The second phase of Set Up for Success, a 10-year plan for early childhood education and care in the ACT, has been launched. It includes 300 hours of free preschool for three-year-olds at 138 early childhood education and care services, and a professional learning and resource portal for educators.

The ACT Government also announced it would employ 71 new public service staff, at a cost of $2.2 million. The workforce will manage traffic for road repairs, mow, pick up litter, operate weighbridges at resource management centres, and supervise school crossings. Staff will maintain trails and provide horticulture services at Stromlo Forest Park, Canberra’s mountain biking facility.

According to Chief Minister Andrew Barr, the recruitment drive will provide secure jobs for vulnerable Canberrans, part of a commitment to grow the total number of jobs in Canberra to 300,000 by 2030.

The government will also fund a second Police, Ambulance and Clinician Early Response (PACER) team, through which front-line services help Canberrans suffering acute mental health crises. The PACER program minimises both avoidable hospital presentations and contact with the justice system for people with mental health conditions.

Meanwhile, Canberra Liberals MLA Peter Cain, Shadow Assistant Treasurer, has called for Mr Barr to sack Chris Steel from the Special Minister of State portfolio, following the ACT Auditor-General’s finding that the $78 million Human Resources and Information Management System (HRIMS) program, discontinued last year, was “a significant failure for the Territory”.

The program was budgeted at $15 million, but blew out to $78 million “with nothing of substance to show for it”, Mr Cain remarked. According to the Auditor-General’s report, Mr Steel will spend a further $35 million to fix the existing human resources systems used by the ACT Government, which itself blew out from an initial allocation of $16.44 million.