Childcare Closure

We have now closed the doors on our Occasional Childcare service at Lalor Neighbourhood House.

This is a deeply sad moment for our team and our organisation. It hasn’t been an easy decision, far from it. But like many neighbourhood houses, we simply can’t continue to absorb ongoing financial losses when our margins are already so tight. Last financial year, 48% of neighbourhood houses operated in deficit. We are not alone in this.
 

The reasons are complex and, in many ways, reflect broader shifts in our communities. The unintended impacts of free 3-year-old kinder. The quiet challenge of reaching families, even with sustained digital and print campaigns. The weight of cost-of-living pressures, with many parents working longer hours or multiple jobs. The increasing reliance on extended family for care. And perhaps, more subtly, a gradual disconnection from local community services.
 

What makes this especially hard is knowing what we are losing.

Our Occasional Care space was safe, clean, and welcoming, a place where children were known and cared for, and where families felt supported. It offered something small but significant: a few hours of breathing space, connection, and trust. Its closure is not just an organisational decision; it is a loss for the community.

At the same time, we have seen no meaningful increase in state funding over many years, despite steady rises in staff wages and operating costs. The result is a slow tightening, until decisions like this become unavoidable.

Neighbourhood Houses Victoria are currently campaigning for a 25% increase in funding for the sector. With the state budget being handed down this week, we hope this call is heard and supported, because without meaningful investment, stories like ours will continue.

We are incredibly proud of what this service has been, and deeply grateful to the staff, families, and children who made it what it was.

We now say goodbye.