MPs Back RPA Staff Call for Child Care

Greens Member for Balmain Jamie Parker MP and Greens Member for Newtown Jenny Leong MP are supporting RPA staff who are calling on hospital administration to ensure they have on-going access to childcare.

Last week parents using the hospital’s Lucas Street Child Care Centre were told it would be demolished to make way for a staff car park. The State Members for Balmain and Newtown are backing a petition that demands access to both parking and child care.

The Greens Member for Balmain Jamie Parker said:

“Staff at RPAH deserve safe and direct methods of travelling between work and home, considering the essential work they do and the challenges of shift work. But affordable and accessible parking shouldn’t come at the expense of a much relied-upon child care facility.

“Hospital staff are shift workers, who need child care with opening hours that accommodate their early starts and late finishes. While the RPAH administration is working with staff to find alternative solutions, there have been no guarantees that private providers can accommodate the opening hours that are needed.

“Alternative childcare services are some distance from RPAH, which means parents will now have increased travel times and will need to extend their hours of care.

“Parents using Lucas Street need assurances that their kids will be provided with care near to the hospital, for the hours demanded by their shift work, at a cost that is affordable.

“Child care across Sydney is already stretched to the limit, with a shortage of supply in the inner city an on-going problem. The closure of this centre will create added strain to the already limited services.