Cathy McGowan (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Good afternoon. Colleagues, in 2016, I lobbied the government to ensure appropriate childcare services for rural, regional and remote families. I sought assurances they would not be adversely impacted by the government's reforms in the 2017 omnibus bill.

In February 2017, I introduced amendments to this bill aimed at securing mobile services for regional and rural communities. While the government refused these amendments, they committed to monitoring the impact of the reforms on mobile services. But monitoring doesn't provide certainty of funding. Consequently, all the mobile services in my electorate have been closed at enormous cost to rural and remote families. And those services which have transitioned to centre-based child care have been forced to undergo an extensive and complicated consultation and application process.

Today I welcome to the parliament Anne Bowler, the president of the National Association of Mobile Services for Rural and Remote Families and Children. She has been tireless in her representation to this parliament on this topic.

It's not good enough to leave rural and regional families under the assumption that one size fits all. I call on the government to report to parliament on the impact of the changes to funding of mobile childcare services in rural and remote Australia, and demonstrate to us that they are not really disadvantaged. (Time expired)