By Tyler Wright
The Australian Education Union is calling for Knox City Council to “reconsider” a proposal to cut its kindergarten services for local families and children.
In a statement released on Tuesday 20 June, the council announced it will consult its kindergarten staff on whether the council will remain a standalone sessional kindergarten provider or lease its buildings to other providers from January 2025.
Up until recent years, the body has directly operated up to 30 kindergarten services.
“Victorian Government reforms over the last 10 years have placed increasing pressure on kindergarten providers and it is no longer feasible for Council to run kindergartens at the scale we have done,” Mayor, Cr Marcia-Timmers Leitch said.
“We have also seen declining numbers in our services as more families choose other options, such as long day care settings which offer longer hours and greater flexibility.
“Reviewing our services is the responsible thing to do when there are such significant impacts for council, our services and our community.”
Australian Education Union Victorian Branch Vice President for Early Childhood Cara Nightingale said the decision to lease council facilities to other providers “does not stack up,” particularly when the council’s kinder review states early years facilities are on average 50 to 70 years old and not all fit for the state government’s future vision of kindergarten in the state.
“We know that the overwhelming majority of local councils in Victoria do provide early childhood education, despite Knox saying otherwise,” Ms Nightingale said.
“Kindergarten is an essential service, best provided by the people who know and understand their local community more than anyone else. There are more than 1100 children in Knox who rely on their local government for high quality, play based early learning in the years before school.”
Under the proposed changes, the council would continue to run sessional kindergarten at the Knox Children and Family Centres in Bayswater and Wantirna.
“Knox is one of very few councils left in Melbourne that directly provides kindergarten on the scale that we do, so the ongoing changes to this sector affect us more than other councils,” Cr Timmers Leitch said.
“There are many services we provide on behalf of state and federal governments where funding has not kept up with the cost of providing services over time, and that is a risk that Council has to consider very carefully.”
According to the council’s statement, the decision was informed by several years of service analysis and review, staff and community consultation as well as the input of a representative community panel which provided feedback on each option for the council to consider.
“We want to support all local children to thrive, and Council is best placed to do this by supporting, planning and advocating for kindergarten in Knox – not through direct service delivery,” Cr Timmers Leitch said.
“Our priority throughout this process has been to ensure all local families can access high-quality services in their local area, regardless of who is delivering them.”
Cr Timmers Leitch said the council is “committed to providing our buildings and spaces for new providers to offer local services for families”.
“There will always be kindergarten in Knox and choices for local families to support their children’s growth, development and care,” she said.
However, Ms Nightingale said the council’s decision to issue redundancy estimates to staff, when they indicated previously there would be a period of consultation – shows a “complete lack of respect” for staff and families.
“Not a single member of City of Knox Council was elected with a mandate to withdraw from provision of council run kindergarten,” she said.
Staff consultation is currently underway and the council will meet in August to review this feedback and make a final decision.
“Council is currently in consultation with staff as required under our staff awards,” Cr Timmers Leitch said.
Knox City Council has invested $26 million in early years facilities since 2014.
