Great Southern and Wheatbelt shires to share in $200,000 WA regional childcare worker grant

The shires of Gnowangerup, Lake Grace and Kent will each receive a share of a $200,000 grant being awarded to eight regional shires across the State in a bid to boost child care. The grant is part of the WA Government’s 2023 Attraction and Retention Packages for Regional Child Care Workers Program. “Setting the foundation for quality early childhood education in regional communities is critical for our country children,” Agricultural Region MLC Shelley Payne said. “This important funding will help to build and support workforce capacity in the early childhood sector in our regions.” The grant will be used by shires to fund relocation and accommodation costs for childcare workers, deliver training programs and attract skilled workers to regional areas. Newdegate in the Shire of Lake Grace will receive $25,000 to help the work of the Gnowangerup Family Support Association in its delivery of childcare services to the town. The GFSA charity delivers programs and services in towns across the Great Southern and Wheatbelt region in Newdegate, Borden, Ongerup, Nyabing and Gnowangerup, and the Shire of Gnowerangup will receive $32,000 to subsidise the travel of early childhood educators. The Shire of Kent will receive $10,000 to help fund the delivery of the 2023 Central Great Southern Early Childhood Education and Care Conference program which will see a childhood education expo held in nearby Katanning on Saturday, June 24. Early Childhood Education Minister Sabine Winton said the funding initiative would ensure families, service providers and communities were able to access and guide the delivery of support services in regional WA towns. “The program acknowledges there is no one-size-fits-all approach and that local governments are well placed to identify how to encourage workers to their towns,” she said. “More than half a million dollars has now been awarded through this program and I look forward to seeing how the local governments use these grants to bring educators to the regions.”