Lord Howe Island's only preschool struggling to stay open amid housing shortage

Australia Broadcast Center

18-07-2025

Lord Howe Island's only preschool may be forced to shut its doors for the second time since its opening last year, as operators struggle to staff the facility due to the island's housing shortage.
For more than a decade, resident and preschool committee president Rachael McFadyen advocated for the facility to be built on the island, located 600 kilometres off the coast of Port Macquarie, to help the community's working parents and provide essential early learning.
After securing state government funding in 2018, the centre was officially opened in April last year.
"That dream is finally a reality," Ms McFadyen said.
However, due to staffing shortages, the newly built, $800,000 facility has sat empty for most of this year.
Ms McFadyen said that after the resignation of one of their educators earlier this year, the centre did not have the two qualified educators legally required to operate.
It meant the centre, which had about a dozen students, was forced to close its doors.
"We had to call the parents and tell them there's no preschool," Ms McFayden said.
With around 400 residents on the island, Ms McFadyen said a replacement educator had to be found from the mainland.
After six months of closures, the preschool reopened in June when the committee secured a fill-in teacher.
But Ms McFadyen said securing someone long term had been made difficult by a lack of housing, as the number of homes on Lord Howe was limited by its world-heritage listing.
First preference for homes is also given to locals who have lived on the island for at least 10 years, or are descendants of early residents from before the 1950s.
The fill-in teacher is house-sitting until the end of September.
Beyond that, the committee said the preschool's future was uncertain.
Lord Howe resident and preschool committee member Chelsea Holden juggles being a mum of two young boys with her own photography business and a part-time job.
She said the preschool's closure cost her downtime and opportunities to grow as a businessperson.
"Not only are they in a safe, nurturing environment where they're gaining the social and emotional skills that will set them up as confident learners for life, but it also gives me space to focus."
Ms Holden said, despite some challenges, Lord Howe locals loved their island home, and access to essential education like early learning should not be determined by postcode.
"Having the early learning on Lord Howe, there are a lot of benefits, and as a family, you feel confident you're making the right decision for your children because they're getting the same exposure they would on the mainland," she said.
The preschool committee has called on the Lord Howe Island Board, appointed by the NSW government to manage the island, to consider new housing for essential workers, providing space for a permanent preschool teacher as well as additional nurses, teachers, and doctors when required.
The committee has started recruitment for a new, permanent educator, and it has been able to get a local family to reserve future leasing of their property for when they start.
But it is little relief for current tenants like Tina Dante, her partner, and one-year-old son, who now have weeks to find a new home.
"They let us know a few weeks in advance that they will not renew the lease because they need the house for the preschool teacher," she said.
Ms Dante said while she understood the decision, her family would be forced to consider leaving the island if they could not find a solution.
In a statement, a Lord Howe Island Board spokesperson confirmed long-term accommodation for the preschool had been found, and that the board was reviewing the Local Environment Plan, which would "also consider adaptive housing solutions".
It said accommodation for essential workers was already available, and the limit to the number of dwellings was in place "to protect the island's unique environment".
Ms McFadyen said until additional solutions were found, the island's businesses and essential services would remain under strain.