Nuala Same is not sure who is going to look after her three young children this week.
Key points:
- Child care in Victoria is closed to all except vulnerable children and children of authorised workers
- The move has prompted some parents to take leave from work to look after their children
- Some childcare centres have told parents they may not be able to waive fees
The mother-of-three is one of thousands of Victorian parents caught in a last-minute scramble to work out whether her children are eligible for child care, after the Victorian government announced tighter restrictions.
Under the new rules, child care is closed except to vulnerable children, or the children of authorised workers.
Ms Same said the communication from the facilities that her children go to has been great but the rules are unclear.
"Actually tomorrow we don't know what our situation is."
The Premier's office clarified on Sunday afternoon that families with one permitted worker could access childcare, but some childcare providers told families both parents must bring a permit for two-parent households.
Ms Same said she and her partner were considering taking leave from work to look after their children, rather than work from home with three children under five.
"With one [child], you might be able to cobble it together, with doing shifts and cutting back on sleep and leisure and the other discretionary things in your life," she said.
"But with three, and with two of them at that two-year-old age, it'd be asking us to do the impossible."
She acknowledged that for a lot of people, sleep is not a discretionary thing, but it's 2021 and she has three children under five.
Then there is the difficult question of payment.
The federal government will allow childcare centres in coronavirus hotspots to waive the gap fee, so centres can claim the government subsidy and not charge parents for child care when their children must stay home.
But fees from parents can make up about half of a centre's income and paying staff wages can be up to 90 per cent of a centre's running costs.
Some centres have told parents they will not be able to waive the fee and will have to keep charging parents even though they can't use the service.
In a letter to parents, seen by the ABC, the chief executive of Guardian Childcare and Education, Warren Bight, told parents they are hoping for more government support.
"I don't want to do either of these things. We are committed to keeping our centres open and keeping the educators you and your children love employed, but doing this without federal government support is impossible.
"Until the federal government makes their position clear in relation to funding we are unable to waive gap fees. We will review this each day and let you know if our position changes. We hope to have some clarity from the federal government in the next day or so."
Other centres have told parents it is too early to tell them whether or not they will be charged for childcare this week.
Georgie Crozier, Victoria's opposition spokeswoman for health, said the situation should have been better planned.
Victoria's Industry Minister Martin Pakula said childcare centres would be eligible for some business support payments but the industry is a federal responsibility.
"Last year there was I think a specific Commonwealth package in place for childcare," he said.
"It may well be that the Commonwealth needs to give consideration to something of that nature again."
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2021-08-22 21:26:40Z
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