It’s hard to believe it was nearly a year ago that CHDC applied for Queensland Government funding to help us implement a key action of the Workforce Development and Accommodation Strategy (WDAS).

That application paid off, and through groundwork in region and a breadth of research and stakeholder engagement, culminated in the Enhancing Early Childhood Education and Care Project Summary Report. We will soon publish that on our website but for now, I can say this report is more than just a document; it gives us a transparent assessment of the sector and an action plan to tackle the challenges that impact every business and family.

Working across Blackwater and Emerald, sectors, and government programs to gather the necessary data has been challenging but essential. It meant pulling together stakeholders from our local centres, major employers, and the community to gain a deep understanding of the on-the-ground reality.

The message is now more transparent than ever, supported by evidence: we face a workforce attraction crisis, and early childhood education and care (ECEC) is the lynchpin.

The situation in Blackwater is beyond critical. The lack of childcare for the 0-3 age group is keeping essential workers out of the workforce, forcing unsustainable commutes or pushing families to delay starting a family here.

But now, we leverage this insight for strategic action. The next phase requires critical investment and collaborative efforts. The project has resulted in 10 actionable recommendations, with three top priorities to guide our focus:

• Blackwater Capacity: We must prioritise the expansion of long day care capacity.
• Developing Local Talent: Establishing an in-region training and assessment capacity for educators is crucial to solving our persistent workforce gap.
• Targeted Recruitment: We need a strategy to recruit our 20 needed full-time educators. This involves developing dedicated ECEC resources and leveraging our existing Smart Move campaign to promote enhanced regional incentives once they are secured.

Seeing these big goals come together makes all the hard work worthwhile.

Our immediate next step is meeting with the Central Highlands Resources Roundtable and the WDAS’ Workforce and Accommodation Collective to ensure a coordinated regional effort, focused on finding quick, shared solutions. This is important because solving the childcare puzzle needs more than just government money, strong private partnerships are pivotal for the necessary progress required.

We have already sought critical funding to address some of the recommendations, and continued work with the sector, business, industry and government will define our path forward for the Central Highlands.