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WC220724_Digital_Edition.pdf

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TODAY

15o Possible shower

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WED

THURS

www.wangarattachronicle.com.au

Harvey Benton to nominate again

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More North East train services needed: MP

Monday, July 22, 2024

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Phone (03) 5723 0100

Magpies secure 10-point win in slog

Sport

MONICA MEETS HER LIFESAVERS AMBULANCE community officer Chris Walkear (left), Monica Arundel, Kelly Barton and paramedic Natasha Orfandis re-united on Friday after saving Ms Arundel’s life in 2022. PHOTO: Kurt Hickling ■ See story page 3

Childcare wait times stretched in Wangaratta Indi MP meets The Parenthood campaign p g director in support pp to lower childcare wait times PARENTS in Wangaratta are experiencing up to twoyear wait times for childcare, a problem the MP for Indi Helen Haines wants to help fix. Dr Haines met with advocacy group The Parenthood in Wangaratta last week and they are formulating a study right across Australia on people’s experiences in

BY STEVE KELLY skelly@ nemedia.com.au

accessing childcare in country areas. She explained that parents are enrolling their children prior to birth, but even then many are having to wait for childcare vacancies, affecting their

ability to return to work after the baby is born. Families are having to drive their children to other towns such as Benalla and Beechworth so they can put their children in care because they can’t access it in Wangaratta. The issue is mostly affecting mothers who want to get back into the workforce but they can’t due

to the lack of vacancies. Grandparents are also dropping from full-time to part-time work to share the responsibility of care for their grandchildren. With Wangaratta’s population expected to grow in the coming years due to the government’s building program, it’s an issue that needs fixing soon. “There has been a centre

built in Phillipson Street that is encouraging but we know that a study by the Mitchell Institute that there are 0.48 childcare positions available for every child,” Dr Haines said. “This has a ripple effect on the whole community with businesses wishing to employ particularly women who have the skills and they can’t engage in the workforce

to the degree which they wish to and businesses can’t employ them and they have job vacancies.” Dr Haines arranged for The Parenthood campaign director Maddy Butler to visit Wangaratta after she met her in parliament and she wants the voices of people from the Indi community in the study report. ■ Continued page 2

www.rjsanderson.com.au Wangaratta Ph: (03) 5721 7002 | Albury Ph: (02) 6023 5524 | Myrtleford Ph: (03) 5752 2666 | Corowa Ph: (02) 6033 2233 | Rutherglen Ph: (02) 6032 7522


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