Productivity Commission
Inquiry into Childcare and Early Childhood Learning
Comments from people who use education and care services
Included are only those comments received by 5 September 2014, for which the submitted gave their
approval for use of their comment by the Commission. Some comments have been edited to remove
information which the Commission considered could enable identification of the submitter.
1.
As a woman schooled in the 80s, you encouraged me to be the best I could be. Each cohort
was more educated than the last and we were expected and expecting to have a career.
I put off having children until my career was well-established . You encouraged me back
into the workforce with long day care, creating a false sense of security.
My children went to school and I was stunned and felt shunned. There was no before or after
school care available, public or private. The principal told me to get a nanny - which we
could not afford. How could I maintain my career! I was expected to drop my children at
school no earlier than 8.35, so I was late for work and then pick them up by 3pm. I could not
maintain my professional career in this circumstance and my employer was not flexible
enough to allow for school hour roles.
The stress this placed on my family and my relationship with my employer was immense!
It is no surprise that Australia has a shortage of skilled workers. We have the highest level of
part-time workers in the world (‘Australia Compares’). My European colleagues were
amazed that Australia, a leader in women's equality, did not allow for women/parents with
school children to work a normal day.
Please do something to allow for before and after school care at every public school to allow
parents to continue to work and improve the productivity of Australia.
2.
Please do not overlook the desperate need for more before and after school care to allow
people (usually women) to re-enter or remain in the workforce once their children start
school. My reference point is as a part time working mother living the Sydney's lower north
shore (Willoughby). I always had the misguided understanding that childcare would be the
great challenge for me returning to work after my children were born, but the reality is that
before and after school care is a much more challenging issue and the lack of services is
keeping more people out of the workforce. It is not a matter of affordability, as the costs are
much less than long day care, it is not a matter of lack of facilities, as every school should be
able to accommodate these services, and it is not a lack of people to work in the centres. The
problem is that schools are not required to provide these services, therefore they simply do
not.
Two changes would significantly change this situation at almost no cost to the government:
1) Make it a requirement for schools to provide facilities for before and after school care.
2) Relax the NDF guidelines that are targeted more at day care centre and therefore place
unreasonable burdens on schools and providers for the facilities to be required.
Not only would these changes have no ongoing costs, they would allow additional revenue
streams for schools and therefore take away some of the funding burden borne by the
government.
The lack of before and after school care is a serious problem when comes to workforce
participation rates, but the solution seems simple and cost effective so it should be addressed
as a matter of urgency.
Thank you for your time.
3.
The lack of out of school hours care is a seriously overlooked problem. In NSW many
public schools do not have access to enough (or sometimes any) OOSH care. The NQF
guidelines make it even harder to get OOSH up and running - they need to be watered down
a bit to reflect that OOSH needs are different to those for early childhood facilities. It would
also make a massive difference if NSW Public School principals were directed/encouraged
to support OOSH at their sites (using school halls and libraries etc). There are clear policies
on this at Dept level but the individual principals have complete discretion and often refuse
OOSH because it is ‘too hard’ ‘inconvenient’ ‘not suitable’ etc.
4.
I believe that the licensing for childcare centres is not flexible enough especially for small
rural centres such as ours. We like all country towns suffer fluctuations in the demographic
and this will affect the number of children who can attend. There should be flexibility within
the licensing to cater for this. We will also struggle greatly with fundraising which will bd
endless in order to cover wages and other major operational costs. Government assistance is
absolutely required! The committee will be under great stress continuously to maintain the
centre and will need help for it to run. Please help!!!! We really need this facility in our town
5.
The amount of money I pay for child care I should send my 3 year old to one the best private
schools in Sydney as it's the same price.
By the way you talk about people working longer well I bet your commissioners will retire
on nice payouts and supers before they hit the mandatory age. Maybe the commission should
include normally members of the public not members from the eastern suburbs and north
shore of Sydney personally picked by the elite in the Liberal Party.
6.
I am a single mother with a 16 month old child. Without subsidised day care, I would not be
able to return to work. As it is, I pay close to $500 per fortnight in child care fees. If this
were to increase (due to restrictions in child care rebate and benefits) I would struggle
financially and may reach a point where I am better off financially to stay at home rather
than work. From a personal development perspective, and to be a good role model to my
child, I would prefer to work than stay at home. In this way child care is essential.
7.
Notwithstanding the fact it took us two years to get my daughter a place for daycare (in
North Sydney, notoriously high demand for places), my main issue is that the rebate does
not take into account such high cost centres, i.e. Sydney CBD/North Sydney. Daycare for
our three-year old costs $119 per day. In my situation, the rebate only really covers three
days of care before we reach the cap which means any subsequent day is a full-fee paying
day. On my mid-level professional salary (I am a public servant) I am not much better off
financially by taking on extra days, although I am seeing career benefits in doing this (better
fit for my job, more effective in getting through workload etc.). While I am certainly in
favour of the rebate, I think it needs to take into account the varying costs of services around
Australia and adjust for that cost.
8.
We are still waiting for a childcare spot with the local council-run childcare after 10 months
of being on the waiting list. I had no more leave after 7 months off work. I had to go back to
work 6 months after my son was born, but the childcare facility wouldn't even list our
application as 'active' until our child was six months. How does this help women get back to
work?
We are currently using a childcare facility close to my work, but my workplace is moving
location in 12 months time. What are we supposed to do then? There is literally just the one
childcare place near our home, but there is currently somewhat of a baby boom in ours and
the surrounding suburbs - how are the local, state and federal governments planning on
dealing with the extreme lack of childcare in most regions?
9.
10.
My concern is that my daughter has serious medical issues if she does not drink enough
water each day. The center is aware of this and over the past 8 months I have continually
asked and begged for them to make sure she drinks a litre or more (hot weather) a day.
I gave them permission to entice her by asking if she wanted to play in the sandpit and if so
to have a drink of water first. I was told they are not allowed to do this.
After nothing happening and my toddler screaming in pain for days from not drinking
enough water I took hydrolyte ice blocks to school and asked if she could have 2 a day if her
water intake was inadequate.
A couple of times I asked if she had her ice blocks I was told them she was given one but
then other children wanted an ice block so it was taken off her and she was not given any
more ?????
I was then told that I would need to get a doctors certificate before they could give her any
hydralyte ice blocks. I did this and the letter even stated that they need to make sure she
drinks adequate water each day.
Again the water intake was not happening. A staff member said she could not understand
why after all this time nothing had been done so she drew us a roster of 30min slots when my
toddler was to have a drink and it was marked off by the carer.
This worked amazingly. My toddler was not screaming in agony and bleeding and ill for
days. Then it all started again.
I asked could I see the drinking roster that was drawn up and nobody claimed to know
anything about it. I was persistent and said that her Doctor wanted to see it and I was told by
the director that they are not doing any drinking roster for her because they do not have the
time. ????
Where is the duty of care here. I ask, beg, do everything they ask (Dr's certificate) and they
choose not to follow through with what works. After many conversations with some of the
staff their response is ‘well she has a drink at morning tea and lunch’. My response is ‘do
you have more then 2 x 125ml drinks of fluid a day’? How do you expect a child running
around playing all day to be ok on 2 drinks a day’?
What more can I do or who can I talk to, to help my toddler. ?
11.
My comment regards the availability of childcare in my area, the Inner West of Sydney,
which has over the past few years had a surge in the number of children and families seeking
to access care. I'd also like to comment on the effectiveness of Family Tax Benefits in
relation to this. I've chosen to submit a shortform comment rather than a longer formal
submission because my interaction with the care system is putative and my evidence is based
only on my own experience.
I've over the past few months attempted to access any available kind of daycare for my
daughter, who is 1 year old, in order to consider a return to work. This has proven
exceptionally difficult as there is simply no availability of any care places, either in centres
close to any potential employment, close to my current place of study, or close to home.
I have made inquiries at twelve different centres, both long day care and family day care, and
have been told that the waitlist improbably extends for up to 2 years for places for children
of my daughter's age. (When I asked one provider, how could there be a 2 year waiting list
for places for 1 year olds - wouldn't they age out of the places before they became available?
she told me that many parents waitlist their children from the time of conception! And
laughed at my shocked face.)
For me, now, this lack of care availability is preventing my economic participation at any
level beyond the household and putting huge stresses financially on our family, for whom I
have always been the primary breadwinner. I am a prime-age professional person, tertiary
qualified with nearly a decade of employment experience, and I'm very employable - I've
never had any difficulty gaining employment in a competitive field. I cannot stress enough
that the sole reason I am unable to begin working out of the home is that I cannot obtain any
kind of regular childcare that would enable me to work at least 3 days per week. In the
meantime, my mother-in-law provides regular childcare one day per week for our family.
She is wonderful and this care is appreciated, but it is not enough to enable me to return to
work and as my daughter grows older I strongly believe that her participation in a properly
qualified early learning environment is essential.
As some background, I was a contract employee prior to my daughter's birth and as such
have no employment to return to. I also want to point out that over the period of 6 months of
the financial year that I worked during the pregnancy, I earned nearly as much as my partner
earned in a full year; as such, based on my 6 months of income our family was ineligible to
receive Family Tax Benefit payments for my caring for our child in our home after her birth,
although I would certainly have been eligible for these payments had my partner earned our
combined family income by himself, a startling and discriminatory outcome given that every
other payment is allocated according to family income. I mention this because - despite our
income disparity, which would make it seem sensible that my partner stay at home with our
child rather than me, it wouldn't have allowed us to breastfeed, a public health good whose
cost was borne by my family.
12.
As a mother to two young children with another on the way, I have a personal interest in the
productivity commission’s inquiry into childcare. It would appear that there are two main
aims to the study - increasing workforce participation for women/primary caregivers and
ensuring quality care and education for preschool children. Within that scope I hope the
commission is considering advances in neuroscience that point to the early years (02/3years) as critical times of cognitive and emotional development for children and evidence
from large scale research projects that group care outside of the home is not optimal for
children under the age of 2. The research seems to suggest that children would benefit from
being at home with a devoted carer for the first 2/3 years of life, after which good quality
childcare provides many long-term benefits to the child and society.
Bearing this in mind, I hope the commission will consider that improving the affordability,
quality and availability of childcare might not be the only avenue for increasing workforce
participation. There are many other barriers that a stay at home parent faces if they wish to
return to the workforce after a period of time at home caring for their children. Rather than
purely focusing on getting women back to work as soon as possible, shouldn't the
government be exploring ways of helping parents be home with their children at this critical
time of development, without it being the death nail on their financial situation and future
career prospects?
For example:
- income splitting so single income families can manage financially during the first few
years of their children's lives
- family-friendly work practices that might include short-term incentives to employers for
employing parents who have been out of the workforce for some years, flexible working
hours for new job applicants and not just for parents who return to an existing job after
parental leave
- training and support for returning to work parents that is also aimed at educated parents
and goes beyond the basic work skills training currently offered.
‘The number of women who work (in the UK) is above the European average, until they
become mothers. The Treasury loses tax revenue, and mothers' links with the job market
weaken, with long-term consequences for their earnings’ The Guardian 16th February 2014.
This is quote from a British newspaper, but it seems to sum up the mood in Australia
towards women taking time out of their careers to care for their young children, that the
negative affect on women's careers and government taxes makes full-time care at home
undesirable. Developed nations may be moving towards societies where more care of
children under 3 is outside of the home, but research appears to suggest that this may be
detrimental to children. The stronger the governments focus is on getting mothers back to
work, the more this will become a self fulfilling prophecy. Mothers will be under increasing
pressure to put their careers above caring for their very young children for fear of being
locked out of gainful employment forever.
13.
In response to the Private Childcare Alliance - your claim about how diploma trained
educators and degree trained teachers provide similar results on a naplan is ridiculous and i
feel that they actually misread the results in place of either a grad dip or 3 year dip of
education which are very different from a two year diploma. This is not fair and misleading,
an organisation should get facts straight before making a public submission
14.
My husband and I both work full time and have to use childcare to help look after our 2
children under 5. I like to send my children to child care because they have a great program
for the children which I see beneficial. the Price of childcare has risen a lot since my first
child commenced in 2009 the daily rate was approx $47 per day and are now $77 per day
which is a huge cost with 2 children at the centre. We cannot afford not to work but were
struggling to cover the cost even on our 2 wages. I feel that the government could be
providing the childcare centres more funds to support the extra staffing that they have
recommended. Child care staff are gems and need to be paid accordingly but at the same
time the costs are too great for the average family.
15.
I have 2 children attending care four days a week, one is 18 months and the other is 3. The
care and education they receive is important to me. I also work on the four days they are in
care. It is not worth me working full time as, even with the rebate, I would actually lose
$7000 per year. I understand that the costs for additional staffing ratio levels and training of
staff is important however it is not sustainable to increase fees constantly. I currently, after
the rebate, spend nearly 2 days wages on child care. I feel it is beneficial for my children to
attend a centre as it helps build social skills etc but if the fees keep increasing I would have
to seriously evaluate whether I should withdraw them for 1 day per week and drop back my
work week to 3 days.
16.
I have grave concerns regarding the welfare of my child and others at my daughters child
care facility.
My toddler to buy. Parents with allergy had an allergic reaction to food. Swelling face,
swollen tongue etc and they do not have any epi-pens on the premises. When I asked why an
epi-pen wasn't used I was told ‘they are too expensive prone children generally bring their
own. We all have training on how to use them though’Oh my god !!
17.
At the risk of now sending in three different brief comments via this public inquiry, I am
compelled to send in this third comment as I have found out some more information recently
which just compounds the barriers I feel as a mother with 4 year old twins- one of which
who has a significant disability.
[son] currently attends an Early Childhood Development Program (ECDP) at [locality]
Special School in Brisbane 1 day a week and has just started his kindy year. He has
Hemimegalencephaly- a neurological condition that impairs his physical, sensory,
intellectual and motor development. The ECDP and the school is fabulous and I think [son]
does very well there. My issue is that I have just been told that Education Qld no longer has
a policy where the school can operate prep as a 'split' year where a child may attend special
school on certain days of the week and then a regulate state school on other days. This
system allowed children to trial mainstream schools, trial increasing days of the week in
mainstream to facilitate transition into the mainstream system, whilst still being able to
access a special school. This system also allowed mainstream schools to receive support
from the special school sector, allowing them to focus on certain areas of a childs
development that they could cater for in a mainstream environment, whilst leaving certain
aspects that were not possible to cater for in a mainstream environment for the special school
to cover in the days of the week the child attended prep there. There is a document entitled
'Supplementary Guidelines: Students with Disabilities of Prep Eligible Age with Significant
Educational Support Needs' currently available on Education Queensland's website which
describes
this
process
and
the
benefits
of
such.
