A few months ago, I shared how CHDC was moving from research into funded action on early childhood education and care, including our application to the Queensland Government’s Workforce Connect Fund submitted in January this year and the evidence work supporting our partners’ bids for federal childcare funding.

I promised to keep you posted, so here it is – our application was unsuccessful this round, and the broader funding landscape has proven every bit as competitive as expected.

While the result is disappointing, I make no apology for backing our region and giving every opportunity a crack.

As I said at Blackwater’s Community Reference Group meeting, the finish line keeps moving. Still, we’re staying in the race and working every angle to address our region’s challenges.

And we’re far from done. CHDC has a live application in to help train and qualify local educators as trainers and assessors to reduce our reliance on fly-in models and grow our own workforce from the ground up. We’re continuing to work toward more childcare places for families across the region.

This is all part of CHDC’s Enhancing Early Childhood Education and Care project, that sits within the Workforce Development and Accommodation Strategy.

The need hasn’t changed, and neither has our determination. Thank you to everyone who continues to lend their voice to this work.