On 29 January 2019, in anticipation of the NSW state election on 23 March 2019, NSW Labor leader, the Hon Michael Daley MP, announced that a future NSW Labor Government will build 50 new primary schools and have early childhood education and care services co-located on these new schools.

Members of the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) NSW will know that in areas where childcare oversupply exist, such a policy on face-value will negatively exacerbate the operational viability of those existing childcare services.

However, this announcement is a stark improvement to Labor’s original co-location policy under the previous Opposition Leader (Mr Luke Foley MP). In this version, a NSW Labor Government will consult the community, including existing childcare service providers and industry stakeholders, as to ascertain whether a new co-located service and which type of service would be best suited for all.

Over the last two years since November 2016, ACA NSW President Lyn Connolly and CEO Chiang Lim have been engaging with NSW Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education, Ms Kate Washington MP, on this issue as well as childcare oversupply. ACA NSW is confident that Ms Washington is keenly aware that creating a new childcare service to fulfil Labor’s co-location policy on primary schools could in fact have a backfiring effect (because the government would now be a service provider and would also suffer the consequences of childcare oversupply and operational viability) in areas that already are experiencing childcare oversupply.

As such, although ACA NSW is cautiously optimistic that the revised NSW Labor policy on co-locating ECEC services on 50 new primary schools is an improvement, it should have no negative impact on neighbouring existing childcare services.