The
link
is:
http://education.qld.gov.au/studentservices/learning/docs/suppguidelines.pdfHowever, I am
informed by [locality] Special School that this policy is no longer operational and you must
now choose- either to have the prep year full time at a mainstream school OR full-time at a
special school. the educators themselves cannot believe such a decision has been made, as it
limits parents choices and stifles kids ability to be included and supported to reach their
maximum potential. it is a lot for a child with a disability to reach 4 and then be able to cope
instantly with mainstream education, but may remain a possibility if they are allowed to
continue to transition at the advised pace or at least 'trial' mainstream. Yet again, I feel that
the systems work against children with a disability- it is not fair. The commonwealth has
funded Qld with' More Support for Students with Disabilities'. We are supposed to be living
in an era where we are progressing towards implementation of the NDIS (Disability Care).
Yet, despite all the evidence and 'words' that surround the importance of the early years and
supporting children to be able to access a learning environment that meets their needs,
children of prep age that have a disability are obstructed from doing so if they can no longer
have access to this 'split' prep year. it is also woeful that the policy document remains on
their website. I hope you can consider this issue for children with a disability of prep age in
Qld.
I have just submitted a brief comment on this portal, but forgot to add something… sorry. I
wanted to add that I feel I have a lot to offer the Public Inquiry, given my experience as an
Allied Health Services Manager working in remote Qld (managing over 80 allied health and
PHC staff in [locality]), as a mum of a child with a disability, and as mum of twins with
highly different needs to each other. I was previously invited by the the National Rural
Health Alliance to attend a one-day Roundtable in Canberra on issues related to disability in
rural and remote areas, held at Parliament House last April. The Roundtable was organised
by the National Disability and Carers Alliance in collaboration with the NRHA, in order to
develop practical recommendations to Government on how the NDIS should be implemented
to ensure equity for people with disability who live in rural and remote areas, compared with
their metropolitan counterparts.
My reason for mentioning this, is that I feel all my experiences in life have given me a
breadth of understanding of therapeutic needs both from a supply and demand perspective,
as a manager of staff that try to apply scarce resources to help kids with special needs, and as
a mum of [son]. I feel these lived life experiences lend themselves to interview, which I
would be happy to do.
I wanted to relay my experiences with early childhood services, as a mother of now 4 year
old twins - both of whom have health concerns, but one of which has a significant disability.
there are two points I wanted to raise. Firstly, the In Home Care scheme is a wonderful
resource. it has allowed me to continue my work from home as rural health services
development consultant and physiotherapist. I have used this scheme to be able to afford
appropriate child care for my kids where it was impossible to access regular childcare, as the
nature of looking after [son] requires frequent trips to hospitals and appointments throughout
the week and flexible working arrangements. The recent administrative changes with this
scheme have placed have made us very anxious as it appears there will be no flexibility
regarding hours you can utilise from your educator. previously I have been able to access
little hours (if [son] is sick or in hospital) varying through to 50 hours a week occasionally
when I need to travel away for work and the home situation is OK and I can go. Now I have
to use the same hours each week or I will lose the ability to access them. it is hard to explain
how precious my job is to me financially, but also emotionally when it is hard as a mother to
be brave with [son's] disability and it gives me an outside interest. I already have the most
flexible job in the universe that can accommodate my families needs, and the chance that I
cannot access the scheme to cater for my irregular and unpredictable hours is causing anxiety
where we already have enough to cope with.
my second point is about the difference in funding that is available for kindergarten services
in long day care centres versus community kindergartens. [son] used to go to a regular long
daycare service one day per week, where I was only required to pay the same fees as
everyone else, and indeed as my other twin boy. this is despite the fact that [son] needs a
full-time carer to be with him all day. This is because it is Commonwealth funded. Now I
have chosen to put the boys in the local Community Kindergraten for their 'kindy' year, as I
believe it is a better environment for them both. Particularly for [son] as it is a smaller family
environment, more focussed on education for the kids and much more suitable to his learning
needs. Because the funding that this service can access is different (state based) the
employment of a carer to look after [son] on the 5 day fortnight he is there is a cost that we
predominantly have to bear. So, for [son] to be able to access a service that suits his needs
and maximises his potential there is a wage to be paid for the carer and fees totalling $23,200
per year. The State Government have a subsidy of $6,000, leaving a gap of $17,200.Luckily,
the Community Kindy has fundraised to be able to support [son's] attendance to the tune of
$8,000. This is fantastic, but of course leaves $9,200 which we need to pay. Compare this to
his brother fees of $3,500 per year. It is very frustrating for the Kindy as they don't think it is
fair but are hamstrung. It is also humbling for us as we always seem to have to rely on
peoples generosity, how wonderful they will use their funds they have in the bank just for us.
I dislike feeling always like other people need to do us a favour. Then there is the financial
ramifications that we have decided we will pay this fee so [son] can have what he needs. But
in the 21st Century I am disillusioned that yet again kids with disability do not have the same
level of access to the community or services that meet their requirements as other kids do. It
could make you cry at nights.
As a physiotherapist with a lot of experience in health care and also rurally and remotely, I
know that living in Brisbane we have a lot of services here that our rural cousins don't. and
so my issues are not the only ones or perhaps even, the most important ones. But for our
family, as a mother I constantly feel that there are ending and access barriers put in place for
people with disability that do not make things as smooth as they could possibly do. If my job
becomes in jeopardy because I cannot access the in home hours I need and retain the
flexibility, then this family falls apart. No job, unhappy wife, can't send [son] to
kindergarten, unable to afford the things we do for [son] currently because I can earn some
extra cash and keep myself sane. I have chosen to make this short comment as its obviously
past the submission date, and I never have the time to allocate. I am really more than happy,
and intact would be very excited to be bale to explain our situation in more detail should you
request.
18.
We are currently in the process of opening an Early Childhood Centre which is desperately
needed in our small country town. We are only a small committee of volunteers who have
fundraised and fundraised and gone through a lot of red tape to finally see our dream a
reality. This service is in high demand in our area which will service surrounding
communities as well. The high costs of having this service will mean continuous fundraising
which could lead to volunteer burnout which would be disastrous. If we as a committee
could receive more assistance in funding and or how to go about it would go a long way to
making this valuable asset a long term service.
19.
I am currently seven months pregnant with our first child. I live in [regional] WA. I applied
for a place at all of our local childcare centers when I was 5 months pregnant, anticipating a
return to work in April 2015. Not one of the centers can guarantee my child a place at this
time due to their lengthy waiting lists. Returning to work and employing a nanny is not
financially viable and furthermore is virtually impossible in this regional area due to a lack
of qualified nannies. I would like to return to work in a part time capacity to ensure my skills
remain current. My own professional experience in HR and recruitment has unfortunately
proven that many employers are not amenable to employing women after they have spent a
significant period of time outside the paid workforce. The Abbott government's proposed
paid parental leave policy, while generous, does not address the issues parents face when
returning to work after the first six months. How am I supposed to rejoin the workforce when
I can't find a child care place with 17 months notice.
20.
SCAM IN THE FAMILY DAY CARE INDUSTRY
I am a concerned citizen who used family day care services. The Family Day Care Sector has
been SCAM by African and India communities in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Perth.
Most women with children in those communities SWAP Children between them and than
claim Child Care Benefit (CCB) and child rebate from centrelink.
Many of them earn between $2000 - $7000 a fortnight.
I am a member of the [locality] Community and I have a full knowledge of this scam. Due to
fear of backlash and retribution, I requested that my Identity be kept secret.
This is how they do it:
An African or India will open a Family Day Care.
Person A will agree with Person B and then they swap children. i.e Person A take care of
person B children and B take care of A children. At the end of a fortnight, they fill out Child
care hours and submit the form to the Family Day Care owner who will process the payment
through centrelink.
They can even complicate it by having three or four ladies swapping their children.
That is why the number of Family Day Care businesses in African and Indian communities
has increased.
The reason I am concerned is that, the education of children is being comprise for the sake of
money and also they are claiming childcare rebate without any tangible productive activity
and add no contribution to the Australian Economic. If anything, these people are siphoning
money out of the system.
I had wanted to whistle blow this to media but I though your commission will be the best
first place to report this.
Everyone will be surprise if any investigation is done. It is simple to find them out.
It just need an investigator to wander into any of the Family Day Care office in Footscray or
Dandenong and ask for the names of the educators and names of the children. Then check
the forms which they submitted for payment and you will find that parent of the children
who signed the form are also educators in the same office and they have swapped children
with the other educators in the same office.
21.
My wife and I both work full time. The big issue that will be facing us from next year, when
our eldest starts school, is before and after school care. Maybe one of us will need to start
and finish work very early and one start and finish late? It will all be extremely difficult to
manage (and will remain so for the next sixteen years!).
There is a single community-run after school facility in Narrabri but of course this is over
subscribed and difficult to get access to. The ideal thing would be if public schools above a
certain size could make some kind of basic after school care available as a user pays service.
I apologise for my late submission.
22.
I am a Single Mum With My First Child And Have returned To The workforce 3 Days Per
Week After Working Full Time For 19 Years. I'd Work More If Work And Childcare Were
More Flexible And affordable. I am struggling financially With Childcare And Other
parenting Costs Despite Being
On A Medium salary Often Struggling To Afford Basics Such As Food, Nappies And Petrol.
Csa unfortunately Is unreliable At Times. I Have The capacity To Work Some Hours At
Home Or If my department Had A childcare At Work This Would Greatly assist. I Know
Our office Is Trying To manage A High Number Of Women On maternity Leave And
wanting Part Time Hours But 2 Of Us Would Also Like To Continue Our careers If
Childcare Was More Flexible And affordable. I Found It Very Hard To Find Good Quality
occassional childcare In Albury nsw. I Am Torn Between Wanting To Be With My Child
And Work More So There Needs To Be Options To balance Both. It Is Great A Review Is
Occuring And I Look Forward To Some Positive Outcomes.
23.
Access to occassional out of hours care would be extremely valuable, particularly for single
parents. It would enable the occassional ability to work late or to attend a work or social
function. I acknowledge it wouldn't be great for people to leave their children in care for 18
hours a day every day, but it is very limiting as a single parenting to NEVER have the
opportunity to do the kinds of things I've set out above due to being unable to access
affordable childcare for those instances. Some parents have family and neighbourhood
support to fall back on, but this isn't always the case. Particularly as single mothers are
fairly stigmatised in the community and also may often not have access to optimal informal
support due to their socio-economic circumstances so their care options may place their
children at risk and/or they simply can't use them and have nil social or networking
opportunities and complete incapacity to ever work late. Private agency babysitting for these
out of hours times is extremely and prohibitively expensive to access - upwards of $100.00
for a minimum 2 or 3 hour session. Maybe vouchers towards use of this could be an
efficient way to use these, rationed on some kind of needs basis.
24.
my twins started daycare about 5 months ago, since starting they have be very fortunate in
having the same career over that time and i know that is only because their career loves their
work.
These are educated people educating our little people and deserve to be paid in accordance to
that. I work in retail with minimal responsibility and get paid more than what most of the
careers at my children's daycare center would.
My children attend daycare because i want them to not because they have to. I want the best
for them in the future and believe quality early learning will assist them when going in to
primary school and having a head start in their education. I really believe in looking after
those that look after you..
25.
I have two children enrolled in an independent, non-profit community child care centre in
Brisbane, Queensland. As a parent of the centre, my observations and experiences include:
- Exceedingly long wait lists, with no guarantee of a placement. My son was on the wait
list for over 12 months before we were allocated a place, and even then, it was only due
to a rare spot becoming available. At the same time that his name was on the list at this
particular child care centre, we had also placed his name on three other centre lists. Some
of those centres charged a fee ($10, $20) for placing your child's name on the list - again,
with no guarantee of getting a spot.
- Passionate staff who are chronically underpaid for the work they perform and the long
hours they work. It seems anathema to me that we pay staff so little to professionally care
for the thing that is most important to us in our lives; our children. Our centre pays above
minimum Award rates but even then, the hourly rate is shamefully low. The hourly rate
does not reflect the physical labour involved in working with small children. For instance,
despite rigorously adhering to workplace health and safety procedures, staff at our centre
often incur physical injuries relating to repetitively bending to lift and carry around small
children all day, every day. The hourly rate also fails to compensate for the increased
exposure that child care workers have to flu, gastroenteritis and other common contagious
illnesses that affect young children. In my view, childcare workers should be paid at least
50% more than what they are currently paid, across the board.
- Staff who are predominantly young and female. At our centre we are fortunate to have a
couple of very talented male child care workers, however the centre is disproportionately
staffed by young women workers.
- High staff turnover. In the last three weeks we have had three full-time staff resign from
our centre (staff members leaving after 1 year service, 2 years service, 5 years service
respectively). As a parent I find this particularly frustrating, because both of my children
will be directly affected by these resignations. They will each have to say goodbye to
their 'special' teacher, and will each have to form a new bond with a new, unknown
educator (once the Centre actually manages to employ replacements). It is also especially
disrupting for children with special needs, for whom the building up of trust and a secure
child/teacher bond can be take longer. This can result in more challenging behaviours
being exhibited by the children with special needs, which can have somewhat of a ripple
effect throughout class rooms on a day-to-day basis.
26.
I wish to add my experience in having a child attending child care two days per week.
We are an average family with one child. We waited 18 months for a place at our local child
care facility which only takes eight children at a time below two years of age.
We did look around, but there were few places that were in a location that we could get to by
public transport, and then get to work by public transport.
My partners employer (a federal government body) demanded that she return to work three
days per week, but we could not get a place in child care for our child.
The fees are quite high, in comparison to our wages and our cost of living. I have forgotten
exactly what we pay, but my wage is only $23 per hour, and my partner's is about the same.
