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Dubbo is set to get a new daycare centre but there are concerns about how it will be staffed.
Key points:
- A new childcare centre has been approved for Dubbo
- The facility is expected to educate up to 92 children and provide jobs for at least 16 staff
- The union says a shortage of early childhood staff across NSW makes it difficult for centres to run at full capacity
The facility will be located in Southlakes Estate and is expected to have capacity to cater to 92 children aged up to five across five rooms.
Dubbo resident Melissa Woodward, who moved from Campelltown with her husband and two young sons last year, said securing childcare wasn't something she had thought about.
"I probably would have got on wait lists a bit earlier if I had thought of it," she said.
"But I just assumed there'd be a spot," she said
Ms Woodard said she couldn't start up her massage business in town until she had childcare secured for their three-year-old son.
"I started making phone calls, and I did some tours at some centres close to home, but they just didn't have availability for us," she said.
"So I left it a little bit longer and then I tried a bigger radius, but then I just went on to wait lists and was told no availability."
Luckily she said she eventually managed to secure a spot three days a week, which allowed her to kick-start her business.
"It's a really tough situation because we need the spots, but they need the staff to be able to fill those positions," she said.
New centre proposed
A development application says the new centre at the Southlakes Estate would ease the struggling childcare industry in Dubbo and provide jobs for at least 16 staff.
Independent Education Union of Australia early childhood services organiser Kate Damo said building a new centre would be a relief to parents who were waiting months for a placement.
However, she said a shortage of childcare workers across the state made it difficult for the centres to run at full capacity.
"It's going to stretch the workforce," she said.
"It's got worse with COVID.
She said a lot of educators and teachers were burnt out from managing the pandemic for two years.
"And because the sector is very low paying and has very low professional status, then people are leaving in droves, because they can get jobs in other areas that pay more with less stress," she said.
To address the shortage, the NSW government announced it would inject up to $5 billion into the early childhood sector over 10 years.
The plan includes building more centres in regional and rural NSW and offering $25,000 in scholarships for diploma and certificate qualified workers to upskill early childhood degrees.
But the union says building centres isn't enough, and those students wouldn't be ready to teach for another four years, when staff are needed now.
"What you want for quality, for the children's early formative years, is a properly-trained and recognised teacher," Ms Damo said.
"Not someone that's been fast-tracked through the system to plug a hole."
She also said the plan insufficiently addressed staffing issues, saying graduates were not incentivised to work in childcare centres and could get better pay working in primary schools.