Vignette 124: Childcare

Childcare services are offered on both the Adelaide campus and Waite campus, in premises provided by the University. 

Our University has long championed the rights of women. It was among the first universities to let women study alongside men. However, the issue of childcare shows how some aspects of inequality are invisible. Historically, the responsibility of childcare has fallen to women, but without childcare services, the time a mother can devote to her studies or work is severely constrained. Childcare was a key issue campaigned for as part of the women’s liberation movement.

Today, the University’s centres are operated by an independent, not-for-profit association, Adelaide University Childcare Services Inc., established in 1994. The association is committed to providing high quality education and care services for the children of staff, students, other members of the University, and the wider community. The centres embrace a diverse and inclusive cohort of children, and by their very existence, they facilitate diversity and inclusion in University cohorts too.

The University of Adelaide: 150 Years of Making History.  Providing a place. p.169