Combined we only work 5 days per week. I only work part time due to chronic illness,
while my partner works part time to take care of our child when he is not in child care.
While there is some rebate from Government, considering the child care costs are so high,
this eats into our income significantly, reducing our ability to afford food, electricity, gas and
so on.
If we were to have a second child, which we are planning, we would be better off not
working, having one of us stay at home, because the rebate reduces too significantly and
reduces any benefit to return to work at all. I have a chronic illness, that costs our family
about $3000 out of pocket each year. Further increasing our cost of living.
Our family is doing OK, and managing, but for those parents on a lower income, such as the
minimum wage, the cost of child care is unaffordable.
The other aspect is the requirement for single parents to now take whatever job is offered. If
this means longer distances travelling to work for the parent, or increased cost of travelling,
this means that a child might require long day care, or that the parent's costs to get to work
might make child care unaffordable.
Also if the federal government cuts bulk billing for children/adults, we might no longer be
able to afford medical costs at all, and therefore no longer be able to afford child care. We
certainly won't be able to afford medical costs any more.
The cost of living is increasing dramatically. Rents, housing, electricity, gas have all
increased dramatically. Yet wages have not. Now that both parents have to work just to pay
the rent, the requirement for affordable child care has increased dramatically.
As an example, it has been said that in the last 10 years house costs have doubled, but wages
have increased only about 40%.
We need to think about how the cost of living is impacting on families ability to afford to
live. With child care a requirement for many families, the need for affordable care is
increasing dramatically.
Thank you for allowing me to address these issues.
27.
I am a concerned community member, a mother and grandmother, who has observed an
amazing growth in the childcare sector in the past two decades. To improve sector standards
many issues, such as education and training, have been addressed over the years, conditions
and wages on the other hand, especially at the entry point of employment, for example for
trainees and Certificate III holders, have been neglected.
I posit that if you are a Carer who possesses the personal characteristics to work in this field,
if you are someone who is responsible enough to care for our children, than, irrespective of
your qualifications, you should be entitled to a better wage deal and working conditions at
the entry point of employment.
Anything other than that can only lead to an exploitation of workers. It is this ‘unseen’
exploitation, at this low entry point, that is leading to the low morale, financial stress that is
causing a high staff turnover rate. Our educators deserve a better deal. Our children deserve a
better deal.
28.
Wages need to be increased as our children are our future. Children need stability and
require quality care from the same carers and not a number of different people.
29.
I have a child attending early childhood education and care
As a parent I think it is vital that our hardworking professional early childhood educators
need to paid high wages just like other professional sector s. All early childhood educators
have to undergo years of intense studying to get their qualifications to become professional
hardworking early educators. They deserve much better wages and better working
conditions.
30.
Where you live greatly impacts on how expensive and available child care is. In my case,
we live in Canberra where waitlists can be in excess of 2 years and costs are very high (over
$100 per day).
I believe child care workers are under paid. Due to the socio-economic circumstances of the
workers willing to take these jobs the quality of care is not high as you would hope.
However, any increase in wages is always passed to the parents via fee increases.
I earn what in most cases would be considered a healthy salary. However, the cost of living
in Canberra very much cancels out our income. We rent a very modest small 4 bedroom
house in an outer suburb and when you take into consideration our housing costs, day care,
health insurance and car repayments we are left with less than 20% of our income to live on
(ie pay for groceries, electricity, petrol etc and any savings to try and put aside for our
future). As a result I must work full time because every single cent counts.
The downfall of our current system is that, although it is wonderful that there is a Childcare
Rebate, the cap of $7500 per year means that because my childcare is more expensive than in
other places, we reach that cap for sending our children any more than 3 days a week. For
the small amount of additional income I take home, I would much rather be able to care for
my children myself and live a balanced life. Unfortunately, as previously stated, every
single cent counts and that extra income is essential.
So much focus is on ensuring fairness and equity and supporting low income earners, but the
reality of childcare is that it should be more directed at working families. Spots can be filled
by stay at home mums that qualify for the rebate and are just looking for time off from the
baby for a cheap 'babysitting' rate. While I don't object to this conceptually, I do object to
the impact this has on availability for those that have a genuine employment need.
My hope is that there will continue to be no means testing of the Childcare Rebate and that
the cap on the rebate will be raised to a more realistic level. Our current costs would require
the rebate to be $14000 per year to maintain a 50% rebate amount. However, with
increasing childcare fees and time delays between when these sorts of things are reviewed, I
would like to see the cap at $20000 to future proof it somewhat. It is not as if this expense
would be realised unless the costs of childcare increased. It would remain at 50% of the
cost. I wish you all the best in your review. I full understand the challenges you face but do
appreciate the opportunity to provide comment.
31.
I have a son who spent several years in the childcare and early childhood learning system
and a daughter who is in her third year in the system. These are probably the most important
years in a child's education in giving them a good base, and therefore a high quality system is
essential. Key factors are:
* high staff/child ratios
* standardised high level of training/qualifications
* adequate staff remuneration to assist with reducing staff turnover
Our experience of high quality childcare at Lyons Early Childhood School in the ACT
(provided by Woden Community Services) has really demonstrated its benefits and
necessity.
32.
I have recommenced employment 3 weeks ago after being on maternity leave and was
appalled when I received my Statement from [locality] in Home Hill that I was charged for
the public holiday. Isn't this a disgrace that a government funded child care centre can
charge people for a public holiday, when 1. my child wasn't there that day and 2. the centre
was closed due to this public holiday. The staff were not a work, so why should I have to
pay for them to have the public holiday off. Workers on Casual Pay or Contracts don't get
paid for these days, maybe this should be written into a contract before they commence
employment. I work for a JSA, which is contracted to the government, so with using this
method, is my employer able to charge 8 hours of work for each employee (there is approx.
300 workers) for every public holiday this year? I'm sure the government wouldn't like this
too much! The government needs to act of these child care centre getting away with
charging hard working families for days their children are not attending.
33.
My children (1 and 3) attend a community service run childcare, as part of an early
childhood school in the ACT. The full centre caters for children from birth to 8, and I believe
this to be an excellent model. The children are able to transition through childcare rooms,
and into preschool, kindy, and years one two. This kind of environment has significant
benefits for coordinating access when you have childcare aged as well as school aged
children.
The centre (LECS) provides excellent care. Stablity of staff members is extremely important,
as is individual care when children require it.
The overall lack of childcare places nationally is a disgrace. It is extremely stressful when
returning to work to try to find quality care, for the days that you need. The cost of care is
extremely high (noting though that quality of care is extremely important) and most people
wouldn't be able to afford to go to work if the CCR wasn't available. CCB is also crucial for
low income earners, as we have unfortunately been of late.
34.
While access to flexible working hours is the greatest barrier to workforce participation
amongst the mums I know, I have to say the cost of child care is a very close second. This
year I will have two children in long day care for four days a week and I'll pay out of pocket
about $900 a fortnight. On a wage of $80,000, I realise I am fortunate to not be poor but I'm
certainly not rich either. This cost means I will only work these hours for 12 months before I
have to reduce them in order to reduce the care fees we pay.
The continual increase in daily fees is painful. My daughter has been in care for two years. In
that time, her fees have risen from $65 a day to $84 a day. If they keep rising like this, in
another couple of years I will be paying a daily fee of $100 for my second child who is now
in care too. I don't know how we'd afford this.
The $7500 per year cap on the child care rebate needs to be removed or increased. As it
stands, a cap of $7500 does not cover a full year of fees if a child is in full time care. Parents
are left paying full fees in the last couple of months of the financial year. It's appalling.
More financial assistance - either in the form of subsided fees, rebate and/or pay increases to
quality educators in exchange for a moratorium on increasing daily fees as proposed by the
precious government - are all possibilities.
I understand the current government has an agenda of cutting costs. It would be a mistake to
even consider ‘saving’ money in the area of child care. It is an area that requires significant
investment from government. It is highly unfair that early childhood learning is not
subsidised in nearly the same way as primary school when the evidence shows how
important early childhood education is.
35.
Both my children attend a long daycare facility as I currently work full time. I truly feel that
my boys (especially the eldest) has genuinely benefitted from his attendance at the centre
moving thru many life stages and gaining essential life skills such as self toileting, how to
interact appropriately with classmates, listening skills and problem solving skills. His
cognitive ability is quite high and I believe that the previous skills listed learnt both in the
home and at daycare will put my child in good steed for a smooth transition into kindy and
grade one when the time comes. If the government funding towards child care was to be
minimised my ability to hold my job and our overall family life would be jeopardised.
Introduce an additional incentive rate for working mothers and try to encourage more use of
short day care centres such as PCYC's for non working mothers.
36.
Childcare is difficult to get into in the Sydney metro region, particularly for children younger
than 2. Finding long daycare for my 10 month old in order to return to work was nearly
impossible (I was living in postcode 2029). I ended up taking a spot far away from the
family home. Instead it was near my work, in order to return to work. This meant 2 hours a
day travel for my baby, which was very difficult for him at that age.
It is also very costly for working families. At $120 a day (or $60 after the rebate), my
husband and I can not afford to have another child as the double childcare fees would take up
too much of my wage. We are reliant on my part-time income as we need to support our
astronomical mortgage, which was unavoidable in order to buy a family home in Sydney.
The childcare place I have is located in a centre at the base of the high rise building I work
in. I would much prefer to have a place in a more homely environment, eg family daycare
close to my house would be ideal, to better manage pick-up and drop-offs (I currently have
to do both and can not share these with my husband).
There are very few long daycare facilities, or family daycare places for children under 2
close to the new area I live in (2068).
Given the limited childcare places available, I do not see why the government can not
provide the childcare rebate for nannies. If this were available, for me, a nanny would cost
the same amount as having 2 children in a daycare facility, but would be a far preferable
arrangement for my personal situation in terms of balancing my family and work
commitments. It would also be better for my now 16 month old son who becomes over
stimulated in a daycare setting, being one of 12 0-2 year olds in a group setting. At this
young age I am aware that one-on-one interaction is critical for long term positive outcomes,
however is somewhat limited in his current situation.
Government should also consider using the existing preschool network but to provide longer
hours so that working mothers can utilise and access these preferable, local and more
affordable facilities. At the moment, working mothers are actually discriminate against as it
is impossible to utilise these services if working ordinary hours.
In summary, the current system acts as a disincentive for women to return (or enter) the
workforce after having a child, particularly if they have more than one child as the costs and
personal sacrifices of having multiple children in childcare when working often outweighs
the benefits (financial and other) of returning to work, unless the woman is a high income
earner.
Providing plentiful, affordable childcare would be of enormous benefit to the Australian
economy as it would encourage many women to return to work and increase tax revenue to
government.
37.
Increasingly becoming and coming to the point it's not worth working
38.
make non working parents pay more and working parents pay less! we are the ones
WORKING to support our families. People on benefits who don’t work can care for their
children daily. We choose to work to be independent and we get punished and we don’t get
to be with our babies 24 hours! its NOT FAIR
39.
As a parent of a young child that is in full-time childcare I am concerned that the carer to
child ratios are very high in QLD. I believe that the ratios make it difficult to provide good
quality care. For example, it is very difficult for carers to provide children with sufficient
attention when they are responsible for feeding, monitor and changing five 2-year olds. I do
not support any moves to decrease the cost of childcare by increasing carer-child ratios or
decreasing the quality. Particularly for children in full-time care we need lower ratios and
good quality care.
40.
I have discussed issues with the OSHC provider at the local school with the office of
Amanda Rishworth (our local member). They in turn wrote to Kate Ellis on my behalf.
Whilst Ms Rishworth's staff were sympathetic, the response I received from the office of
Kate Ellis wasn't. It's not helpful for working parents when this provider charges late
booking fees and requires long period of notice, particularly in school holidays of absences.
(These days employers do expect their staff to be flexible!). Without the ability to see into
the future, parents are unable to predict 7+ days in advance (or up to 3 weeks during school
holidays) when their children may be sick. In these instances full OSHC charges still apply.
These practices are negating the generous CCB and Child rebates now available.
Thanks you for the opportunity to provide some feedback.
41.
Thanks for this opportunity to make a brief comment:
- find it appalling that childcare services can still be fun for profit, when schools and
universities cannot. I would like to see this industry subjected to the same not for profit
status that applies other institutions entrusted with children's education and care.
- Please don't make nannies tax deductible. Childcare for ordinary workers earning
ordinary wages is expensive enough. But it would be great to see the commission come
up with innovative ideas on how to meet the childcare needs of shift workers like
paramedics and nurses. there must be a way of separating these groups from
executives/high income earners.
42.
My daughter is in the nursery room at childcare - there are not enough carers to babies! 5
babies for each carer is ridiculous. Child care workers should also get paid more, they have a
lot of responsibility.
43.
There simply are not enough childcare options available to parents. I have been out of the
workforce for four years now with only one child due to the difficulty in obtaining a place
for her in childcare that is in our area ( Eastern suburbs of Sydney) short of hiring a nanny,
the only option was to place her on several waitlists and for me to stay at home. A place
finally became available less than a year ago and only now am I able to begin to return to the
workforce. There needs to be more incentive to train and educate early childhood workers,
better pay rates and government support to enable this. I am a professional on healthcare
with a masters degree and have not been able to contribute to the workforce apart from
raising a child.
44.
I'm a mum of four kids and I've also had 25 years working in the informal sector of childcare
- nannying, family day care, private homebased care and In Home Childcare. I've seen a lot
of changes in the nanny sector particularly.
When the Child Care Cash Rebate first came out $68.50 was the most families could claim
for 2 children (capped at two kids). This subsidy had no requirements, carers picked up a
docket book from Centrelink.
The impact was that the ATO experienced a significant increase in the number of nannies
being registered. This was confirmed in a meeting with the Cash Economy task force in mid
1997.
I was running a nanny agency at the time.
The subsidy raised standards in the industry as parents changed their perspective as to their
expectations - requesting nannies with qualifications and first aid certs, screening became
stricter with the Drivers History Report being requested for the first time and more phone
references were being checked.
Nannies were being paid 'on the books' which meant not only was the ATO seeing an
increase, we also had more and more nannies being paid superannuation.
Then the nominal subsidy was means tested. Many nannies positions fell back 'under the
table' as the Inquiry into Balancing Work and Family realised in 2006, with a claim that there
was a $6 billion cash economy within the nanny sector.
