situation will force some to make other plans or leave.”
To enable Hayley to work three days a week, her semi-retired mum Jo Evans takes Frankie one day a week.
And while two days of formal care is better than some families have access to, Hayley has concerns it’s not enough to prepare Frankie for the future.
“She is on every waiting list there is, and at just one of the facilities there are 175 in her age group on the list.
“Frankie has just turned three and the advice is that she should be attending preschool at least one day a week now, but there’s just no places available.
“By the time she is four she should be at preschool two days a week, and I know parents of four year-olds now who are lucky to be getting one day or can’t get any.
“It’s at preschool that assessments are made on their learning before they reach primary school, so what happens if they can’t get that before Kindergarten?
“The whole early education situation in this town is crazy, and the statistics on how many local families don’t have access is just staggering.”
A study conducted by River Region Early Education, based on 2021-2023 Census data, indicates at least 69 per cent of the 738 children aged 0-4 years in the Edward River Council area cannot access childcare.
Deniliquin’s combined childcare and preschool facilities are only licensed to offer 232 places between them.
With the only solution to the crisis being to create more childcare places in the community, Hayley has joined the chorus of local families and community leaders calling on all levels of government to intervene.
They want existing childcare facility proposals for Deniliquin to be fast tracked, they want further government investment in more centres which must also be fast tracked, and they want governments to look at incentives to ensure the staff required to operate them are available.
They also believe support for primary schools taking on children without full access to early education must also be part of the discussions.
Two new childcare centres have been proposed for Deniliquin - a government funded centre to be co-located with Deniliquin South School, and a private childcare centre proposed for the corner of Hardinge and Wood Sts.
The South School development is not expected to be delivered until at least 2027, and the private development has not yet progressed past submission of a development application to Edward River Council.
Council said proponents have “several years” from the time a DA is approved to enact their plans. The DA was submitted to council in August 2023.
Senior journalist