The Morrison – McCormack Government is supporting families in Mallee to keep their children in school and child care during the drought.
Our Government is providing $15 million to support schools and child care centres to keep their doors open as part of our latest package of $709 million in support to drought-affected Australians.
Member for Mallee Anne Webster said the Government’s number one priority was helping Australians impacted by the drought.
“We know there are schools that are providing fee relief and counselling services to students whose families are hurting because of the drought,” Dr Webster said.
“We are offering help to the schools that are supporting those students. Schools in Mallee can apply for a share of $10 million in Special Circumstances funding if their students have been impacted by the drought.
“We want schools to keep their doors open and parents to have one less thing to worry about.
“It is estimated that currently there are over 2900 students across Mallee whose education could be directly impacted by this drought. We want to ensure that those students and their families are getting the help they need to make their education as stress free as possible.
“Our Government is also providing an additional $5 million to child care centres in drought-affected areas to help them stay in business and serve their local community.
“There are child care centres in Mallee that are eligible for financial support to help keep local children in child care.
“I have heard from child care centre operators across Mallee that the drought is having a significant impact on their operations and the families that they provide care for.
“I strongly encourage all eligible schools and child care centres in Mallee to apply for additional Government support during this difficult time.”
Applications for schools close on 16 December 2019. More information is available at https://www.education.gov.au/201920-drought-relief-funding-non-government-schools.
Child care centre operators can apply for funding by visiting https://www.education.gov.au/community-child-care-fund-cccf-special-circumstances-drought-support.