Since then the industry has struggled with the Accreditation process coming in for childcare
course – which were courses based on centre based care (quite frankly the Cert II meant for
the nanny sector was a joke). This Accreditation process crippled our world renowned (at the
time) standard of training and more than a dozen training colleges which had been around for
years had to close.
There is talk in the industry in the private sector, of having a few extra modules relating to
home based childcare. The non-profit NSW Family Day Care PEAK Training organisation is
probably best placed to develop these as they have extensive experience not only with
Family Day Care, but also their head teacher used to run My Little Friend Nanny Training
College, so there is a wealth of information there. They have no other agenda other than
quality of care for children.
I have also had the opportunity over the years to sit on management committees for family
day care, long day care centres, preschools and most recently on our local P&C's OSHC
management group, where we faced management issues although our service had gained a
High Accreditation.
My children have been fortunate that I have mainly been able to care for them while I
worked as a nanny mummy or homebased carer. For their own independence and when I was
running my agency and some other business ventures, I enrolled them into care.
- Our experiences were vast and varied from fabulous to nasty on a change of staff in one
centre, but on the whole due to the high staff changeovers and also the high numbers of
children for one carer to manage - rarely did children in a centre based environment
receive a high standard of care due to the lack of supervision.
- I found in all cases a home based care was much better due to the varying ages and
smaller group environment.
- I would love to see the In Home Care program expanded to include all families and still
be means tested.
The talked about subsidy for nannies, without a management program will be a feast for the
private sector and not really benefit families, children or the carers, as there will be the same
issues as when the In Home care first began - agencies grabbing for money but not
delivering on service, support and supervision.
- We don't need to reinvent anything - I know that doesn't sound glamorous - but a simple
extension of what is available now will make a difference.
- The government could consider creating work hot spots where parents could bring their
children and be able to work for shorter periods. The home based business sector is on the
rise and parents would benefit if they could access somewhere with internet and a quiet
room to batch their time for a few hours of uninterrupted work.
- With parents on the premises, the standards and requirements are totally different
compared to what is needed for traditional centre based care.
The main issues in childcare are the wages - carers receive an terrible amount for what is
expected of them. The expectation is realistic - Australia has always had an amazing
reputation for the quality of care we offer - but our carers leave in droves as the conditions in
other industries is so much better. So carers leave their love of children for retail or
hospitality.
Nannies are worst off, as even if they are earning more than $450 a month - if they are
employed for less than 30 hours a week - they are not entitled to superannuation. this created
a HUGE issue years down the track when the nanny's family will have to wear the financial
burden of caring for their ageing relative, simply because she chose to care for another
family during her main earning years.
The change I have seen in the industry in the past few years thanks to the EYLF have been
substantial. It's helped to reform many areas of childcare and apart from a few workers who,
quite frankly would prefer to 'supervise' children like a foreman, rather than interact with
them. It's been great.
I hope that this commission is not just another time waster.. The inquiry into balancing work
and family had many recommendation - which were ignored. I also hope that the decision
makers base their decisions on the recommendation of 'on the carpet' carers and also the
parents. Not the owners of centres, unless those centres receive a visit from a representative.
45.
Our children currently go to a bilingual (Mandarin/English) early learning centre; Chinese
Australian Early Learning Centre (CAELC). Exceptional quality learning, care, stimulation
and an important language to help their brain pathways develop in areas mine never did.
I would strongly support subsidies for bilingual child care, as the education for these children
is a huge head start. The time to learn a language is before a child starts school when their
young minds are all the more spongey.
Learning and development during the period from birth to starting school (0-5 years) is the
most important of a child's entire life for their future health, education, and social skills. A
wise Government would spend more money on this age group over any other to reap the
rewards in every sector from there on in.
46.
There is definitely a lack of places in the inner west of Sydney. Living in Leichhardt the
supply can not keep up with demand.
I currently pay $105.00 per day for my youngest child to attend. She attends 5 days so the
child care rebate of $7500 does not pay anywhere near half of the over $26000 I pay. I think
where people live also needs to be taken into account when funds are allocated for the
rebates.
Additionally supply can not keep up with demand with after school care. My eldest
daughter attends Leichhardt Public which in 2014 will have 650 students but only 180 spots
for after school care. I have friends whose second child can not access this service as they
are full - and they are on the priority list. Next year will be even worse.
47.
1. Current System Capacity to ensure effective transition –
- The current system operating with a mix of not for profit services and a business model,
is not necessarily a good mix that will ensure the provision of quality care services for all
users. Profits and quality care could be perceived as a conflict of interest, however as the
community/business model is likely to stay government must ensure results based
accountability. - The workforce is generally amongst the lowest paid in the country it is
very difficult to ensure a high standard of learning is available to children. Vulnerable
children and those at risk require a higher level of support than the workforce may have
capacity to provide.
2. Regional and Remote needs
- The higher cost of living in regional and remote areas combined with the low level of
wages of the child care workforce will not ensure quality care of services, where available
at all.
- Distance is another issue that needs to be considered when planning for accessible care.
For example we have family living in the Kimberley’s currently travel 100’s of km each
week to ensure some access to care for their younger children (older ones enrolled in
School of the Air.) Obviously socialisation is critical to ensure well balanced children
and children living remotely do miss out if this is not available regularly.
- Remote and indigenous families are another group that needs to be considered. Whilst
some remote communities do have very good childcare services now available, many do
not. Travel to a regional centre is for many low income indigenous families not an option.
To meet their needs a mobile child care service may be a better option. Such a service
needs to be properly staffed and resourced.
3. After Hours Care
- Much of the workforce works shift work including frontline police, nurses and Defence
personnel. Outside the major cities access to after hours care for children is very limited.
(We live in Darwin and even here it is a problem. Previously when i lived in Katherine it
was also a problem. The use of unregulated carers is of concern but many families have
no other option.
- Expansion of the Family Day Care model could assist and perhaps work with employers
to obtain a commitment to Employer Sponsored child care – with appropriate taxation
breaks to enable this to occur.
4. Accessibility, flexibility and affordability
- The system should be flexible enough to provide families with alternate options to formal
child care – eg the Scandinavian (Finland?) option of subsidising parents enough to stay
at home for the first few years of life. The first two years of a child’s life in particular is
critical and this would have many long term economic and social benefits for the
community. However it would also require the provision of a good community based
network of support to encourage and support families to take responsibility for their own
children’s early learning and development should they wish to pursue such an option.
48.
my daughter has a disability caused by a medical condition was not treated appropriately at
the child 'care' centre. that negligence caused my daughter to have an extra treatment in
hospital and took us both away from work; plus the stress, the pain and the subsequent
treatment to make her good again. For the need of care, we couldnt say/do anything about it!
49.
I am currently facing resigning from my workplace, if they are unable to give me unpaid
leave, as the subsidy for childcare runs out mid-April, and our family cannot afford the $720
per week that will need to be paid.
The capped rebate means that as the secondary earner in the family, it is my job that will
have to be sacrificed. That represents a loss to my family of $52,000 after tax that I
generated by working, of the super I was contributing to and throws me into the uncertainty
of the jobs market, forgoing all the years of service I have accrued in my current position.
The capped rebate is anti-full time employment and anti-career. It primarily affects women
as secondary earners, so is also inherently misogynistic, and achieves the opposite of what
was spouted - it drives women back home, depriving them, their families and the community
of independent, industrious workers.
50.
SECURING PLACES AT A CENTRE: I am a mother of twins. Before the twins were born I
put them down on the waitlists of approx 10 childcare centres across Canberra. This was
because I had found out that, on average, most centre's Nurseries only had 6-8 places - and I
was looking for 2. I made a point of visiting about 6 of these centres; after finding the centre
I preferred, I was advised to keep calling and visiting in person to secure places. I was unable
to get places until the twins were 16 months old - I was only supposed to take 12 months
leave from my workplace. I would like to see Childcare centres increase the number of
places in their Nurseries - this would substantially relieve the waitlists and allow working
mothers to return to work early if they need to. In my case I am the main breadwinner, and
had no choice but to go back to work as soon as I could find places. If I had qualified for
access to a nanny this would have really helped.
OCCASIONAL CARE: I think there needs to be more occasional care on offer - I have only
found 2 centres that offer this service.
50% REBATE: When you have more than one child in 3 or more days of (long) day care, the
threshold of $7500 per child is quickly reached before the end of the financial year. As a
result I have been required to pay 100% of childcare fees for approx 3-4 months. As this is
unmanageable (currently $965/wk), I have had to drop down to part-time hours for 4 months.
This inquiry should look at either raising the threshold or removing the threshold altogether.
This is a barrier, particuarly for women, choosing to participate in the workforce. My family
has financially suffered due to the huge cost of paying for (long day) childcare; as a result we
have had to rent out our our family home, and rent elsewhere to make ends meet.
PRIVATE VS NOT-FOR-PROFIT CENTRES: Having experienced both types of care at
Private and Not-for-profit centres, the main difference I see is the costs charged to families
and the money that goes back into the centre (or not). The Private centre we were at for
approx 2 years set huge fees - currently the fees are $106 per day. There was huge staff
turnover and very unstable management. Further, money did not seem to be going back into
the rooms or activities. On the other hand the Not-for-profit centre is $9.50 per day cheaper
than the Private Centre. Staff and management seem much more stable. The Not-for-Profit
Centre is also located on the same campus as the local pre-school and primary school. This is
the reason why I moved my children across to this centre - for the drop off/pick up service to
the pre-school. This model should be looked at in this inquiry. This will mean I will not need
to drop down to part-time hours when the twins are eligible for pre-school, as the childcare
centre offers before/after school care on the days of pre-school. This is an exception to the
rule - friends of mine with children of a similar age have no idea how they will manage the
transition to pre-school and balance work priorities.
Thank you for allowing me the chance to provide comment.
51.
I have just had my first child and our family was posted interstate early in my pregnancy. I
cannot believe the horrific state of waitlists in the ACT for childcare. In QLD at least there
was a chance to have a choice of providers. Unfortunately in the ACT the best we can hope
for is to actually get some kind of care. The waitlists are so long you can't be choosey about
where to get your child care if you want to return to work. This means even substandard
centres have long waitlists. It also means if you aren't happy with where your child is in care
you have no choice but to either leave them there while you move your way up other
waitlists or you pull them out and leave work to look after them yourself. This is ridiculous!
I have had such a horrible time getting my son into care and reading stories of other children
in the centre's experience I am scared for my 51/2 month old. He's so young! But if I didn't
take the place we were offered I wouldn't be able to return to work.
52.
Child care is very important to working parents and the quality of the child care is important
as the carers are helping raise our precious babies and the leaders of tomorrow. Child care
workers are valuable employees who are worth a lot more and considered a more important
career choice as they are assisting in moulding our leaders of tomorrow.
Child care is expensive necessity for working parents.
53.
These people are terrific and earn very little for all of their hard work. If you want them to be
better trained and offer quality programs then terrific, however, you MUST pay them what
they are worth. Also there should be smaller staff: student ratios to allow then better quality
time with the children as well as personal breaks. Yet these smaller staff ratios should be
mean that something else is sacrificed to achieve it.
54.
Access to appropriate childcare and early childhood learning facilities will directly impact on
my ability to return to the workforce. I am a 35 year old female, employed with the federal
government for 12 years, working at the EL1 level in Canberra (Belconnen). I have one
toddler and am currently pregnant with my second child. My husband has stayed at home
for our first child, whilst I only accessed the government’s 14 weeks maternity leave. For
our second child I plan to stay at home with both the children, utilising long service leave
and leave without pay, and my husband will return to the workforce. I have not yet decided
when I will return to work as it entirely depends on access to childcare arrangements for both
the children. I am very nervous about the prospect of being able to return to work for a
decent amount of time as many parents in Canberra have told me how difficult it is to get
placements in childcare facilities and how expensive it can be. I am very surprised that the
Department I work for, which employs a large number of staff, and claim to be family
friendly in a number of their policies, do not provide an in-house childcare service for staff.
I have no expectation that childcare services should be provided to me free of charge;
however I would like to see more flexible options being available to parents. The
importance of childcare services being available in close proximity to work places makes a
huge difference to parents attempting to return to work, for both breast feeding parents and
parents who try to return to work part-time and do have time to waste driving long distances
between home-childcare-work. Having access to childcare services at work would also
allow for visits during lunchtime, and being able to see the child if they hurt themselves or
become sick.
I would also like to see an increase to the salaries that are offered to people working in the
childcare and early childhood learning fields. The jobs that these people are preforming
carry a huge amount of responsibility. And whilst many people do the work because of a
natural interest and talent, the reality is they need to earn a decent enough salary to make the
training and investment of their time worthwhile. We cannot possibly underestimate the
importance of keeping our children safe (which is my foremost concern) and offering them a
stimulating and useful learning environment.
55.
Childcare availability is a major issue in Canberra. We placed my son on 6 waiting lists in
the early stages of my pregnancy. My son is now 11 months old and we have been offered a
place at only one centre. Although we are fortunate to have been offered a place, we now
have limited options should we require flexibility in the location or number of days of care,
or if we have any issues with the quality of the centre.
The availability of affordable, high-quality childcare is critical for promoting workforce
participation by parents.
56.
I am a small business operator with my only child in family day care 4 days per week from
9.30 - 5.30 and 6 during busy times. I appreciate the flexibility in hours outside of this my
carer provides when required.
I have three issues/suggestions to make: Firstly, the NSW Govt recently introduced a
reduction in children in family day care (and I assume other services?) from 5 to 4 per each
educator/carer. I can't see how care of a child will be improved by reducing the ratio from 5
to 4, certainly not compared to the impact of a reduction in services for a parent. Often one
of the 5 children would be away sick or on holiday's anyway, so would often have 4 in a
group. It seems so illogical when the Government is says they want to help parents to
making childcare less available and less affordable for parents. Educators have raised their
fees to account for less income from a reduction in children.
Secondly, I would like to point out the difficulty for parents relocating or looking for work.
