🟠 Childcare workers rally and a pet waste rethink

WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK 🎟️

• SATURDAY, 13/09/25 and SUNDAY, 14/09/25 | Dinosroar Experience

• SATURDAY 13/09/25 TO SUNDAY 12/10/25 | Tesselaar Tulip Festival

• SATURDAY, 13/09/25 and SUNDAY, 14/09/25 | Bloom & Graze @ Cherry Hill Orchards, Coldstream

• SATURDAY, 13/09/25 | “Rock Around the Mall” at Boronia Mall

📰 THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

Loud and proud: Knox Council’s burnt-out childcare workers demand a rethink on pay rise funding

While Knox councillors and staff definitely heard the cacophony of party blowers and blaring renditions of children’s songs before their latest meeting, it did little to drive them to change their minds on applying for funding for a temporary pay rise for its childcare workers.

A group of fewer than 20 Australian Services Union (ASU) representatives and Knox Council childcare centre workers came together on Monday night, calling for Knox and other councils to submit an application for the federal government’s Worker Retention Payment before the deadline of September 30.

A number of ASU representatives, council childcare workers, parents and members were decked out in colourful costumes, including a giant eggplant and a minion.

Addressing the local families who attended the rally and the ensuing meeting, Knox Council mayor Lisa Cooper said “no final decision has been made at this stage” on the grant.

“We value our early childhood workforce and recognise this is an important issue for families,” she told the chamber.

“Knox is carefully considering a range of factors related to the grant.”

The Eastern Melburnian understands one councillor and one council staff member met with the group prior to the council meeting.

ASU Victoria/Tasmania branch secretary, Tash Wark, said the ASU was grateful to the community members and parents who came out to support the cause.

“We understand that council has well and truly heard the crowd out the front, which is excellent,” she told the Eastern Melburnian.

“We really hope that they'll change their minds.”

Read more on that story here.

🐕 Poo bags and leashing up: How will Knox manage pet nuisance into the future?

Complaints about poo bags being thrown into kerbsides as well as damage to sporting ovals are among the issues being targeted in Knox Council’s updated animal management plan, set to be finalised later this year and rolled out next year.

At the Monday September 8 council meeting, Knox council passed a motion to send the draft 2026-2029 Domestic Animal Management Plan out for a final round of consultation.

Consultation on the draft plan will run for four weeks from Monday September 15.

The draft plan outlines a range of actions, including a review of the potential need for dog waste bag dispensers and educating dog owners about how to dispose of their dog’s waste, either via general rubbish bins or in their home’s compost bins.

In 2009, Knox Council rolled out a trial of eight dog poo bag dispensers at parks and reserves across the region, but all of them were later removed due to ongoing vandalism.

Dog owners can receive a $100 on-the-spot fine if they are seen not carrying waste bags or not picking up their pet’s waste.

Since April 2006, dogs in Knox have been allowed off-leash but “under effective control” in all open spaces and reserves within Knox, except for nine conservation bushland reserves.

However, the draft plan proposes a review of these orders to ensure it remains relevant and up to date.

Read more on that story here.

👶 “It’s essentially free money”: Knox among councils refusing to support childcare worker pay rise

Councils across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs are running out of time to apply for the federal government’s work retention payments for early childhood education and care workers.

As part of temporary support passed through Parliament last November, the Department of Education is delivering a Worker Retention Payment for two years.

The payment includes a wage increase of 15 percent above the modern award rates and a minimum additional 20 percent of funding for other eligible costs providers and councils incur.

Eligible childcare workers set to receive the pay bump include early childhood teachers, other educators, cooks, co-ordinators, room leaders, support workers, trainees and apprentices.

Applications for the funding program have been open since last October, with applications for backdated payments now closing on Tuesday September 30.

The minimum increase in hourly wages ranges from $2.41 to $5.26, depending on the level and type of employee. These limits will be bumped up by a further five percent from December 1.

To ensure the cost of the wage increase is not passed on to families, providers who receive the payment must limit fee growth and set a cap of 4.2 percent for the 12 months following August 8 2025.

Knox and Monash councils have refused to accept the payment, while the Whitehorse and Yarra Ranges councils have not indicated whether or not they would accept it.

A spokesperson for Knox Council said the council recognised the need for an increase to the industry award rate and had “paid our educators well above the award… for many years.”

“All our educators receive annual wage increases under the Knox Enterprise Agreement.

“Knox is committed to further investigating the terms and conditions of the grant with the Department (of Education).”

ASU Victoria/Tasmania branch secretary Tash Wark said the temporary payment “goes some way to acknowledging the low-paid work that a mostly female workforce performs”.

"It's essentially free money for employers,” she told the Eastern Melburnian.

Read more on that story here.

📚 Growing bigger: Bayswater Library’s grand opening booked in

Visitors to Mountain High Shopping Centre this week might be expecting to see groceries piled high – or grumpy toddlers from the centre’s daycare being trekked through the mall.

However, this week shoppers and locals will witness a different sight: people pushing trolleys and librarians carting piles of books to the Bayswater Library’s brand new site, a little less than 50 metres down the hallway from the current location.

All of the Bayswater Library facilities, including the after-hours book return chute, will be closed this week, with the new site below the escalators on the ground level to be opened to the public on Monday, September 15.

Read more on that story here.

TODAY’S DEAL 🔥

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SEEN THIS WEEK 🤓

EVs out in force

Have you noticed the hundred or more EVs parked next to each other on the empty land on the corner of Canterbury Road and Fussell Road?

I’ve been meaning to look into who owns this patch of land and what might be going there. If you know anything, please feel free to reach out.

Call out for blood donations

Australian Red Cross Lifeblood is urgently appealing for people to donate blood and help boost critical supplies.

The urgent call follows record high demand for blood during winter, coupled with peak appointment cancellations and seasonally lower bookings.

Lifeblood needs 12,500 additional donors to give blood and plasma over the next week, including 4,350 in Victoria, to ease the strain on its blood and plasma reserves.

To book a donation call 13 14 95, visit lifeblood.com.au or download the Lifeblood App.