Lockdown babysitter rules clarified after initial confusion
The stage four lockdown rules on nannies and babysitters have been clarified for Melbourne parents. And health authorities have issued a warning for families planning to use grandparents as carers.
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Nannies and babysitters have been given the go-ahead to care for essential workers’ kids in their homes.
The state government confirmed on Wednesday night families with babysitting or nannying arrangements already in place could continue them in Melbourne’s stage four lockdown.
Whether the workers were onsite or at home, they can continue to use informal carers for their children, but only while they are working. New arrangements, however, are not permitted.
Only one carer — a nanny or babysitter — can be in the house at any one time to cut the chance of the caregiving becoming a social event.
The government also warned families about using grandparents as carers because of their vulnerability to COVID-19.
“We strongly advise parents not to use them for care because of the health risks, but it will not be illegal,” Premier Daniel Andrews’ spokeswoman said.
Mr Andrews said this week the matter of in-home care was “a really significant and serious issue for so many families”.
“There will be many, many families who will not be able to access child care as they normally would and that is essential to driving down movement, it is essential to driving down these numbers,” he said.
A recent Australian Institute of Family Studies report showed 26 per cent of grandparents provided regular care for their grandchildren, but this has dropped significantly during the coronavirus restrictions.
The national study found a third of families used grandparents and other informal care before the pandemic, but only 9 per cent during. Similarly, only 8 per cent used nannies or babysitters for childcare before the pandemic and only 5 per cent during.
Annie Sargood from Melbourne’s Leading Nanny Agency said she was “worried about what would happen if nannies can’t care for children at risk of neglect or family violence”.
She said subsidised in-home carers could still care for children, but the position of nannies was less certain.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT STAGE 4 CHILDCARE