Non-working parents are currently on the lowest priority ranking and rightly so compared
with working parents, but we have had high quality candidates looking for a job with myself
as an employer as their husbands are relocating towns. They are in a conundrum. They can't
accept a job as they don't have a day care place, and they can't get a day care place as they
don't have a job. More places will help job seekers. Thirdly, I would like the Government to
consider nanny's in the 50% rebate as they are a valid childcare provider and provide a
greater option for a number of families. I commend the Government on the 50% rebate. I
believe this is a fair and equitable outcome for all families and taxpayers. I personally do not
use the CCB and see it as unnecessary for me. The CCR is fair.
57.
I have now used 5 formal childcare services (including long day care, shorter daycare and
family daycare) over 6 years with 2 young children as well as a private preschool (council
run) . My overwhelming experience in both Canberra and the Northern Beaches of Sydney is
that there are not enough quality childcare places in these areas and no doubt other areas of
Australia.
In both areas the waiting lists are huge and the availability of places is very disappointing.
This month my 3 year old daughter finally got a place in Manly at a centre we were very
keen on after 4 years (ie before birth) on a waiting list.
In Canberra (Inner North) I had a similar experience - where I had no childcare place after 12
months of maternity leave, despite putting my daughter on waiting lists while pregnant. This
experience was very stressful but not uncommon. It forced me to use a private nanny at
large expense for the first 6 months of returning to work (where I was basically just holding
my job as 95% of what I earnt went to pay the nanny). It took 6 months+ of significant work
and lobbying (ie. ringing every week) during this time to secure my daughter a subsidised
childcare place for the following year.
In both cases - we knew of families that lived nowhere near that somehow managed to
secure places in a centre close to our home when we couldn't. Waiting lists and childcare
directors did not always take families' addresses into account, which we found really
disadvantaged those who actually lived in the area.
As a resutl of the above parents are becoming desperate for quality childcare and some
operators are making a fortune capitalising on this. The result is often very profit-driven
centres where parents are expected to pay huge bonds as well as for 'waiting list' and
'administration' fees amongst other things. Last year we actually turned down a place for my
then 2 year old as the centre had become so profit driven and factory-like. We were only able
to do this (sort of...) because my husband works from home. We are glad we did not subject
our daughter to this factory-like environment but it was very difficult to manage and had
consequences for both our work.
Childcare is already expensive for parents so it is now necessary for you to cap fees and
charges some centres are trying to charge.
Thank you for considering my comments.
58.
I have a 2.5 year old and a baby on the way in June.
It took us 3 years to secure childcare for our daughter. I hope we don't have the same
problems with number 2.
Since Howard introduced rebates for individuals the cost of childcare has risen but the
number of places hasn't (despite a number of for-profit providers entering the system).
The idea that quality care for small people should be profit driven is simply madness to me.
Giving people rebates has just driven up the cost of childcare without actually improving the
system.
We should nationalise childcare just like education. There are a number of benefits to this centralised waiting lists being only 1.
We should also improve the wages and conditions of the people who look after our small
people.
I don't agree with rebates for private nannies (except for PWD etc) as it simply takes
resources away from a system for all to benefit a few.
Childcare may need to be come more flexible to respond to changing needs.
We also need to attract more men to the sector and not automatically promote them all to
centre managers. Neither men, nor women, are naturally better at management, and kids esp
small ones need to see men in a variety of roles, not just as the boss.
59.
Access to affordable quality childcare (long day care) services has allowed me to participate
in the workforce in the Commonwealth public service. Without this access, and because of
my husband's irregular and frequent international travel, I would have had to resign from my
decade-long career. I feel this would have had long-lasting negative effects for me personally
and for my department professionally. I strongly believe that affordable quality childcare
services are essential to the retention of professional women in the federal public service.
60.
My experience as a parent with a child in day care has been challenging. Particularly in the
ACT, there is an acute shortage of available childcare due to both grossly low supplies in my
local area and times that are unsuitable for my situation. This undersupply, coupled with a
lack of family networks (once again particularly in Canberra) means my wife is unable to
fully participate in the workforce, despite her productive, successful, professional career
previously. I fear the current regulations around the childcare industry make it a challenging
place to operate a business. Childcare centres are needing to balance the economic tensions
between minimum wages for carers, maximum number of carer-to-children ratios and
recoupable government child care rebate. All of these factors result in a very small
window/intersection in which running a childcare business is profitable and the financial
incentive for using childcare is preferable for parents (rather than not working and staying
home with kids).
61.
An article in the Canberra Times today that you may already be aware of but just in case:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-still-pays-highest-childcare-costs-inaustralia-20140203-31whf.html
62.
I feel the number one issue facing the childcare industry is the rate of pay for workers. The
low rate of pay leads to shortages and the industry not being attractive to quality staff. Our
centre provides an excellent service and the staff are on the whole wonderful. But it is hard
for many of them to consider working in the industry as a viable long-term career choice.
Turnover is as a result higher than it should be, which is not optimal for the children. Early
childhood is such an important time in the development of a human being, surely the carers
deserve to have their important work recognised through adequate pay.
63.
We are a family of 4 which includes 2 professional working parents, a 3 year old daughter
and a 4 month old baby boy. We have had early childhood care requirements and have been
utilizing various early childhood care services for 2 years now and will continue to do so for
many years to come as we hope to have a third child. To date we have experienced numerous
challenges and identified many problems with the current early childhood care offerings in
Australia. These are summarized below.
1. The number of places available are very limited. We put my daughter down on 10 waiting
lists when she was very young and were fortunate enough to get her into a day care center
close to home when she turned 2 however that same center, for example, didn't take any
new families this year having room only for siblings.
2. The operating hours of the day care centre our daughter attends are 8.30am - 4.45.pm.
With both parents working in professional occupations this requires an additional early
childhood care solution to assist with drop offs and pick ups filling the gaps between day
care hours and professional working hours.
3. We have found that the only solution for our early childhood care needs in certain
situations is in-home care (nannies, au pairs, casual baby sitters). Such situations include
filling the gaps between registered childcare provider centre hours and professional
working hours and, more notably, for younger children/babies. In our experience there
were even more limited options and places available for babies and toddlers than
preschoolers, resulting in our family making the decision to have our daughter cared for
full time at home until she was old enough to attend day care (2 years). This is a very
expensive option made even more so by the fact that there is no rebate or tax deduction
offered for this form of early childhood care and is looking to be cost prohibitive for us
now that we have a second child because the cost of in-home care for our baby boy in
addition to maintaining our daughter's current day care is greater than our monthly home
loan repayment. This is proving to be particularly problematic for me, a working mum, as
I am due to return to work when my baby is 6 months old.
In my view, although the number of childcare places available, particularly here in Sydney,
is a significant problem that needs to be addressed, the more pressing issue requiring urgent
attention (and likely the quickest and easiest solution) is the affordability of already existing
early childhood care offerings which needs to mitigated by appropriate tax deductions for the
second working parent (which has obvious benefits to the Australian workforce, productivity
and the Australian economy as a whole) and/or the extension of the child care rebate to inhome care. In addition to alleviating some of the cost related problems associated with early
childhood care, it would increase the number of early childhood care options available and
take pressure off the existing system.
Finally, the government's proposed paid parental leave system would assist greatly in
ensuring that working mums don't have to rush back to work when babies are still very
young in order to meet the rising living costs associated with Australian cities, particularly
Sydney, and is much needed however in my view is of less urgency than the other financial
assistance discussed above.
64.
I use formal long day care and have experienced the following issues:
* Long waiting lists to access preferred childcare centre (between 2 and 3 years)
* Opening times which do not match with working hours
* Long waiting lists to change childcare days (at least one year notice), worse now that
there is a one a year school intake
* Lack of flexibility
* Lack of occasional care places
65.
My son has been in child care two days per week for two years. It worked very well for us,
particularly as we could usually get extra casual days when needed. He finished last week as
he starts at an ACT preschool this week. I would have liked to have continued to use the
childcare centre for casual childcare, including during school holidays and alternate
Wednesdays (ACT preschools only operate alternate Wednesdays) however I was told that
the centre is not able to do that as he will not have a regular day with them. It seems that
there is a gap in childcare for this age group as most schools don't offer before/after school or
vacation care until kindergarten age. As a result, I have had to reduce my work hours this
year and will use all my rec leave to cover the holidays.
66.
Childcare fees have increased significantly since the introduction of the EYLF into centres. I
withdrew my children from care, due to the costs increasing every 6 months, and no
evidential changes in the care or standard of teaching, and my lack of being able to get parttime work.
To overcome this, I believe school hours should be changed to 8:30am - 4pm and
incorporate pre-kindy (3yo) and kindy (4yo) (I am in QLD) into the school environments,
and have the curriculum for these ages run by the school environment, not the Day care
centres. It's evident prices has increased significantly since the EYLF introduction, but there
is not a change in standard of teaching. It is critical developmentally from the age of 3 that
kids start learning more and are encouraged in a way to learn in a semi-structured
environment. Also by doing this, it would allow mothers to work a decent day and
incorporate drop off and pick-ups at reasonable hours that work within a standard 7.5 hour
working day. It would also benchmark Australia against those countries where students do
start at a younger age. It may still be play based learning, but at least the quality of teaching
is within a controlled schooling environment, where teachers can share ideas, experiences,
and problem solve together which equates to quality. Curriculum is then also a whole school
approach providing ongoing and consistent standards. That is not evident in day care centres,
where Kindy teachers tend to be the only qualified teachers in the centre (which may only be
one of). It would additionally free up day care centres to increase their intake of the under 3
year old age group, of which seems to be the hardest and most competitive group to get care
for. This may also create more Nursery rooms, which are also in high competition, but not
readily available.
67.
The key question I would like the Productivity Commission to investigate is “What are the
benefits (or disbenefits) and associated distribution of those benefits (or disbenefits) amongst
different types of business and households from government funding going into childcare
places compared to government funding going into paid parental leave schemes.”
68.
I consider the Australian childcare and early education system is expensive and results in
parents finding it difficult or impossible to return to full time work. The current funding
structure appears short sighted, and does not consider the implications of childcare
availability and fees over the years that a typical family’s children will be in care. There are
four key areas of concern:
1. Substantial government investment is made to subsidise 50% of childcare costs, however
the current cap of $7500 at a centre charging translates to only 3 days/week of subsidised
care at my centre (fees are approximately $95/day). This has heavily influenced my
decision to only return to work 3 days/week. This has obvious implications for my career
development and means that I cannot realistically explore promotion opportunities.
Furthermore, given we have plans for a second child, it puts the burden of part time work
on the mother, given it makes more sense to limit the career advancement of one partner,
rather than both. Obviously this impacts not only my career earning potential, but also my
superannuation and therefore the length of time I need to spend in the workforce.
2. Successive government policies have prioritised paid parental leave, which I fully
support. However the absence of support for parents past the first six months is short
sighted. I was fortunate to be able to use my leave entitlements and the current paid
parental leave scheme to have 12 months with my son before requiring care in early 2013.
However we will be using childcare until my son starts school in 2018. When you
consider that a second child will mean we are in the childcare system for at least 8-9
years, this is a long period of time that I and/or my partner will be working part time and
limiting our career earnings and opportunities.
3. The childcare system is primarily privatised, and therefore this lacks any economies of
scale that could be achieved by a government-run sector. Each centre is responsible for its
own administration, guidelines, performance management of carers, etc. Furthermore,
private centres are understandably profit driven, which undermines the need that may
exist in the community for childcare places at various ages. Obtaining a childcare place is
very difficult in the early years where child to staff ratios are necessarily low, because
these are the places that yield the least profit for a centre. The implications of this are
twofold; firstly it is very difficult to obtain a place in the earlier years and this can delay
the return of the primary carer to the workforce. Secondly, it undermines the need for an
individual centre to provide value for money or improve quality, because the demand for
places means that centres will be filled regardless of the normal economic drivers.
Given the huge investment the government already makes in the sector through
subsidisation, thought should be given to whether overhauling the sector to improve
economies of scale and address demand for childcare centres in a similar manner to the
schools system would provide greater value for money for the government, and more
earnings in the pockets of parents.
4. Pre-school is particularly problematic to manage as a working parent. The hours and days
(9.30am – 2pm, 3 days one week and 2 days the next week) mean that a typical working
parent (9am-5pm) with a child attending a government-run preschool will require a parent
to also have the child in a childcare centre arrangement to cover the hours from 2-5pmon
preschool days, and the additional day on alternate weeks when preschool does not run.
Given most childcare centres run on a ‘charge per day’ basis, this cost can be
extraordinary, and is out of reach of many parents. There is a lot of research to support
investment in the pre-school year of learning, including offsets from a reduction in
additional learning support needs in later years of schooling. As such, the lack of
foresight in ensuring a pre-school model that delivers quality education and minimises the
financial impost on parents is surprising. I look forward to recommendations on the
preschool format.
69.
I have issues with both the cost of before and after school care and the availability of
childcare for school aged children during the Christmas/New Year break.
I feel there needs to be more options provided by community groups or the local council.
Incentives and opportunities for community involvement for school aged children when it
comes to before and after school care.
I am a single parent and struggle to meet the cost and inflexibility of before and after school
care. Over the Christmas break I had to take days without pay off work to cover days where
there was no childcare available. I find this unacceptable in this day and age. I have also
noted that the outsourced before and after care provided by the school is much more
expensive than council vacation care rates in an hourly rate comparison. Why doesn't the
council provide this service? School aged children are still part of the local catchment area
and seem to get forgotten. It's all about babies!
70.
I felt the need to comment on this very sensitive topic to give a small insight into an average
working family's experience with the childcare system in NSW.
I will start by stating that I am a full time working mother of 2 (now school aged) children. I
utilised care for the first years of both of my children's lives, as for various circumstances
(including the financial requirement to work) I was unable to enjoy a 'maternity leave'
period.
I am married, and my husband works full time also, generally working out of town for
between 5 and 10 days at a time. I found it firstly hard to get suitable care for my children
when they were under 12months. I elected to utilise the Family Day Care system, as the
stability of a permanent day care mother was very appealing for us.
I found a fantastic family day care mum for my children whilst they were young, however
felt the massive limitations that the system imposed upon my working life. I was essentially
held to work days and hours that suited her needs and not necessarily what I needed for my
employment. It also meant that when she only had 3 days a week available, I was forced to
find another place for the other 2 days per week - at one stage the children were in 2 different
centres AND with the daycare mum on other days, simply because none of the services were
unable to provide a continuity of care. You can only imagine the stress that this placed on the
children, and myself! I often questioned if I was doing the right thing by continuing to
work... There was no preference or stability provided for children requiring 5 days per week
care - for a full time working parent.
