Bid to get more regional women working

But it is one that needs to be addressed.

And perhaps there is no better time than now, as the agricultural industry continues to be crippled by chronic worker shortages and the fatigue from the past few years sets in for our farmers.

If the mums, who form such a pivotal role in Australia's farming families, are able to return to the workforce sooner, perhaps that will help fill some of the job vacancies on our farms.

It is not too long a bow to draw to say the challenge of attracting workers to the agricultural industry and a lack of access to childcare in Australia's regional and rural areas are interconnected, as the issue can also prevent families keen on doing farm labour from relocating to the country.

However, like most of the challenges associated with the worker shortages, it's all a bit of a catch 22.

We need more workers in the regions, but we don't have enough accommodation to house them.

We also don't have enough workers to build the accommodation needed in the regions, nor the accommodation to house those workers heading to the regions to build the accommodation in the first place.

Read also:

A roundtable organised by GrainGrowers Ltd last month discussed some of the challenges associated with Australia's regional and rural childcare sector and also floated some potential solutions.

Attended by a cross-section of industry and government representatives, GrainGrowers chief executive Shona Gawel said the meeting highlighted various issues and challenges around childcare staffing - including there being a lack of suitably trained staff as well as the inability to attract staff to regional and remote areas, the provision of infrastructure and facilities, a lack of accommodation for workers and appropriately focused subsidies and incentives.

"In the grains sector, we know we have an engaged pool of labour - primarily women - that can't get back to work or are restricted because of a lack of access to childcare," Ms Gawel said

"Cost is one element, but in many cases, the problem is one of access."

A need for accommodation in rural and remote areas was cited as one of the limiting factors in drawing childcare workers to the regions, with some examples provided of workers having to couch surf due to a lack of suitable housing in the area.

"In an in-home-care setting, even if a suitable person is found to employ, the additional costs - such as accommodation and a vehicle - are not covered by government funding, imposing yet another barrier on those who need carers on-farm and are more than 100 kilometers from the nearest centre," Ms Gawel said.

Just as the regions are failing to attract childcare workers, the roundtable also highlighted that rural areas are also losing their existing childcare workforce.

"There was also a lengthy discussion on the burnout experienced by the education and care providers themselves," she said.

"Over-work, a lack of support, especially in rural and remote settings, and limited access to professional development is seeing people exit the industry."

Also represented at the roundtable were the Isolated Children's Parents' Association (ICPA), with the organisation's Federal Council president Alana Moller highlighting a lack of accessibility and flexibility as two of the major challenges of the regional and rural childcare sector.

She said a blanket, one-size-fits-all approach by the government didn't tend to benefit ICPA's members.

"There are government programs available that should work for our families but they don't because they're not flexible enough or they don't take into consideration the unique circumstances of families living in remote and regional areas," Ms Moller said.

"Moving forward, we would like the government to make sure the guidelines of any childcare program or childcare care services they provide aren't so strict that it makes it harder or stops people accessing them."

She said a prime example of this was the government's 'In-home care program', where educators provide care in the child's home.

"The program's guidelines are so inflexible that it's been of no use to the majority of our members," Ms Moller said.

As the cost of living continues to rise, the ICPA has also called for pay parity for Australia's childcare workers, who generally survive on much lower wages than private and public primary and higher education teachers.

"There definitely needs to be more incentives for rural childcare workers, whether that's through the provision of government housing in the regions and/or an increase in pay," Ms Moller said.

While the ICPA applauded the government's recent increase of its Child Care Subsidy (CCS), Ms Moller said it wouldn't be of any benefit to people living in the regions who weren't able to access childcare in the first place.

Some other improvements floated at the roundtable to help improve the regional and rural childcare sector included changes in legislation on tax deductibility for not-for-profit community-run childcare centres, to assist them in attracting additional funding.

Ms Gawel said the problematic nature of short-term government grants were also discussed, with longer-term funding determined to be more effective in attracting workers, as well as underpinning the development of childcare facilities in regional settings.

"Using existing infrastructure was also seen to hold untapped potential in delivering early learning childcare," she said.

"A revamp of the in-home care system was also discussed, with the potential to use a similar approach to the School of the Air to access government subsidies."

Federal Early Childhood Education and Youth Minister Anne Aly attended the roundtable, along with representatives from the Australian Childcare Alliance Queensland, Early Learning Association Australia, the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, Early Childhood Australia, Regional Australia Institute, Royal Far West and Community Connections Solutions Australia.