Childcare Authority Grilled Over $1.2 Million Spent on Renting Underused Offices

A parliamentary hearing has revealed that Australia’s childcare authority is spending $1.2 million (US$788,000) annually on partially used offices in the heart of Sydney CBD. With many employees working from home and some attending meetings only twice a year, the federal education committee questioned whether taxpayer dollars could be better allocated to a more cost-effective alternative in the western suburbs. “Given the transient sort of use of the facility, would it have been better to get bigger premises with a cost per square metre that might be less, say in Parramatta?” Senator Matt O’Sullivan, the Federal Education Committee chairman, asked during the hearing on Feb. 15....