BestStart Educare Welcomes Network Planning Repeal

“BestStart welcomes the announcement by Minister Seymour that they will be repealing network planning and removing the persons responsible changes,” says BestStart Educare Deputy Chief Executive Fiona Hughes.

“The network planning process substantially lengthened what is already an arduous process for providers to obtain the various Council consents required to build an early childhood centre. Being able to progress planning more quickly will benefit those families seeking a quality early childhood centre and provide certainty to those developing centres. The establishment of any BestStart centre includes a rigorous process to enable the identification of areas where provision is low, so the double handling of this information created an additional hurdle in an already complex environment. We look forward to being able to move ahead with planning in these areas to ensure all children have access to quality early childhood education.”

“The removal of the person responsible qualification change is a clear recognition by this Government of the challenges meeting these requirements would present. In an already stretched workforce, the proposed changes would have meant many services would be in the position of not being compliant with the new rules. It’s a common-sense resolution that addresses the challenges the sector is already facing.”

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