No childcare fees for kids who stay at home

The Morrison government has abolished a regulation forcing childcare providers to charge parents a fee when keeping their children at home during Covid-19 lockdowns.

Children playing at a childcare centre. Picture: iStock

Parents in NSW who keep their children home during stay-at-home orders will not be charged fees by their childcare providers under regulation changes made by the Morrison government.

Education Minister Alan Tudge altered the rules on Wednesday night so that children could still be kept on the books if they did not attend their childcare centre in a move set to benefit more than 200,000 families.

It comes as restrictions in NSW were extended by at least two weeks to deal with a surge in Covid-19 infections after the state recorded 97 new locally acquired cases in the past 24 hours.

The measures, which will roll out from Monday next week, will see childcare centres located in LGA’s subject to stay-at-home ­orders able to waive gap fees for parents on days they choose to keep their children at home.

The gap fee is the difference between the commonwealth childcare subsidy (CCS) the government pays to a service provider and the remaining fee paid by the family. For a family earning $110,000 with one child in care three days a week, the measures would deliver a saving of $89 a week. while a family earning $150,000 would save $131 a week.

Scott Morrison said more than 216,000 families living across Greater Sydney could benefit from the measure.

“When gap-fees are waived, families will not have to pay any out-of-pocket costs for those days that their children are at home during the current stay at home period,” the Prime Minister said.

“This is another measure that will make life easier for many families in Greater Sydney during these challenging times.”

Mr Tudge said the sector had been calling for the change.

“This opt-in measure ensures children remain enrolled in care and the CCS continues to flow to the centre, providing a valuable, stable and certain source of revenue during this time,” he said. “Previous lockdowns show that even when childcare remains open, there is an understandably strong preference to keep kids at home.”

Mr Tudge said the change would ease pressure on families and encourage them to keep their children enrolled.

The measure builds on the existing gap fee waiver in place until December 31, where gap fees can be waived if a service is directed to close due to public health advice.

Families experiencing a loss of income, such as casual workers or those in self-isolation, may also be eligible for support through the Additional Child Care Subsidy (temporary financial hardship).

Childcare centres in the following LGA’s are eligible for the gap-fee measure: Bayside, Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Burwood, Camden, Campbelltown, Canada Bay, Canterbury-Bankstown, Central Coast, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Hawkesbury, Hornsby, Hunters Hill, Inner West, Ku-ring-gai, Lane Cove, Liverpool, Mosman, North Sydney, Northern Beaches, Parramatta, Penrith, Randwick, Ryde, Shellharbour, Strathfield, Sutherland Shire, Sydney, The Hills Shire, Waverley, Willoughby, Wollondilly, Wollongong and Woollahra.