So, taking into account days that I was unable to work due to illness of my children, or
illness of my childcare provider, or lack of availability of care I discovered that (and
hindsight is a wonderful thing here) I would have received more income by the time I
received the MASSIVELY discounted childcare and centrelink benefits, not to mention
access to a health-care-card had I not been married, and remained unemployed.
Obviously you can see that this is a major flaw in the system. A full time working person
contributing to society should not discover they were worse off because they raise their child
in a nuclear family. Further, that should not determine wether or not the couple plan on
future children.
However, had the costs of childcare been fully tax deductible (which I feel they definitely
should be - there is no way I could have worked had I not had childcare...) this would have
made a huge difference to our family's bottom line - and provided a lot more incentive to
earn a living!
We ended up utilising in-home-care simply because the childcare system was costing us my
entire wage. It is bazar that it actually ended up costing the same to have a person essentially
cover my job as a homemaker, and I was able to go to work... Very inefficient...
We went on to utilise the services of a German Au-Pair, which proved even more cost
efficient for us.
Unfortunately the childcare issue is not restricted to just that of a ‘childcare’ issue. Many of
the laws around childcare are related directly to the socioeconomic and cultural background
of the children who require it. Children with disabilities, children “at-risk”, and many other
minority groups all rely on the childcare system for respite, social interaction and
development. Whilst I fully understand that there is a genuine need for this support to
continue within our society, I’m not sure that the significant impact that it has on our
childcare system is warranted. It is often being already dealt with by many other social
assistances, and other tax-payer funded programs that families are often double-dipping in a
sense, leaving the remainder of the community and working class struggling in an
inequitable way.
Living in Dubbo (and spending significant time in many rural and remote NSW
communities) comes with a great exposure to such socio-economic battles within our
society. We have a large housing commission issue within our city and with it comes many
low income families. Unfortunately many of these families and children are growing up into
this cycle of unemployment – a phenomenon that the government itself has acknowledged.
Despite the best efforts of our government, many of these children are well behind in
academic and social development. Although it is not because they do not have access to
assistance – they have access to often better assistance than other larger groups in our
society. From what I have witnessed they simply calculate based on ‘what involves the least
amount of effort to gain the maximum amount of income.’ Cue crime statistics, centrelink
fraud and similar.
Many of these families are not doing it tough from what we witness on a day-to-day basis.
One particular family who lives opposite our family in a mirror-image house to ours has 4,
yes, FOUR cars lined up in the driveway each evening. Our family can only afford one.
Their plasma TV is twice the size of our second hand TV. Their carpet gets changed every 5
years – ours is the same carpet that the house came with because I can’t justify the expense
of replacing it despite the significant wear marks. They fill a skip every 6 months with
rubbish from their house. We’d be lucky to fill a skip in 10 years! Yet, they are not
employed.
They however, are (and have been) entitled to significant childcare benefits and subsidies in
an effort to allow them time to seek employment. Clearly this has not and will not work.
They use childcare as a means to get some ‘peace and quiet’, and further view it as an
entitlement not a privilege. This is creating a rift in society with those who work hard to pay
for the privilege of childcare growing to resent those who have it readily accessible at a low
cost and have blatant disregard for the costs and value of such care.
So where to from here?
• I propose that the government make all childcare fees a tax deduction. Without childcare
one cannot work efficiently – I know this first hand. All other items that are required to
gain employment are tax deductible, childcare should be also. Why should I pay a
childcare employee out of my AFTER TAX money – for them to pay tax on that income?
• childcare should be reserved for the full-time employed or part-time or casual and only
for the days they are working or seeking further employment. Only HALF days offered at
the subsidised rate to those who are in the ‘seeking employment’ category, with the days
being split between families so that one has morning, one has afternoon. This would
ensure that only one childcare placement is taken for two of such children, unless the
parents are willing to pay full fees for the second half of the day.
• This one is a bit out-there, and I understand how this can be misinterpreted… however
the government “bonus” to breastfeeding mothers in the UK has prompted me to list it
here anyway; Offer a “bonus” to single women and women who are receiving
unemployment benefits who can produce paperwork confirming a long term form of
contraception is being administered and adhered to – and free contraception thereto.
Maybe if we can target this separate social issue we might be able to stem some of the
demand placed on government assisted childcare in the first place.
71.
I am really happy with the child care facility my son is at. We don't have family or friends
around so it's great for him to interact with other people and develop some independence.
My biggest concern is the fact I am studying and when it comes time to start work I may not
be able to get him in full time. It has taken him over a year to get used to going and to speak
to them. I would hate to have to change him to another daycare centre. Also another great
concern to me is the fact that he isn't immunised because I have researched the risks involved
in this procedure, so I very concerned he may be kicked out which could do harm to him
socially and cause problems when he goes to school. He won't be able to adapt to other
people.
72.
My biggest issue is also the most basic and that is simply places or lack thereof. I live in
regional Australia (Alice Springs NT) and have had my child on a wait list soon as I found
out I was pregnant ( in total I have been waiting over 18 months for a place to be
available!!!) I'm now desperate for a place and wanting to go back to work but this decision
is out of my (or my employers) control. I think more assistance for more places would have
the greatest benefit to families and the local economy. It heartbreaking to think that one of
the biggest decisions of my child's life/education is completely out of my hands!
73.
All parents want easy access to childcare of the highest standards including well trained staff
and good quality facilities.
The current Government also places an emphasis on supporting working mothers through
their generous paid parental leave scheme. However the real impediment of mothers
returning to the work force is the cost and the lack of availability of childcare. Waiting lists
for most child care centres go well over a year and very often more. It is not uncommon to
be offered some days and not others forcing mothers to take time off work to care for their
child due to lack of services. Therefore I think access to childcare should be a focus in this
review into child care.
To encourage the retention of high quality staff, child care workers MUST be paid more.
They do such an important job and should be paid accordingly.
74.
Affordability and lack of flexibility in accessing child care is my biggest concern. If the
government really wants to support parents they should abandon their proposed maternity
leave scheme and instead redirect those funds into the childcare system. More families
would be assisted, and will enable more parents to be taxpayers.
Lack of flexibility is a concern because you are locked into a fixed attendance pattern. My
husband is a shiftworker, and if he kept the kids home on his days off we are penalised,
because we still have to pay, and we are limited to how many allowable absences the
children can have in a year.
75.
Shortage of childcare places was a major issue for me, friends and family. You need to
register with Childcare providers as soon as you are pregnant. It took me approximately 18
months to gain a placement for my son, which placed great stress on me and family with the
worry of not having childcare for when I was to return to work after one year’s leave. Also if
you do get a placement before you need you feel obliged to take it as you may not find
another place, so you then make a financial commitment that you would not otherwise make.
Due to the high demand occasional care is out of the question, there is no availability.
The Cost of childcare is very high where I live (over $90 a day for long day childcare). This
puts stress on the family and mothers wonder if it is worth returning to work.
The salary childcare workers receive is poor in my opinion. Degree qualified staff (early
childhood teachers) are not paid well which I believe would deter many people from
pursuing child care work as a career option.
76.
I have three children and all have experienced the environment and benefits that early
childhood centres provide. I have not experienced any issues with the quality of care
provided by the Preschool Kindy or my school age children's after school care facility.
I do agree that families on middle or lower range incomes do find paying the costs of day
care a significant financial drain. The running joke is that ‘this is the cost of an investment
property’.
Certainly the assistance that is provided by the government is of great benefit. However the
combination of price rises right throughout the economy can have considerable impacts on
dual parent incomes. I couldn't imagine how single parents cope.
I recognise that prices can go up but if prices rise in excess of 10% from one year to the next
then I feel that is excessive particularly if carers are studying and learning.
I also have experienced an issue when our local doctor did not process our child's
immunisation record soon enough and that affected the benefit paid by the government
which adversely affected our income close to Christmas.
If it wasn't for the government assistance we would have out of pocket expenses of $95 per
day for our youngest child. This increased from $85. We previously claimed the allowance at
the end of the tax year but when we had our third child the financial drain week to week
became to difficult.
As it stands we can only afford to have our youngest child in care for three days a week. We
previously had our other two children in care two days a week as the costs for care would
have outweighed the benefit for my wife to work part time and engage with work colleagues.
For the economy there are real benefits for working families to be engaged in the workforce
and to meet their family obligations. I was certainly thankful that my workplace was able to
be flexible so that I could care for my children one day a fortnight.
I would welcome some regulation into the prices of childcare but there needs to be care and
possibly benchmarking investigated as not all centres provide equitable added services (e.g.
lunch provided, nappies provided, open early and late, make up days etc).
I would hope the government sees great value in investing into childcare services moving
forward.
77.
There is no alignment with work hours and care hours particualary at schools. It results in a
feeling of being punished for having children. It is very difficult to get a child into great care
and then their is a perception that they not as loved as a result as being put into care. The
benefits of carechild need to be better publicised and access to the service needs to be made
more easily available as so families can return to work with peace of mind that children are
in a safe environment.
78.
High quality child care is absolutely vital for my family. My husband and I both work full
time, and we require child care for both our daughters. Finding an appropriate place for both
our children has been essential for me to continue in the workforce (I am a university
academic). We recently moved from overseas back to Australia, and struggled to find
childcare as nearly all centres are oversubscribed and have long waiting lists. The quality of
care we found has been outstanding (albeit very expensive, almost three times the cost of
child care in the US).
79.
The most important thing for me, as a parent of three young children, is the quality of care
provided to my children in early childhood and outside school hours services. Feeling secure,
supported, engaged, stimulated and happy: these are what I want for my children, and this is
the high benchmark I expect ECEC and OSHC services and educators to meet.
I understand that quality costs, and I am prepared to pay whatever it takes for my children to
experience high quality education and care. I see this, in every way, as an investment in my
children's future, and it is one I choose to make. I consider low wages for educators to be a
significant problem, and I would urge the Commission to explicitly recognise the causal
links between educators' wages, staff qualifications and turnover, and the quality of
children's educational experiences.
80.
I have found the whole child care system in my area (postcode 2452) to be difficult and mind
boggling.
I have had my daughter in a large child care centre for 18 months. The only centre in the area
that opens before 730. Working in health my shift usually starts at 730.
It breaks my heart every time I leave her there that this is not my preferred centre. The staff
do an amazing job in a very busy setting with 100s of kids on the books and many staffing
issues and still trying to comply with the framework.
The centre that would prefer my daughter to go to has about a 3 year waiting list and as a
low to middle income family we can't wait 3 years for placement! On the other hand I have
noticed many parents at both centres being offered places and they DO NOT WORK! And
are getting more centre link benefits than I to send their kid to school so they can go to the
gym or whatever such a parent does in their own time.
Soon my youngest daughter will have to go into care as I return to work after maternity
leave. It will be hard to decide if working and paying for 2 kids in care will be worth my
measly pay check. The child care benefits and rebates are very appreciated but I think more
needs to be done in the quality, quantity of child care as well as adequate payment of those
caring for our children.
81.
If not for the government Child Care Rebate, I would not be able to afford to have my son in
daycare. I wish that daycare could be more flexible though. When my son does not attend
the centre on his regular days (usually due to illness contracted by other children at the
centre) or when we are on holidays, or even for public holidays, we are still charged for these
days. I can understand this on days that the centre is still staffed, but it seems a bit rich to be
charged when the centre is actually closed. Having said all this though, I fully support a pay
rise for Child Care staff, as I believe they play a critical role in our children's future
development.
82.
Since having my little man the most stressful event was knowing I had to go back to work
and finding child care. We have been hit with losing our health rebate, higher living costs
and potential loss of job which has increased pressure on the family budget which means I
need to work. Without the government rebate on childcare I would need to go back to work
full time which is hard given my child's special needs. There should be equal access to
childcare rebates as why should I be forced to work full time to subsidise others access. Why
are we going to implement a PPL scheme we can't afford (even though this would be
beneficial for me in the future) when this money could be put into subsidizing child care
where the need is and where it would benefit women being able to go back to work part time
- affordability.
I also would like the commission to look into child care facilities charging families to put
their name on a waiting list. Often the child doesn't get a place anyway and families are out
of pocket. We are being penalized for having to put our name down on many waiting lists
because we can't get care.
It would be good to see investment in family day care. More support for operators and
ensuring subsidies can be claimed.
The most important thing for my family is ensuring subsidies remain and aren't based on a
families wage. Equal access............
83.
I think it is rubbish that child care centres are allowed to charge for public holidays when the
centre is closed.
Why should we have to pay such a high fee for a service that we can't even use?
84.
My main concern is around the availability and quality of early childhood education
services. I have my older child in a preschool and my younger child in a long day care
centre, and my main worry is knowing that my children are receiving quality education and
care. Assisting children in being as prepared as possible for their future schooling is of
primary concern. Although my family is in a position to pay for a private preschool for my
older child, many families are not. Early childhood education and care services need to be
both of high quality and accessible (both availability and cost) for all families.
85.
I have a six month old baby and am preparing to return to work part time in July. I put my
baby on the waiting list at three childcare centres when I was 6-12 weeks pregnant and am
not guaranteed a place despite being on the list for a year and a half or more. The current
system means that siblings get priority over my baby and we have moved down the waiting
list as a result (from first to eighth), a system I find completely unjust. I am not sure how I
will facilitate returning to work in this situation, and could not possibly have put my name
down any sooner. My other issue is inflexibility with days as I work five days a fortnight but
childcare centres have stated I need to book for four or six days a fortnight. I am therefore
relying on friends and family in order to work the fifth day. The whole experience has
become very stressful and if I wasn't required to go back to work (I received paid maternity
leave and am contracted to go back for a set period of time) I would not be returning. How is
it fair that one can. It secure childcare for an 11-12month old 18 months in advance?
86.
Careers do not get enough support my child goes to home day care and with the cut to how
many children they can care for not only does the carer loose out on money but then the fees
for the other children go up to cover some of the loss this hurts both parties and is pushing
family daycares out of business as they then can not afford to stay open and also makes it
harder for those children that have been pushed out of care. My child does not get better
quality care because there is one less child in her group she actually misses out on learning
more social skills and developing more friendships. Stop making it harder for carers and
parents.
