Household budgets will soon be crippled again by high child care fees, Labor says, after the Morrison Government announced it would “snap back” to the old child care system.
Education Minister Dan Tehan today confirmed JobKeeper payments for childcare workers will end on July 20, and Australia’s free childcare program will be wound up on July 12.
“When the Treasurer has admitted Australia is in a recession and many families are struggling to make ends meet, this government has decided now is a good time to bring back high child care fees,” Labor’s spokeswoman for early childhood education and development, Amanda Rishworth said in a statement.
“Families were already being hammered by high fees before the pandemic, with fees soaring by 7.2 per cent in one year alone.
“Now when parents are earning less or have lost their jobs, this snap back will make early education and care completely unaffordable and inaccessible for many.”
Mr Tehan’s announcement that JobKeeper payments for childcare workers would also end next month took many by surprise as it comes after Mr Morrison guaranteed JobKeeper would continue to be paid until September.
“The six months provision of JobKeeper has been set out in legislation and people can count on that,” Mr Morrison told reporters on Friday.
One journalist followed up his statement asking: “You can guarantee that? That will be there until the end of September?”
The PM replied: “Yes”.
While the childcare sector will no longer get JobKeeper payments from July 20, Mr Tehan said the government would continue to support the sector through other payments.
A transition payment consisting of 25 per cent of fee revenue will continue to be paid to centres from July 13 to September 27. Currently the government is paying centres 50 per cent of their fee revenue.
A further $708 million will be paid to centres to help them with the transition and cash flow.
However, Mr Tehan acknowledged that this would probably be “a tiny bit less” than what was being provided through JobKeeper.
Mr Tehan said the important thing to know was that the sector was very keen to see a transition payment be there rather than JobKeeper.
“Their view is that that spreads more equitably the support right across the sector,” he said.
Big childcare operators have reportedly complained that casuals who have begun earning $1500 a fortnight on JobKeeper are refusing to come to work citing coronavirus fears.
Labor’s Amanda Rishworth said the party would work closely with the sector to ensure the transitional funding will keep their doors open and keep educators in jobs.
“As the transitional funding is not tied to staff like JobKeeper payments, the government must ensure the funding will actually keep educators in jobs,” she said.
For parents, subsidised fees will return on July 13.
When asked whether ending the free payment would put pressure on parents, Mr Tehan said the government needed a package that was sustainable into the future.
The government will also ease the activity test on the minimum number of hours that people have to spend working, studying or volunteering in order to qualify for subsidies.
“These families will receive up to 100 hours of subsidised care during this period,” Mr Tehan said.
The Education Minister said demand for childcare services had reached 74 per cent and the new package was designed to deal with this increase.
“What we’re asking of the sector is that childcare fees remain capped at the level of the reference period (which is the fortnight ending 2 March),” he said.
“Services will need to guarantee average employment levels over the three months to protect staff, who will move off the JobKeeper payment.”
Earlier Prime Minister Scott Morrison talked down the prospect of extending free childcare for another three months.
The prime minister said the $1.6 billion scheme, which was due to end on June 28, was never meant to be permanent.
“It was a measure designed for the times and, like all of our measures, we are constantly looking at them and applying them to the circumstances as we know them,” he told reporters in Canberra on Friday.
The Morrison Government’s “free” coronavirus childcare plan was announced on April 2 and paid childcare centres 50 per cent of their fees, up to a rate cap.
Combined with the JobKeeper scheme, the plan was aimed at helping childcare centres to stay open while also providing free childcare for parents.
Will the childcare changes impact you? Share your story charis.chang@news.com.au | @charischang2
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMilgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9saWZlc3R5bGUvcGFyZW50aW5nL21vcnJpc29uLWdvdmVybm1lbnQtd2lsbC1lbmQtZnJlZS1jaGlsZGNhcmUtcHJvZ3JhbS1vbi1qdWx5LTEyL25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvNTRjNTZhMjJjOWY1MzEwZjNjNjJhODQ4NTAwMmVkMDPSAZYBaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAubmV3cy5jb20uYXUvbGlmZXN0eWxlL3BhcmVudGluZy9tb3JyaXNvbi1nb3Zlcm5tZW50LXdpbGwtZW5kLWZyZWUtY2hpbGRjYXJlLXByb2dyYW0tb24tanVseS0xMi9uZXdzLXN0b3J5LzU0YzU2YTIyYzlmNTMxMGYzYzYyYTg0ODUwMDJlZDAz?oc=5
2020-06-09 05:06:21Z
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