Parents out of pocket as Child Care Subsidy Rolls out
FAMILIES will be hundreds of dollars worse off this weekend after bureaucrats bungled the rollout of the federal Child Care Subsidy program introduced on Monday.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
FAMILIES across NSW are being left hundreds of dollars out of pocket by administration and IT glitches that have locked them out of the federal government’s new childcare rebate system.
The Child Care Subsidy program that kicked in on July 1 will lift rebates for most families and remove a cap on households earning less than $186,000, but requires parents to register online and provide details including income and hours-of-work.
Under the new system, subsidies are paid direct to childcare centres, which then calculate lower fees for families.
But parents claim the registration system is plagued with problems and they are being charged full fees without receiving their rebate.
Sydney mother Lisa Marie Thomas said she was charged $700 in childcare fees for her three children this week and received no rebate despite registering for the new subsidy weeks ago. She had been expecting to receive a 75 per cent subsidy, but only discovered this week that the information she had uploaded had been wiped by the new system.
“This has happened to so many people it’s disgusting really so now I have to pay full fees $500 a week at childcare and then $285 in before and after school care as I have three children,” she said.
“It really isn’t worth me working.”
She has lodged a complaint with Centrelink over the incident.
Childcare centres are also reporting they cannot access some of the major software providers of the subsidy service, leaving them unable to accurately bill parents.
Staff at the Department of Human Services are also trying to fix a backlog of cases to register for the new scheme so parents can be billed at the subsidised rate.
CHILDCARE SUBSIDY: HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO WORK
Meanwhile the Federal Department of Education and Training said it was aware “several services” had told families they were experiencing IT issues, but that they had “actually been charging families in advance for their child care under the previous system, while government subsidies are paid in arrears to ensure families receive the right support for their children”.
“We fully expect that services will correct the out of pocket cost as quickly as possible but this really is a matter that child care services need to discuss with their parents.”
A department spokesman also said there were families that hadn’t provided the information required to complete their transition.
Families who didn’t receive any child care payments before July 2 will need to make a new application for Child Care Subsidy.
The easiest way to make a new claim is through a Centrelink online account through myGov. Child care subsidy payments under the new system will begin from next week, continuing the existing timing of payments.