With childcare changes on the way for families in parts of Victoria during stage 4 restrictions, the State and Federal governments have today revealed more detail about their plan for the sector.
Child care is only open to select people, who from today will be able to apply for an Access to Childcare Permit.
Also, more money will be handed to childcare centres from tomorrow, to encourage them not to charge parents who pull their kids out of care during the lockdown.
But let's start with the basics.
Can I send my kid to child care?
In Melbourne, restrictions mean the default answer is no.
The only children allowed to attend in that part of the state are vulnerable kids, and those whose parents are permitted workers.
Premier Daniel Andrews today announced that the Victorian Government would create an Access to Childcare Permit, to help centres identify those families who were allowed to use their services.
If you will continue to leave the house for work under the new restrictions, you'll already have (or will soon have) a permit from your employer.
Mr Andrews said there would be a section on that permit where you could indicate that you need access to child care.
If you're in a permitted category but you work from home, there will be a separate form for you to complete.
You can find more information on the Victorian Government's Worker Permit Scheme website.
Mr Andrews said your employer would have to "attest" that you worked in a permitted category, and you would have to confirm no-one else in your household could care for your children.
"If you are a permitted worker, regardless [of] whether you are working in person or from home and you attest that there is no-one else in your household that can look after your children, you will be able with that very simple permit to access child care," Mr Andrews said.
Will keeping my kids at home affect my enrolment?
The Federal Government has stepped in to try to ensure that doesn't happen.
It will provide an extra 30 allowable absence days, where the Government's Child Care Subsidy (CCS) will continue to be paid to providers even if the children do not attend.
The Government has asked providers to waive the gap fee between the subsidy and the full cost of care, meaning parents could pull their children out without incurring a cost for those days.
It's providing additional funding, particularly to childcare centres in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, to sweeten the deal and encourage them to waive the fees.
Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan said he hoped that would mean parents won't have to cancel their enrolments during the pandemic.
"Ultimately the decision to waive the gap fee is up to the provider themselves, but what this package does is incentivise providers to waive the gap fee," he said.
"We want those parents to keep their children enrolled because we know once we come out of this pandemic, they will need the care for their children so that they can go back to work."
The additional funding arrangements for the centres get a little confusing, but as a base measure the transition payment being paid to all centres across Australia will rise in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire from 25 per cent of revenue to 30 per cent.
Centres that garner less than 50 per cent of their revenue from the CCS will be eligible for additional funding if their enrolment levels drop below 30 per cent.
Will this help centres stay afloat?
The Federal Government says the extra support announced today will see centres on average retain 80 to 85 per cent of their pre-pandemic revenue.
But Sam Page from Early Childhood Australia said governments needed to provide more certainty to the sector.
"It's a very complicated set of measures and I'm concerned that it doesn't provide enough of a guarantee to families or to early childhood educators and teachers that they will be OK through this next six weeks of restrictions and lockdowns in Victoria," she said.
Labor's early childhood spokeswoman Amanda Rishworth said the package would leave many providers scratching their heads over how much support they would receive.
"This seems very confusing, quite frankly from the face of it you would need a PhD to figure out how much money your centre will get," she said.
"It's unclear from my reading of the new package how they will guarantee 80 to 85 per cent, it is still unclear and there will be many centres trying to work out if that is actually the case for them."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA4LTA1L3ZpY3RvcmlhLWNvcm9uYXZpcnVzLWNoaWxkY2FyZS1mdW5kaW5nLWRhbi1hbmRyZXdzLWdvdmVybm1lbnQvMTI1MjY2NzjSASdodHRwczovL2FtcC5hYmMubmV0LmF1L2FydGljbGUvMTI1MjY2Nzg?oc=5
2020-08-05 07:21:00Z
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