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Post by nomadic on Jun 8, 2020 12:02:16 GMT 7
Free child care to end in July after Minister says it did its job during coronavirus
The Federal Government will ditch its free childcare scheme next month, moving to reintroduce childcare subsidies for parents while ending the JobKeeper payment for workers in the sector.
Key points:Free child care will end on July 12 The Government will reintroduce the Child Care Subsidy and end JobKeeper for childcare workers A $700 million transition package will be implemented, and extended support will be offered to families The scheme was introduced in April with the aim of keeping providers afloat during the coronavirus pandemic. See more: www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-08/free-childcare-coronavirus-support-to-end-july/12332066
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Post by bear on Jun 8, 2020 15:56:46 GMT 7
That whole debacle made no sense at all to me....maybe because I wasn't impacted. I get it that essential workers were working and would require childcare; so free was good. Just read the link and haven't got a clue really....all these people unemployed. Why would they need subsidised childcare? Yeah, my head hurts on how all of the cash and rhetoric are intertwined.....A $700 million transition package will be implemented, and extended support will be offered to families; who are unemployed. OK. Smoke & Mirrors, Bread, Circuses and vested interests. m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2702030943400256&id=1415019052101458m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=288290252544182&id=115985586441317P.S. Sorry bottom link is way off topic, except for vested interest comment.....as for me; I'm way off tap  |
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Post by bear on Jun 9, 2020 6:55:06 GMT 7
'Very risky': Government warned return of childcare fees could trigger exodus of families
Childcare advocates warn the reintroduction of fees next month risks putting services out of reach of many families despite government changes designed to protect those who have lost income during the COVID-19 crisis.
Education Minister Dan Tehan announced on Monday the fee-free childcare relief package would end on July 12 and the old funding model, combining subsidies and fees, would be switched back on. Childcare centres will also lose access to JobKeeper wage subsidies. The sector will receive an extra $708 million in transition payments, fees will be capped and the work activity test for parents will be eased between July and October to give families greater access to subsidised care if their income has suffered during the pandemic. The return to the old model will be welcomed by services that successfully maintained enrolments when COVID-19 hit or received only limited support under JobKeeper, but childcare advocates have warned harsh economic conditions will hamper many families' ability to pay fees. Early Childhood Australia chief executive Sam Page said the government should have either extended and improved the relief package, or reintroduced the childcare subsidy with significant changes."Instead, it's a switch back to the childcare subsidy with very minimal change to it and an even lower safety net than the JobKeeper payment, which seems very risky to me. Most risky to children and families but also to service providers," she said. Ms Page said the impact would become apparent by August after services start invoicing families and discovering who could afford to continue. She warned the changes to the activity test in particular would be complex to implement and confusing for families, and the government had missed an opportunity to address concerns about the subsidy model. Georgie Dent, campaign manager for The Parenthood, warned families were "struggling financially and are no longer in a position to pay for the fees they could barely afford before the pandemic". Acknowledging concerns about fee affordability, Mr Tehan said fees would be "minimal" and capped at pre-pandemic levels. Eligible families who have lost work will be able to access 100 hours of subsidised care a fortnight, paying only the gap between the subsidy and the cost of care. "This will assist families to return to the level of work, study or training they were undertaking before COVID-19," he said. While conceding "we can't guarantee that demand won't go backwards", Mr Tehan said the government had consulted widely on the changes and had to allow services to keep up with surging demand, which was now at 74 per cent of normal capacity. "The system was designed for when demand was falling, now we are seeing demand increase. And we think we have got the balance right," he said. The government was also accused of abandoning a commitment to maintain JobKeeper payments for six months. Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week said "people can count on that" duration. But on Monday, Mr Tehan said JobKeeper was not being distributed equitably across the childcare sector and it would end to ensure payments were "appropriately targeted". Early Learning and Care Council of Australia chief executive Elizabeth Death welcomed the announcement, saying the capping of fees and eased activity test meant families "will be more able to access and afford early education". Labor early childhood education spokeswoman Amanda Rishworth criticised the government's shift, calling it a "snap-back" to unsustainable high-fee childcare. "This could well act as a handbrake on the economy. If women and families are not able to access affordable childcare, how are they going to get back to work? How are they going to actually participate in the economy? How are they going to actually be able to make ends meet?" she said. The relief package was introduced at the start of April after enrolments plummeted, threatening the viability of thousands of childcare services. The package locked in half the centres' usual level of government funding in combination with an expected $1 billion of JobKeeper wage subsidies. Centres have not been allowed to charge fees under the arrangements. While the measures helped save thousands of centres, many services that had successfully maintained high enrolments in March and those that were receiving limited support from JobKeeper felt the package actually hurt them and some have been operating at a loss. www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/very-risky-government-warned-return-of-childcare-fees-could-trigger-exodus-of-families-20200608-p550k0.html
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Post by bear on Jun 9, 2020 7:02:49 GMT 7
I though the whole reason for the stimulus was because businesses were running at losses and that's what's expected and normally accepted in a recession. I guess though, having subsidised income would give you tickets on yourselves. Just welfare by any other name as far as I'm concerned. Bear  |
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Post by tasjo on Jun 9, 2020 20:15:29 GMT 7
Childcare has always been a proportional rate bear - someone that doesnt work has always had cheaper childcare than someone that does (by a massive amount). When I first went back to work (albeit 12 yrs ago) was in the early days of the Child Care Rebate (30% rebate at the end of a qtr) and even then non-working parents often used childcare because it was cheaper than having their child at home. They were quite often the parents who utilised 12 hours of the childcare centre at a cost then of around $15 for the day, whereas ours was up to $75 because the subsidies are calculated on income. We generally used the childcare for as few hours as possible (dropped off on my way to work, worked through lunch and picked up on my way home).
