Australian childcare groups back new proposal
Updated
Most childcare groups in Australia have welcomed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's proposal for one-stop childcare centres.
Mr Rudd wants this weekend's 2020 summit on Australia's future to consider his plan to combine childcare, health services and parental support at one centre.
He says the private sector is best placed to provide most services and this would help improve quality and bring prices down.
Lynne Wannon from the National Association of Community Childcare Centres backs the proposal, but has some concerns.
"I think that there are issues about making sure that we have permanently available public infrastructure," she said.
"If we have services that are owned by private operators, corporations, whatever it might be, it's a bit at the whim of the market - they can come and go. So we don't necessarily have it there into the future."
