Indigenous Families to Be Given Additional Hours of Free Childcare
Indigenous children will be eligible for an additional 36 hours of subsidised child care a fortnight under new government reforms announced by the Australian government.
As part of the federal government Plan for Cheaper Child Care, the program provides Indigenous children 12 additional hours on top the current allocation of 24 hours a fortnight, which the government estimates will benefit around 6,600 First Nations families.
Currently, the government estimates only 4.3 percent of Indigenous children are accessing early childhood education despite making up 6.1 percent of the population of children aged zero to five years. The additional hours are expected to come into place from July 2023.
Education Minister Jason Clare said in a joint media release with the Minister for Early Childhood Education Anne Aly, and the Indigenous Minister Linda Burney on Monday, that for the first time, the Closing the Gap target for school readiness went backwards in 2021….