87.
The availability of childcare in some geographical areas is disgraceful. Also, due to my
personal circumstances I am forced to use care for my 8 month old. It took 15 months to get
her a spot, I am not ready to send her but have to because of lack of places for babies. I do
not return to work until April. She is in care now, that is ridiculous. I resent the system for
that.
The wages for the staff are terrible, the government should help the centres out more with
more assistance to staff as their role within society is becoming more of a necessity rather an
option.
88.
I am very happy with my childcare provider my daughter loves going, however my main
concern is affordability for working parents. Currently with one child attending costs do not
chew to far into my income but once my second child arrives and starts attending after my
leave I lose half my wage even with the rebate so I wonder is it worth me returning to work
to pay for someone else to raise my children. I enjoy my job but am failing to see the upside.
When the cost out weighs what i bring home I also disagree that child are centres can charge
parents a full day fee on public holidays when they are closed not everyone has public
holidays off, other industries factor this in to there wages why can't child care.
89.
Child care should be cheaper, and therefor more accessible to everyone, this would make it
easier to return to the workforce, at the current time the prices are prohibitaly high and
leaving many people who want to return to work unable to.
90.
1. Cost.
Childcare costs seem very expensive, and as the Childcare workers do not appear to be
getting payrises, it is not clear where all the fee increases are going. We are now paying $105
per day per child (more expensive than some private schools), and with two children needing
care, it is very difficult. As the rebate cuts out at $7,500 per child, I find that more than three
days per week becomes too costly. It seems odd to work out the days I can work around the
Childcare costs.
2. Availability.
It is difficult to find a Childcare place near my home and/or workplace. I needed to keep my
eldest daughter in care (1 day per week) whilst on maternity leave to increase the likelihood
that my second child gaining a place. This means that a family needing care in those months
might have been unable to get a place whilst my daughter was using a place as a 'holding
spot' for herself and her younger sibling.
3. Before and after school care.
My daughter is about to begin preschool at public school in Canberra. However, because she
is not school age, the school cannot provide before or after school care. The hours are odd,
Thursday and Friday and every second Wednesday. While I might be able to get family day
care, advice is that I would be expected to pay for the full day. I have reduced my hours to
allow me to drop off at 9 and pick up at 3. My husband is having every Wednesday off. I'm
not sure what I will do over school holidays, we do not have family close by.
4. Impact on work.
My Childcare centre operates from 7:30am to 6pm. It takes 45 minutes to commute from
Childcare to work. This means that it is difficult to get to work by 8:30, and I need to leave
at 5. On preschool days, this is even more stretched. I am constantly stressed and trying to
complete my work in these hours, and there is the perception that I do not work as hard due
to my reduced work hours. 'She is only part time' is heard frequently. I have to eat lunch at
my desk and it is difficult to work late when needed.
In addition, I have a full time workload, even though I am part time (the same volume of
work as my full time counterpart at the same level). It is hard trying to balance work and
family - and has an impact on the health system. I am stressed, have anxiety and depression,
and require medication daily.
91.
I like the ratios used for the children as I think it is unrealistic to have higher ratios of
children to adults, especially as someone who is 17 and just out of tafe may have maturity
issues surrounding looking after too many children. I also like the fact that in childcare the
framework is the same for children, especially when it is the year before they attend school.
You can guarantee your child's education.
92.
I have one child in childcare 4 days per week. Initially to we placed our names down at 13
centres about 9 months before we required care. We only ever heard back from 3 of them (1
centre a year later and 1 centre only offering one day). We are from what i would consider a
middle income family. We are not low income earners however if the existing childcare
rebate was removed or means tested I don’t know how we could afford care for my son (or
subsequent children). Our centre is $100 per day, which is the highest in our area (Western
Brisbane). We are simply not able to live off one income and pay our mortgage other bills
etc.
93.
It is hard to find childcare in the ACT. I had my first child in 3 different centres at one time
just to be able to work a fulltime week.
The amount we pay is ridiculous. It just keeps going up. I understand they provide a great
service but it's the companies that profit from it. It is not worth putting my two kids into
childcare more than 3 days a week as the fees are too high and we end up paying full fees as
we are over the rebate threshold. It doesn't encourage women to be in the workforce but it
does encourage them to spend more time with their children which is important for
development during the early years.
Childcare workers don't get paid enough. For the work they do, it is not enough. If each time
the fees increased we were giving that money to the childcare workers and not the
companies, I would feel better. They really need to be paid more.
Is it possible that the childcare rebate has increased fees over the last few years? I not
complaining about the rebate, we simply couldn't afford any childcare without it. But it's a
thought.
94.
I start using childcare centre since my son was 4 months old. Because I have to return to
work in order to support out living and all our relatives are overseas.
He constantly got sick since he started to go to child care. I almost use out all my leaves last
year just for look after my sick child. This year we change to another centre. It seems a bitter
better than the previous one.
In my opinion, there should be some regulation enforced for child care center hygiene
standard.
95.
I find childcare are so varied in what they teach our children. I have put them into 2 different
centres run by the same organisation. I would like to see more focus on pre school learning.
Reading, writing, basic maths. We pay a lot to have our children in childcare.
96.
Thank you for the opportunity to make a comment to the Commission’s Enquiry into
Childcare and Early Childhood Learning.
1. The best interests of children
I am concerned that the focus of an inquiry into childcare is something other than the best
interests of children. While the needs of working parents and a growing economy are
important, the developmental needs of young children should be central to an enquiry such
as this. Making the needs of children the focus of government decision making will improve
Australia’s prosperity in the long-term.
The suggestion that having young children is a barrier to increased participation in the
workforce is somewhat misleading, for two reasons. First, the enquiry should keep things in
perspective: children are young for a short time compared to the length of their parents’
working lives. The fact that most parents need to adjust and adapt their working lives
needn’t be defined as a problem that needs solving. Second, many parents actively choose to
stop or reduce the amount of time they spend working when they have young children. There
are still many parents out there that feel that spending those early years with their children is
more important than working, and prioritise their arrangements (and spending) accordingly.
2. Quality and wages
In my opinion, the focus of your enquiry should be the quality of care. It is well documented
that the first five years of a child’s life are the most important for neurological development.
This points to the need for well-trained early childhood educators and nurturing and
stimulating environments. I support the reforms that were taking place through the
implementation of the National Quality Framework and ask that the government continues
with those improvements.
Improvements are also needed in the wages of all those who work with children. The wages
currently paid to these workers – people who work with our most precious resource – are out
of step with the rest of the workforces. Wage rises are needed as a matter of urgency in order
to slow high staff turnover and attract high performers.
3. My experience
I have two children under 8, I work part-time and I live in regional Victoria. My partner and
I enjoy our jobs, and I worked full-time before having children. My children are cared for by
family members one day per week. They have attended childcare in metropolitan Melbourne
and currently attend services in regional Victoria. I have experienced the good and the bad
that goes with enrolling and having children in care. Importantly, we – our children, my
partner and I, our extended family and our employers – have managed. None of us feels that
our arrangements are perfect; every week feels like a juggling act. Nevertheless, we chose to
be parents and have managed to balance our children’s needs with our financial
requirements.
97.
First of all I think it is very difficult for parents to be expected to go back to work if
childcare is so expensive. What is the point of working if all the pay goes to childcare. It's
ridiculous. I think workplaces need to change their thinking about working hours for
parents. Those school hours can be valuable time spent working if workplaces could
accommodate that.
I also worry about the funding cuts to early childhood programs especially for special needs.
I have a child with special needs and I would like to know that if the cuts to important
programs such as (Early Childhood Development Program) that are going to help my child
adjust to mainstream school are cut - how are the schools going to cope? What steps will be
provided to schools to cope with special needs and are the teachers being trained?
‘Inclusive education’ means my child can attend mainstream school. And I expect that they
will be put into a class and stay with that class and if they need help they will have an aide in
the class. I don't want them sent to a separate class. I want them to be with their class mates.
I know of a teacher who had a Downs Syndrome girl in her class and she was able to modify
her program to enable the child to participate in the class. She sounded amazing. I want a
teacher like that - every year for my child till they finish school. Sounds unrealistic - I don't
think so. It's possible if teachers are supported and have training.
What will the government do with the early childhood funding cuts? Will they put that back
into schools/teachers to prepare them for more special needs children being mainstreamed?
Provide more aide time for special needs kids in the class as I have heard that some schools
only provide 20mins a day!!! Our kids have a lot to contribute to their community and
society. And more as they become independent adults - working and living on their own.
98.
I just wanted to share some of my experiences with the child care system over the last four
years. On both occasions when I have had to find suitable child care for my children, I have
found the whole process quite stressful due to the waiting list process. Not knowing whether
any child care centre had a place available for my son when I returned to work, having to put
him on several waiting lists (and pay for the privilege in some cases) and not even being able
to know if there is absolutely no chance that he would have a place. Looking for child care
for my younger son late last year was also stressful, the waiting list, visiting almost every
centre in my area, sometimes feeling like arranging a centre tour was an inconvenience to
those running the centres. The information about quality standards on the mychild web site,
although useful, was not what I based my decision on . First because not all centres are rated
with the new standard, which makes them impossible to compare, but in some instances I
found that centres who rated highly on these criteria were quite awful, and the idea of
leaving my child in this place, with these people made me feel ill! So I settled for a centre
that was at least at or above the minimum standard, that we felt comfortable with when we
visited (and they had a place on the days I needed!). A second issue that I experienced
involved child to staff ratios. I understand the need for rules and regulations and that more
staff per child is better. However, due to these regulations, my son who was the youngest in
his pre-kinder group, was taken to the toddlers room every time the ratio was too high. This
caused him a lot of distress as he was being removed from his friends that he was close to
since the age of 1, and he felt like he was being punished, to the point where he hated going
to child care. Furthermore when I asked if this was going to happen on a regular basis, the
manager told me that he was loving being the big boy in toddlers (other staff were telling me
otherwise). I know that these ratios are there for a reason, but in this case, they caused quite a
lot of upset for my child. Just wanted to share this.
99.
Government Please Help working parents. We were lucky enough to obtain childcare for our
child from an early age. He enjoyed the balance of childcare and the care of a part time
working mum.
He is due to start school at Mortlake primary school in 2015 and I am due to return to work
full time but there is no available before and after school places at Mortlake school. The
before and after school care centre based on the school site told me the waiting list for care
was extensive and to look at other schools. We are now faced with the ordeal and expense of
having to uproot our family by moving closer to my family in order for them to take on the
duties of before and after school care so both my husband and I can work full time. Its bad
for the economy and equal opportunity that working mums in particular are dumped by the
government once our children commence school. There is a lot of buck passing with state
government claiming its not their problem. Its about time governments looked at the care of
children in a holistic manner. Here I am with an MBA and a good job and I may well be
forced to not work because of this problem and the reality is not everyone can afford a
nanny, I know we certainly cant!!
100. My daughter is currently 10 months old. She commenced attending the nursery at Lyons
Early Childhood School at 6 months old. I was fortunate to get her into my preferred place as
I had heard many good things about the centre and when I visited it I knew it was the only
centre out of about 15 that I had visited in the ACT that I could feel comfortable leaving my
precious daughter at. The centre was bright airy and impeccably clean. The nursery room
was a good size, not too big and not too small; there was a clean safe and secure outdoor area
for the babies to play in; the staff were caring, knowledgeable and engaged with my
daughter; the cot rooms were clean and roomy; the fees weren't outrageous and unlike some
other centres that I signed up to there waitlist I was not charged $100 to do so. This is my
first child and I was anxious, upset and felt guilty about the prospect of leaving her with
someone else but the Director, Manager and nursery staff were fantastic during the
orientation and induction periods and helped to iron out any problems I or my daughter were
having with adjusting and within no lime at all we had made a smooth, happy transition. I
cannot recommend this centre and the staff enough. My baby is the most precious thing in
the world to me and I know that when I leave her at this centre she is receiving quality care.
Quality care to me is 1st, she is in a safe, clean and secure environment, 2nd she is loved and
cared for, 3rd she is happy and gets lots of play time , 4th, any problems are brought to my
attention immediately and worked through 5th, value for money 6th, sense of community
where the director engages with the parents and keeps open lines of communication; 7th
heathly meals provided. This centre has an excellent open door policy and the Director,
manager and/or any of the staff are always available to listen.
101. The availability of child care in Canberra is a joke. Putting your name down 18 months
before you require care?! and then not finding out if you have a spot until 2-3 months
before?! Not to mention some facilities charging $50 non refundable to put your name on the
list. This puts undue pressure on parents returning to the workforce, and in some cases,
excludes them from returning at all. I live in a rural community outside of Canberra and
there is one family day care in our town which is full and a rural mobile pre school with
early care that the Gundaroo pre school association runs out of our town IF they get enough
kids to fill the spots. With the majority of parents in the area being public servants, this
option is fantastic but reduces the time we can spend at work if the children have to be
picked up by 3.30pm. Gaining a spot in a child care facility should not be like winning the
lottery, it should be a service that is available to all who require it.
102. It took 2.5 years to get a place for my son in care. There is no flexibility in the care for shift
workers who don't always work the same set days. There don't seem to be any guidelines for
preschool education. There is a lot of play time that I think could be a lot more organised
into specific activities that stimulate the children further.
103. As a working mother, I have found supply of childcare services in Sydney does not meet
demand. We returned from Canada 3 years ago, having been away for 5 years. At the time
it was impossible to obtain childcare for our 3 year old son in a reputable facility. Some of
the smaller private centres we visited were not satisfactory. I am sure new credentialling
standards introduced last year will help improve this. But the centres we visited indicated
that we would have had to register with them when we knew we were pregnant! At that time
we had no idea if/when we would return to Australia. I am sure this is true for the thousands
of families coming to Australia each year.
