State Government grants $1.6m to Katanning Early Childhood Hub in an effort to help disadvantaged families

A funding boost from the State Government has helped a multimillion-dollar project to address childcare needs in the Great Southern pass its final hurdle. On September 10, the Department of Regional Development and Communities announced the Cook Government would provide the final $1.6m needed to proceed with Katanning’s Early Childhood Hub, a game-changing project that is 12 years in the making. The hub will help disadvantaged Great Southern families and children aged zero to five years by improving access to essential family services with 67 long-daycare places and three integrated buildings — an early learning centre, a family centre and child health offices. The Early Years Partnership facilitated the funding after selecting Katanning as one of its four partner communities across the State. Katanning shire president Kristy D’Aprile said the shire was indebted to its funding partners for the generous contributions that have made the project possible. “One in five WA children are considered developmentally vulnerable by the time they start school,” she said. “This project has evolved and grown since its initiation by our local community in 2012 and responds to the region’s relative socio-economic disadvantage and the difficulties this creates for many families and their children. “The hub will improve access to childhood education, healthcare, nutrition and parenting advice within a collaborative service model and aims to reduce the number of vulnerable children entering the school system. “This funding will not only bring the Early Childhood Hub to completion but also ensure lasting benefits for the families and children of Katanning and the surrounding region.” In 2022, the shire received a $5.3m Lotterywest grant and on May 21 the Minderoo Foundation contributed $2.25m. Early Childhood Education Minister Sabine Winton said she looked forward to seeing the positive community impacts of the hub. “Ensuring all Western Australian families have access to high-quality early childhood education and care is a priority for the Cook Labor Government,” she said. “I know families will benefit hugely from having one location at which they can access a range of coordinated family and child services.”