I think the free childcare needs to be reigned in asap, its not sustainable in the longer term, now that the schools are back and people are being encouraged to return to work the childcare centres arent in the same situation they were. Those on low incomes (either due to covid or due to previous circumstances) will still be able to access childcare at the same low rates they were previously.
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Post by bear on Jun 10, 2020 17:05:47 GMT 7
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Post by tasjo on Jun 10, 2020 19:33:44 GMT 7
My daughter was at an ABC centre when the whole debacle happened... the only thing that changed was they became 'goodstart' learning centres.
I read quite a few comments today from Family Day carers who were happy for these changes to be happening because under the current rules they are working full time for half their income.
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Post by bear on Jun 10, 2020 20:57:12 GMT 7
Certainly strange times we're living in. Now I'm totally lost, because I thought Jobkeeper was meant to cover all wages.....
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Post by tasjo on Jun 11, 2020 15:27:06 GMT 7
Jobkeeper is a standard $750 a week and for soletraders (which a lot of the family day carers are) they applied and then were paid it 4-6 weeks later... in the same way employers were expected to pay employees and were then reimbursed by the ATO 4-6 weeks later.
The issue with family day carers was that they were doing the care for free and waiting to receive the jobkeeper payment. Still working the same hours possibly because demand was high while daycare was free but for half the money ('only' govt subsidy)
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Post by bear on Jun 11, 2020 16:31:47 GMT 7
Jobkeeper is a standard $750 a week and for soletraders (which a lot of the family day carers are) they applied and then were paid it 4-6 weeks later... in the same way employers were expected to pay employees and were then reimbursed by the ATO 4-6 weeks later. The issue with family day carers was that they were doing the care for free and waiting to receive the jobkeeper payment. Still working the same hours possibly because demand was high while daycare was free but for half the money ('only' govt subsidy) What an absolute shemozzle......are the government so evil, so dumb, so incompetent or simply so out of touch they have NFBI what is going on in the country? I mean c'mon, seriously; or is it all four or more.......Yep it certainly appears so!! Cheers bear |
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Post by tasjo on Jun 11, 2020 20:27:38 GMT 7
I think it was purely a policy introduced way too quickly to be honest bear...
I looked into jobkeeper and discussed it with a few other business owners and for small businesses it was a really difficult decision as to whether to apply for it. Initially it looked really promising, but some of the 'winners' and 'losers', mostly due to it being a fixed rate payment, meant many didnt apply for it. Personally I wasnt too surprised that there was a lot of people who filled out the forms incorrectly (particularly sole traders) leading (at least in part) to the massive difference between projected and actual budgets.
The childcare workers who were sole traders were definitely losers, the 'winners' - part time workers who lost 2 or 3 hrs a week and got $750 a week from jobkeeper)
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Post by bear on Jun 12, 2020 5:52:38 GMT 7
Yes tasjo it seems quite over the top that part time workers can be getting way more than they'd be getting, than in actual work. Truly bizarre....
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Post by tasjo on Jun 12, 2020 17:29:11 GMT 7
No more bizarre than a parent that isnt a carer receiving the fortnightly stimulus bear but a parent who is a carer not...
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Post by tasjo on Jun 12, 2020 17:48:17 GMT 7
The biggest issue for me with jobkeeper was for small businesses that had up to 10 part time or long term casuals... cafes, retail, transport contractors etc... if they registered for jobkeeper they had to nominate all the employees who had had a 30% loss of income, then pay those employees for up to 4-6 weeks until the ATO made the first payment.
And continue making the jobkeeper payment in advance of receiving it from the ATO.
In my case, had I registered our business for it I had 3 or 4 people that could have qualified... but 1 only dropped 2 hrs (out of 6hrs), 1 dropped 3 hrs (out of 10), and to get jobkeeper for the only one that I felt 'should' have received it - loss of up to $600 a week - meant also paying the other 2 and somehow finding $2250 a week till it was reimbursed by the ATO. So, after I checked into ot, I decided not to go ahead and we shifted a few things around for the 1 person who had the most loss.
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Post by bunyip on Jun 13, 2020 5:59:12 GMT 7
From what l read the liberals want a permanet rise in jobseeker ( newstart) from above the old $270 a week when the coronavirus rate is over, perhaps it will be $350 a week or $400 but they said in return for the increase they will want all jobseekers to go on the cashless welfare card. l just hope that never happens to us DSPs
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