Inner West Councillor Jo Carlisle and
Deputy Mayor Councillor Mat Howard
Inner West Council has voted to abolish childcare waitlist fees from all Early Childhood Services.
"This fee relief is possible because we have managed the Council's budget really well," said Councillor Jo Carlisle.
In the decision, the removal of waitlist fees will apply to Council's pre-schools, early learning centres and family day care.
"We wanted to help families with cost of living pressures and ensure that vulnerable people within our community don't have this financial barrier to accessing our world-class early learning services," said Deputy Mayor Mat Howard.
Across the sector, early learning centres often have extensive waitlists due to factors such as population growth, limited places and demand for high quality.
The high demand for early childhood education services in the Inner West means that families often need to join waitlists at multiple centres, compounding costs on family budgets with little to no certainty that they will obtain a place.
Abolishing the waitlist fees delivers immediate benefits for the community, including:
- Removing a potential barrier to access for lower income and vulnerable families and enhancing Council's reputation for equity.
- Without the fee, families are likely to put their child on the waitlist earlier and that will potentially aid in better planning and resource allocation across Council's services.
This initiative will come into effect in July this year.
