On Christmas Eve, a childcare centre in Latrobe will close its doors—leaving 55 children, 20 staff, and over 150 waitlisted families scrambling for alternatives in a region already stretched to its limits. The announcement, delivered via email, has sparked distress, disbelief, and urgent calls for accountability.
A Sudden Blow to Working Families
For Lauren Vaessen and her husband, who run a gift shop on Latrobe’s main street, the closure of St Patrick’s Catholic School’s childcare centre is more than inconvenient—it’s destabilizing.
“We don’t know what we’re going to do,” Vaessen said. “There’s one to two-year waits minimum to get into anywhere.”
Their story echoes across the community, where families rely on accessible childcare to maintain employment, run businesses, and contribute to the local economy.
Sector Strain and Systemic Gaps
The closure adds pressure to an already overburdened sector. Shearwater Children’s Centre, the only other major provider in Latrobe, is at full capacity. In nearby Devonport, waitlists exceed 300 families—including unborn children.
“We’re just saying to them we will do the best to accommodate everybody that we can,” said Bec Hodgetts, director of Shearwater.
This isn’t just a local issue—it’s a symptom of broader systemic fragility in early childhood education. When one centre closes, the ripple effects expose the lack of contingency planning, infrastructure investment, and policy foresight.
Promises Deferred: Relief on the Horizon?
Lady Gowrie Tasmania has announced plans to open a new 119-place centre in Latrobe—but not until July next year. For families and educators affected by the closure, that timeline offers little comfort.
Latrobe Mayor Peter Freshney voiced concern about the gap in care and its impact on workforce participation:
“It’s a limitation unfairly placed on families if they can’t get day care when they could be filling those jobs and adding to the economy.”
Catholic Education Tasmania’s Response
Catholic Education Tasmania (CET), which operates the centre, stated the decision aligns with its mission to provide faith-based education. The childcare rooms will be repurposed for school learning spaces.
“We have made this announcement now, so that staff and families have until the end of the year to prepare,” CET said.
But for many, the timing and tone of the announcement felt dismissive.
“It feels like they’ve wiped their hands clean of it,” Vaessen said. “We all deserve better.”
This closure is not an isolated event—it’s a case study in what happens when childcare is treated as peripheral rather than essential. It reveals:
- A lack of emergency planning for service transitions
- Inadequate support for displaced educators
- The economic vulnerability of families dependent on care
- The urgent need for policy reform that centers child safety, educator well-being, and community continuity
Childcare is not a luxury—it’s infrastructure. When it collapses, families fall through the cracks. The Latrobe community deserves more than delayed solutions and repurposed rooms. They deserve transparency, continuity, and care that doesn’t vanish with a single email.
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