2024 Childcare in the Kimberley report
Access to childcare continues to present economic barrier in the region
The Kimberley region is experiencing an acute crisis in the availability of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) and Outside School Hours Care (OSHC). This crisis is a serious economic concern for the region as ECEC and OSHC are basic enablers of economic activity. Without it, workers can find it challenging or impossible to take on the amount of work they desire, exacerbating labour shortages in all other areas of the regional economy.
As part of the Commission’s continued advocacy for sector support and increased early childhood education and care access across the Kimberley, we are proud to release our latest report – Childcare in the Kimberley – A Comparison of the State and Dynamics of Early Childhood Education and Care in the Kimberley 2022 -2024
We’ve revisited our 2022 report to provide updated data from 2024. The 2022 report was used as an important advocacy piece for the state commitment of $1mil providing tailored support to the Kimberley, Gascoyne, Goldfields-Esperance, Midwest and Pilbara regions (Funding support for Early Childhood Education and Care in Regional Australia). The 2024 report shows that there has been a direct positive impact on operating places and training enrolments as a result of this targeted support.
Still, poor access to care remains a critical social an economic challenge across the region.
Read the report
