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Workers' solution for fallen childcare empire

By Cameron Durnsford - posted Wednesday, 10 December 2008


Waiting lists for community centres are such that children registered at conception only receive places as toddlers, or later.

A full-fledged nationalisation would go some way to closing the door on the for-profit model of childcare in Australia. How would smaller private providers compete with a burgeoning community sector and an entirely public, national childcare provider?

A co-operative, worker owned-and-run model would allow space for the private sector to coexist with community care, give workers and parents more direct ownership of centres, and effectively outsource the provision of this essential service, freeing up valuable government resources.

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A community-co-operative model could also allow greater autonomy for individual centres. Given the vastly different needs of communities in urban, rural and remote areas, this is particularly attractive.

ABC's demise is as much an indicator of economic structural rot as was the Argentinean meltdown of 2001. Bailouts, and to a lesser extent nationalisations, are band-aid solutions to what will be a persistent problem. The time for creativity and resourcefulness is now.

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First published in Eureka Street on December 3, 2008.



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About the Author

Cameron Durnsford is a freelance writer and host of Radio Democracy on Brisbane Community Radio 4ZzZ (102.1 FM). He has lived, worked and studied in Latin America, where he followed social and environmental justice movements.

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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