We had Mal Brough on TV in the middle of a debate about childcare.
What an interesting show! What a tragedy for Australia!
On the one hand we had people who represented the non profit sector, on the other we had the CEO of the fastest growing for profit sector organisation. We also had customers, disgruntled and underpaid child care workers, lobbyists from the right and lobbyists from the left and only the Lord only knows who else. The people who were not there however, were more interesting by their absence. No one from local councils, no one from State or Territory governments, no one from private eterprise.
What was discussed?
Money, responsibility, lack of planning, lack of co-ordination.
What was not discussed?
Among other things, qualifications of the child care providers, the purpose of child care, cost benefits of having child care in the work place.
This is a large topic and obviously one that has many facets open for consideration and discussion.
Let me discuss one item that piques my interest.
Child care in the work place.
It seems to me that if the employer created a space at work (or near work) where parents were both enabled and encouraged to place their children then there would be advantages for everyone: parents, children, employers, community, government, care providers and even for profit providers.
Let me try and elucidate how a community development effort could ensure this (hopefully desirable outcome.
Let's assume that we have a small business owner who individually, only employs a few people. This business owner cannot, on his or her own do anything about child care for the employees regardless of how much good will is present. The economics simply do not add up.
Can he/she do something about child care in combination with other small business owners in the neighbourhood who have similar good intentions and to whom it can be proved that a sound economic rationale exists for indulging their good intentions?
Possibly. If each business owner in consultation with the others in the neighbourhood pools information about how much he/she can afford to contribute towards the child care of their employees, and then in consultation with the parents, government agencies and of course private or voluntary service providers then it is highly likely that in combination they can achieve together what they could not achieve alone.
I wonder if anyone has considered this and tried it? If so I would welcome their contributions to this discussion so that we can learn from them and through their experience infomr others in the community about the power of sharing within the community.
What an interesting show! What a tragedy for Australia!
On the one hand we had people who represented the non profit sector, on the other we had the CEO of the fastest growing for profit sector organisation. We also had customers, disgruntled and underpaid child care workers, lobbyists from the right and lobbyists from the left and only the Lord only knows who else. The people who were not there however, were more interesting by their absence. No one from local councils, no one from State or Territory governments, no one from private eterprise.
What was discussed?
Money, responsibility, lack of planning, lack of co-ordination.
What was not discussed?
Among other things, qualifications of the child care providers, the purpose of child care, cost benefits of having child care in the work place.
This is a large topic and obviously one that has many facets open for consideration and discussion.
Let me discuss one item that piques my interest.
Child care in the work place.
It seems to me that if the employer created a space at work (or near work) where parents were both enabled and encouraged to place their children then there would be advantages for everyone: parents, children, employers, community, government, care providers and even for profit providers.
Let me try and elucidate how a community development effort could ensure this (hopefully desirable outcome.
Let's assume that we have a small business owner who individually, only employs a few people. This business owner cannot, on his or her own do anything about child care for the employees regardless of how much good will is present. The economics simply do not add up.
Can he/she do something about child care in combination with other small business owners in the neighbourhood who have similar good intentions and to whom it can be proved that a sound economic rationale exists for indulging their good intentions?
Possibly. If each business owner in consultation with the others in the neighbourhood pools information about how much he/she can afford to contribute towards the child care of their employees, and then in consultation with the parents, government agencies and of course private or voluntary service providers then it is highly likely that in combination they can achieve together what they could not achieve alone.
I wonder if anyone has considered this and tried it? If so I would welcome their contributions to this discussion so that we can learn from them and through their experience infomr others in the community about the power of sharing within the community.
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