Planning for our children’s future

Cardinia Shire Council Manager Community and Family Services, Pam Martin encouraged all Cardinia Shire families with young children to take part.

“We need the unique insights of families with young children to help us develop a clear understanding of the current and perceived future needs of families who are using or will use our Kindergarten and Maternal and Child Health Services,” Ms Martin said.

“We routinely review our community’s needs for services and continue to deliver and advocate for other agencies to deliver services that meet those needs. The results from this survey will help us to plan for the provision of facilities to service and support the changing community, beyond the needs of those currently using the services.”

Cardinia Shire is among the fastest growing local government areas in Australia, so the survey also seeks feedback from people who may be planning to have children in the future and those who may not live in the shire but who use local childcare services.

“We have approximately six families moving into our shire every day and 28 babies born each week! In order to achieve the best results for our community, we must plan for the future with this in mind.

“Just as valuable to our planning will be input from people outside our shire who currently use the services as well as people who may not currently but will use them in the future,” Ms Martin said.

Cardinia Shire Council currently provides the facilities from which 24 community kindergartens operate and has been meeting demand to place every child in a kindergarten program. With the largest population growth in the 0-4 age group, an increasing demand for places in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs will be consistent over the next ten years.

Council also offers Maternal and Child Health consultation services across 16 facilities and approximately 16,500 consultations take place each year.

“We’ve already developed a 10-year infrastructure plan to provide facilities to continue to meet demand. This survey as well as the actions in the Child, Youth and Family Strategy and Cardinia Shire’s Liveability Plan, will help us to effectively plan for delivering services that will also continue to meet this demand.”

Council will use the Child and Family Services Community Consultation Survey results to better plan for the provision of health care and early education and development services for young children in Cardinia Shire over the coming decade and beyond.

The community can have their say by completion the Child and Family Services Community Consultation Survey before 5pm, Friday 17 August 2018.

For more information about the Child and Family Services Community Consultation Survey visit Council’s website at www.cardinia.vic.gov.au/haveyoursay