Leave kids in ABC childcare, union urges

>Parents should continue to take their children to ABC Learning centres to help stave off closures by the receiver assigned to the faltering company, the childcare union says.

The Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers’ Union (LHMU) met Monday with receiver McGrathNicol to discuss the future of the childcare company that operates about 1,200 centres around Australia, staffed by more than 12,000 people.

ABC appointed voluntary administrators last week with its banks then appointing receivers, and the government has now stepped in with a short-term rescue package of $22 million to operate the centres until December 31.

LHMU national secretary Louise Tarrant said Monday’s meetings went well, but more information was needed because critical decisions for the childcare centres must be made before the end of the year.

She commented on previous estimates that up to 40 per cent of the centres could be closed.

“Clearly the discussions we had was that a lot more work needs to be done on identifying the basis for that 40 per cent,” Ms Tarrant told reporters outside the meeting.

“And part of the receiver’s clear comments to us was that’s the work that really now needs doing over the next few weeks.”

In the meantime, she urged parents who have children at an ABC centre not to panic.

“Ideally, we’d be trying to be able to say to parents ’stay with these centres, keep them viable, keep the operation in the centres alive in your communities’,” Ms Tarrant said.

She said there were many areas with an “under supply” of child care.

“To be talking about closing potentially 40 per cent of ABC centres is just counter-intuitive until we have a better sense of what is the basis of the problem,” she told reporters.

© 2008 AAP

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