Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

In addition to the childcare subsidy, families and services in regional and remote Australia can also benefit from the Community Child Care Fund. This fund is part of the childcare safety net, and it provides services with a different operating capacity so that we can meet the challenges faced in rural and regional areas, particularly around financial and business support. This is particularly in the case where there are limited services available in these areas, and sometimes there may be no childcare services. So funding totalling $328 million over the next five years has been made available for around 980 services. Seventy per cent of that money has been allocated to 480 services that are in rural and regional Australia. We're also investing $12 million a year in the Connected Beginnings Program, which supports Indigenous children aged zero to five and their families in 15 additional communities.