Zoe Moffatt
Sunbury residents are calling for more occasional care options, following the closure of council’s Sunbury Aquatic and Leisure Centre (SALC) occasional childcare service in 2020.
Unlike scheduled daycare centres, occasional and casual care options are flexible services that provide the opportunity for children under school age to be looked after for short periods of time.
Sunbury resident and mother Sarah Davies said this service is important for when parents need to attend an appointment or help their child in the water for swimming lessons.
“In talking to a lot of mums and what a lot of children have missed out on is swimming lessons,” she said.
“If you have to jump in the pool with your two year old, you can’t have your four year old sitting by themselves. So that means kids could be missing out on those lessons.
“Some of these children have missed out on things with COVID-19 and now they’re missing out again with the lack of occasional care.”
Ms Davies said occasional care also gives parents the option to have a few hours to themself and she would have liked to see more community consultation on the decision.
“[It’s good] if they have an appointment, or they want to exercise [which] helps with mental and physical health.
“[It can also be hard if] you’re a single parent and you need to attend an appointment that’s not appropriate [for your children] to come to.
“It’s a real shame that they’ve gone from providing for families to hiring this out to a private business. I [didn’t realise] that the council was running a for profit organisation.”
A Hume council spokesperson said the decision was made after careful consideration of several factors, including the impact of licencing and regulatory requirements and a significant decline in demand.
“The childcare was declining prior to COVID-19. In October 2019, occupancy was 44 per cent and in February 2020 [it] had declined to 26 per cent,” they said.
“Long day care [and] occasional child care costs council close to $800,000 per annum. Whilst we receive state and commonwealth rebates, it is still a significant investment.
“Council must regularly prioritise funding of services and infrastructure based on the greatest needs and gaps in providing key services to the Hume community.”
