Parents, staff and children with the ANU’s four community childcare providers have taken their case to Canberra’s federal representatives. Photo: Claire Fenwicke.
Political pressure is being applied to the ANU to come up with a solution with community childcare operators as parents of 225 children face the prospect of having no childcare next year.
It comes after the university announced it wouldn’t be renewing the operating licenses of four community childcare operators on campus, essentially forcing their closure within six months.
Parents, staff and children from University Preschool and Child Care Centre (UPCCC), Acton Early Child Care, Cubby House on Campus and Heritage Early Childhood Centre converged on Parliament House as Canberra senators David Pocock, Katy Gallagher and Alicia Payne – along with ACT Early Childhood Development Minister Yvette Berry – all called on the university to come up with a solution.
“Clearly, these centres are dearly loved … and at a time where early learning is hard to get into, it would be such a shame to see centres closed and children turned away,” Senator Pocock said.
The ANU previously stated that the heritage buildings housing the four centres weren’t up to scratch and that two purpose-built childcare centres were being built in their place.
The four providers have been invited to submit proposals about how they could run one of the new sites, either individually or together.
Ms Berry said while it was great providers had been given the chance to submit proposals, it was a “very short period of time”.
“Nobody can put in a proposal in three weeks to operate a high-quality early childhood education system,” she said.
“They need more time: more time to consider the changes the ANU’s making, more time for the directors and the operators to put in a decent proposal and have a fair chance of being able to operate these centres into the future, and giving families and children time to go somewhere else if that’s the unfortunate outcome that we get to.”
An ANU spokesperson said negotiations began the week of 24 June and the goal is to reach agreements by 22 July.
“If an agreement is not reached, a formal procurement process will commence to ensure continuous childcare services on campus,” they said.
“The providers understand the timeframe and have not sought or requested more time.”
ACT and Federal politicians have weighed in on the issue surrounding the ANU and the community childcare providers. Photo: Claire Fenwicke.
Parents are concerned about how this process would work.
ANU student and UPCCC parent Virginia Meager described the attempt to get the centres to work together at a new location as “deeply problematic”.
“You’ve got four different centres, and they’re rated differently … different cultures, different communities, different programs – it would be exceedingly complicated,” she said.
“Unfortunately, for some [alternative] centres [we’ve looked at], their applications lists for 2025 have already closed. They’re only taking enrolment applications now for 2026.
“And if there aren’t any options now, I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
Fellow parent Cassandra Galdolfo acknowledged that while being a commercial operator wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, this was about giving people a choice.
“Not everybody is attracted to large, commercial providers, and commercial doesn’t always mean quality,” she said.
“I think at a time when childcare is so scarce and when ANU is already competing for staff and students in the region … the decision is short-sighted.”
Senator Gallagher said the ANU had informed her there were safety reports that showed remediation of the sites wasn’t possible, and she urged the university to make those reports public.
“There’s definitely been a loss of trust about the decision-making here, and that trust has to be rebuilt. Part of that is about sharing information,” she said.
In response to questions from Region, an ANU spokesperson said the institution had sought external heritage advice on how it could satisfy obligations under heritage laws while also operating the buildings as childcare centres.
“We have been advised this will significantly degrade their heritage value, potentially placing the university in breach of its regulatory obligations,” they said.
“In the last 12 months alone, the university has completed 244 corrective or reactive maintenance work orders at a cost of almost $1 million across the four heritage buildings where the childcare centres are based.”
There have also been concerns about lead paint, and remediation works are needed following the 2020 hailstorm.
Ms Berry said the ACT wasn’t aware of any dangers or safety issues at any of the centres in the past six months that could have contributed to the ANU’s decision.
Render of the planned childcare centre on Lawson Crescent. Photo: ANU.
Questions have also been raised about the two ‘purpose-built’ childcare centres that will replace the community centres at a cost of $8 million.
One has already been built – a set of demountables in the UPCCC’s carpark on Lennox Crossing – with the second centre to be constructed in the second half of this year on Lawson Crescent.
The ANU spokesperson said the facilities had already been given in-principle approval by regulatory body CECA (Children’s Education and Care Assurance).
However, Ms Berry said the sites couldn’t be fully regulated until there was a physical building and an operator in place.
“They’re not currently licensed to operate childcare centres out of those places.”
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