Page 216 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The role that my department plays in regulating childcare and ensuring compliance with the childcare standards is an important one. The department works closely with childcare providers to ensure quality services are provided and parents have confidence with the services that care for their children.
The ACT children’s services forum is a sector-wide consultative forum that provides an opportunity for the children’s services sector to consider issues of supply and demand, workforce development and sector capacity building. This forum, which is the sector forum talking around supply and demand, workforce development and sector capacity building works with this government, Mrs Dunne, on those important issues.
Mrs Dunne also refers in her motion to a particular service, the Gumnut Place Child Care Centre.
Mrs Dunne: We are getting there.
MS BURCH: Let me repeat again that the ACT government does not provide childcare services or interfere in the business planning concerning the delivery of childcare services by an organisation.
Mrs Dunne: It is a community-based childcare centre, you goose. You are interfering because you are evicting them.
Mr Seselja: You are interfering.
MS BURCH: Mr Assistant Speaker, they are interjecting over there, so can you apply the same rules? The government regulates and monitors service delivery in compliance with licensing conditions and the childcare standards.
Gumnut Place Child Care Centre is operated by a community-based, not-for-profit parent committee.
Mrs Dunne: And you are evicting them.
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mrs Dunne, please!
MS BURCH: Gumnut has operated from an unused building adjacent to the preschool since 1993. Over recent years, Gumnut has also been able to utilise a vacant room at the preschool on a temporary basis, so that they now provide a total of 35 licensed places.
Mrs Dunne: For 17 years.
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Order! Mrs Dunne, we have had this discussion. Mrs Burch has the floor.
MS BURCH: Due to an increase in demand for preschool places in the Belconnen region and the government’s commitment to increase up to 15 hours of preschool for
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video