As a parent of a child at St Peter’s Preschool, I’m deeply concerned about its future – and what that means for our kids and community.

Community preschools play a vital role in preparing children for school, supporting working families, and providing early intervention for children with additional needs. However, several recent policy and funding developments are placing significant and unsustainable financial pressure on services such as ours.

Right now, government funding simply isn’t keeping up with reality. The Disability Inclusion Program provides just $27/hour, while actual staffing costs are $33–$38/hour – leaving a gap of up to $11/hour. That’s a shortfall of around $105 per week for a child attending two days, and up to $270 per week for three days – costs our preschool has no choice but to absorb.

St Peter’s is already subsidising around $1,755 every week from its own reserves just to support children with additional needs, on top of total wage costs of $951,759.53 – and rising. New wage increases (including a 10% rise by 1 July and at least $30,000 per qualified teacher) are not being matched with increased funding, while fees can only rise by 4%.

At the same time, preschools are required to complete mandatory training without funding support – unlike long day care centres, which receive funding for five hours per educator.

We have a fantastic team of incredibly hard-working educators at St Peter's and strongly support long-overdue pay equity for early childhood teachers, as well as maintaining the excellent standard of inclusive education they offer for every child who attends. But without urgent funding changes, preschools like ours may be forced to reduce enrolments, cut support for children with additional needs, or pass rising costs onto families already in a cost of living crisis.

A quality preschool service is vital to our children’s future. Thank you for signing this petition to help secure fair funding and protect community preschools like St Peter's in Armidale.