Both access and cost are problematic. In Canada, the government provided an allowance of
up to $7,500 per child for care - but that care could include childcare, a nanny, etc. Perhaps
the Australian model needs more flexibility? Childcare centres are sophisticated businesses,
and are often supported by costly infrastructure. Some other models, like council-run Family
Care (which we ended up using before eventually getting a childcare place after 20 months
wait), and nannies (which we used in Canada) have different advantages. I think the
childcare system in Australia could benefit from expanding these less costly business
options. At the same time, there needs to be appropriate regulation - currently it is relatively
easy to call yourself a nanny, for example. Finally, although this does not apply to me, many
families are heavily supported by grandparents/aunts, etc for childcare. Of course often out
of love - but the government might consider some sort of minimal subsidy - there are always
costs associated with such care. Participation in the workforce by these mothers is being
subsidised by their families, and it's not a fair system.
Finally, the current cost of childcare is increasingly prohibitive for less wealthy families.
Evidence shows that the children who benefit most from structured childcare/preschool are
those from less wealthy families. I suspect their access may be even more compromised. At
present the system is not equitable or fair for all families.
104. Childcare needs to be made more affordable but it also needs to work for the parents. By this
I mean the hours, mainly for Kindy & without forcing a parent to use Long Day Care, should
suit the working parent(s). Whilst school is 08:20 to 14:30, this doesn't work for Kindy. Also
day care centres need to allow for teacher's children. Teacher's don't necessarily need
Monday to Friday care during their holidays, but do during school terms, so don't punish
them by making them have to pay full fees with the exception of 4wks where they only pay
50% just to keep their child's spot. You'll find many families have both parents working full
time so cater for that with out the exorbitant fees & unmoving booking system!
105. I am due to return to part-time work in May after 12 months maternity leave. I have been
unable to secure a place at a local long day care centre for both of my boys. The wait lists
are extensive and I have not found a centre that will confirm a place for the boys mid year.
My only feasible option is to engage a nanny to mind the children, but this will be at a
significant cost, and no assistance via the Child Care Benefit.
The following issues are of most concern to me:
- a shortage of places at long day care
- a lack of financial support for those who choose to use nannies instead of day care centres
- the high cost of care (working is sometimes not justified as the income goes directly to
childcare)
106. I find the availability and affordability of childcare services has greatly affected my ability to
participate in the workforce. After my first child I went back to work 4 days/week, using
childcare while at work. After my second child I found, because of the cost of childcare, it
was actually better for me financially to reduce my work attendance to 3 days/week taking
into account extra day of care, travelling costs etc. The children are now at school. I have
the option of working full time but am unable to do so because of the lack of out of school
care available. I find it very frustrating that it is up to the school to determine whether this
service will be provided. Obviously it is additional costs for them so their seems to be no
incentive. I currently use a Rural Care Service for after school care 1 day/week as this was
the only vacancy available. As this service is set up for pre-school children the school-aged
kids find it very boring, particularly during school holidays, if I can secure a spot that is. I do
try to take all my leave during school holidays due to the astronomical cost of vacation care.
To encourage/enable rural parents to participate in the workforce I believe better, more
affordable services need to be provided.
107. I live and work in a regional community - Merredin in Western Australia - and access the
services of a medium sized childcare centre. 90% of the families that use the service are
working, with the majority in government front line services (nursing, teaching, police) and
self employed small businesses. The service is also used by several ‘crisis’ care children.
Closure of the service at any given time (due to failure to meet regulatory requirements) not
only stresses families financially, but communities and delivery of services at risk.
The new regulations requiring an early childhood teacher are proving difficult to implement
in regional locations such as Merredin, who find it hard to find regular staff. Further
pressure on the centre may result in its closure, meaning up to 40 families are down one
parents income (in some cases the only income). The changes are welcomed in terms of
learning and development, but innovation is required in the way this regulation is introduced
into regional Western Australia. The use of web technology - Skype, video conferencing;
the sharing of an ECT amongst ECECs, and creating formal linkages with local primary
schools to access ECTs for set times during the week, are workable options or this region.
Stronger government support is also required in the implementation of the regulations for
not-for-profit ECECs that are run by voluntary committees. This could occur through
existing mechanisms such as the Dept of Communities.
108. 'Child care' is an outdated term & needs to be renamed under the early childhood banner.
The NQS continue to move 'child care' further away from its origins & more recognition
needs to go to its critical importance in childrens' learning, young families continued &
viable participation in the workforce & the quality of educators required for this important
sector. And as per Kinders, volunteer parent run committees acting as 'management/
employers' no longer fits these new NQS shaped early learning environments. Time to grow
up!
109. The Government rebate is a standard amount nationally. This is despite the huge variances in
daily child care rates across the states and territories.
The cap needs to be a percentage of the daily costs incurred by parents. I.e. 50% of daily
fees. This means those who live in cities with more expensive centres are not disadvantaged.
For example our cap will run out in approx March and we only use child care 4 days a week.
We will not receive any rebate for last few months of the financial year.
The Government also needs to regulate centres to prevent them charging non-refundable
waiting list fees. It is common in some areas to approach 10 -12 centres to try and secure a
place because of the huge waiting lists.
110. Early education and learning is so important for our children. Studies have proven that early
learning leads to better social and economic outcomes for our community. Attracting high
quality, qualified staff to achieve this outcome is vitally important for success. Too often our
early learning educators and carers are lured to better remuneration in the school system.
Better support and funding is required to attract and retain (and motivate!) the best of the
best... for the best for our kids and for the brightest future.
111. 1. Advantages of this care for your families circumstances
I have used Wesley mission care in home care services for nearly 6years now. They have
strong regulations on care protocols and focus on providing skills and resources to the carers.
Wesley Mission is very deserving to have more hours allocated to in home care. They are a
centre of excellence and set a wonderful example.
2. How this service has helped
I could not have returned to work (or my career) without the help of this service as my
husband is required to work long hours and travel too. This has enabled me to keep up my
workload and ensure security for my own employees
3. Explanation of why other forms of child care are not suitable
When you are in professional services you need to value add. I value add by being available
to provide business advisory services to professional who cannot see advisors during normal
hours eg a medical specialist needs to spend their time during hours on patients, after hours
on their business. I help struggling SMEs when they use work hours to be with clients, after
hours to work on their own business with advisors
4. Cost effectiveness
It is expensive to have in home care but we consider it a vital necessity and an investment in
our children's well being. If they are happy and safe, I can focus on my economic
contribution to the business. We do not have fancy holidays and we are not extravagant. We
have in home care while we both work because we sacrifice and go without things to try and
give our kids safety, security, comfort in their own home and save for their education.
5. Your job role and requirements and the balancing act of work and family commitments
My job role is a business services practitioner. I service the SME and large private client
market. I have 2 young children prep and year 1. I work Tues-Friday doing a 12-14hr day.
I work from home on a Monday and contribute to school community wherever I can.
6. The struggles your family faces with child care availability
Day care have strict finishing times. I often need to attend a client function, be a guest
speaker, attend a board meeting, go to PD training or visit a client after hours. I have clients
residing overseas in different time zones. If I didn't have in home care I could not do my job
and the demands on the family unit would increase
112. I currently pay $114 per day per child for long day care this equates to $30,000 per year for
full time care for each child. After paying child care fees for three young kids I probably
don’t make much money after tax from working so why do I do it, when so may others
wouldn’t?
-
Because paid work is important to my self esteem, I have a lot to contribute in using my
experience and tertiary qualifications in my workplace.
-
Because I am a role model to my daughter and sons to show them that women work
outside the home and contribute financially.
-
Because I want a career when my kids are older.
-
Because my career can’t afford an extended break out of the workforce while I have a
young family. Colleagues have been promoted in my absence and have more recent work
experience. I probably won’t be able to catch up in the promotion stakes with my male
colleagues, which is why there are fewer women in senior positions, yet more women
graduate than men from University.
-
I certainly won’t be able to make up the lost time in superannuation contributions or gain
the compounding benefits that these contributions would bring being made early in my
life.
Making childcare affordable means you keep experienced, tertiary educated women like me
connected to the workforce while we have young families. It helps us maintain our
qualifications and we also know that kids from families whose parents work and have
tertiary qualifications are also more likely to make the link from school to work and further
education.
113. When my children used long day care, the key problem was finding a place. Quality is
important to me but I had trouble finding any place at all - I recall being on 18 waiting lists
and eventually receiving an offer for only 2 days from one place - so you couldn't really
choose based on quality anyway.
The rebate system is incredibly complicated. Due to my work, I have some understanding
but many parents don't and don't even realise they can claim the rebate.
I strongly believe that childcare is a work-related expense and hence should receive a tax
deduction in the same way as other work-related expenses (including those that are more
tenuous). I am satisfied that the rebate is a suitable alternative as it is more progressive.
However, if the rebate was to be means tested families with high family income but lower
second earner income will find the effective tax rate punishing. This will be a retrograde
step for women's workforce participation and progression. I know many intelligent,
educated and productive women who find that the additional income they earned when
having 2 or more children in care was not sufficient to make it worth the hassle.
114. As a professional working parent, my ability to return to the workforce is dependent on
gaining a placement in a childcare centre or being able to afford private (nanny etc.)
childcare. With most childcare centres in my area nominating a 18 month or more waiting
list it becomes very difficult to maintain active participation in the workforce. With the
majority of workplaces offering less than 12 weeks paid maternity leave, parents are often
caught out between a desire (and/or need) to return to work and the inability to find
appropriate care for their children. I don't pretend to know the solution, but sufficient
childcare places to ensure waiting lists of 6 months or less would help; supporting affordable
alternatives to childcare centres, such as rebates on nanny services would assist; and
providing more support for establishing childcare centres in work/business centres would
make the workforce more efficient and family friendly.
115. I am the 44 yo sole carer of a 20 month old daughter and have recently returned from living
and working overseas. Although I had been on a creche waiting list since before my
daughter was born (i.e. for almost 2 years), a place did not come through in time for my
return to part-time work and I was obliged to hire a nanny.
I have not as yet had a chance to look through all of your materials or study your terms of
reference, however wish to make three brief points/ observations that I hope can be
considered in the mix.
Firstly, what I really wanted to do and sincerely believe would have been in the best interests
of my child, is take 3-4 years off work and care for my daughter myself. I am a professional
with a career I have built after many years investment. I cannot afford to resign and my
(Government) employer only allows for a maximum of one year's unpaid leave. Much of the
public debate that I have heard seems to be about how to make more places available for
longer hours. I would greatly welcome more policy consideration being given to structuring
work conditions in a way that allows parents to be the primary care givers in the formative
pre-school years should they wish. Ideally there would be some kind of stipend available or scheme like a student loan paid back through salary subsequently, but even a right to leave
without pay would have been extremely welcome. In my case, I have already worked for 20
years and the 3 or 4 years that being the primary caregiver would involve, in the span of a 40
or more year career, does not seem excessive to me.
Secondly, having been obliged to pursue the nanny route, I was very surprised to discover
that I am not able to get any meaningful government assistance (such as that available to
much wealthier parents using creches) to mitigate the salary costs. This means that more
than half of my net salary is going into childcare for my one child. In my view, giving
parents more care options, including in home care options, would not only address shortages
in places in care centres, but allow a better tailored care solution for individual children. Not
all young children are suited to the group environment of a creche. As a related point, I note
that there are many bright and capable young people from a range of countries who would be
interested in working in Australia as a nanny or au pair as a one or two year type
arrangement. Yet as I understand, there are no nanny abroad schemes here such as exist in
other Western countries. As a result I found the range and quality of nannies more limited
than I had encountered living in Europe. I would also have very much welcomed the
opportunity to employ someone with English as a second language so that my daughter
could have been exposed to another language.
Thirdly, a two year waiting time for a creche (which is what I encountered and am told is
fairly standard) is just too long. As I have just one child and have been in the workforce for
some time, I managed to find a bridging solution (which I may end up choosing over the
creche), but not everyone is in this position. I am not sure what I would have done if I had
not been able to meet the salary costs for a nanny. Thank you for the opportunity to
comment.
116. Why do parents that need to work to survive and are only low-medium income earners have
to pay massive childcare fees while some parents who want to stay at home and not get a job
get very cheap childcare rates. The govt is looking after the wrong people. Parents that don't
work don't need people to look after their kids as they should be able to seeing as they stay
home. Me.....vacation care & after school to a certain degree it's not worth me working. 2
kids, 1 full day vacation care $150.00, that's my day's pay (gross).
Seriously, help the people that are helping themselves to try to get ahead..... and it seems
very unsuccessfully. I'd be better off being a single mum, part-time job with a healthcare
card.
117. Very happy with the quality of care given to my son, but I find myself and a lot of other local
parents finding it very difficult to get a place, or to get enough days, or the days that they
need, to suit. There is a massive shortfall in inner-city Melbourne for available places in
childcare.
Cost is also extremely prohibitive and makes it very difficult to be a working Mum. It's one
or the other for many people I know, and a juggled mix of the two for my family.
We want to continue to provide quality contributions to the workforce, but it's very hard
given the current structure and cost of childcare.
A potential solution to this could be extending the child care rebate to private nannies.
Obviously accreditations would need to be met, but I know of many others, ourselves
included, that would benefit greatly from this. I'm self-employed and my husband works
shift work as an ESS worker. This change would mean a huge difference to our lives and the
lives and productivity of many others, also potentially freeing up existing childcare places
118. A quarter of our monthly household income is spent on childcare after CCB and CCR (2x
children, F/T). It's a huge financial burden we can not avoid, but prohibits us being able to
have household savings. Our children attend a regional not-for-profit centre and margins are
very tight (higher costs of food, transport) so very little left to invest in resources and
infrastructure. Would like more infrastructure support for regional not for profits. Also,
would like improved wages and conditions for educators to attract high quality staff, and
more men as educators for boys in long day care. EYLF is ok, but programs too childled/unstructured. Need balance of structured programs and child led esp in 4yrs + for
kinder/school readiness. Also, would like more school type reports on child development,
staff need more PD on linking activities to developmental outcomes. Portfolios don't tell a
parent much if just photos and description of activity.
119. The waiting list process really takes way too long and I really don't know how some people
cope if they don't get a place. If it's going to continue this way there needs to be better
communication around how long it takes, I never realised and alot of people I talk to don't
know it can take so long. I fortunately got lucky and got a place too early, I felt the pressure
to take the spot or lose it, then the extra expense of paying for it when you don't need it yet.
Very inefficient system for all really. Good Luck with your inquiry.
120. I have previously worked in the sector also. I would like to see the push to have more highly
qualified staff continue. This was shown in the last enquiry to have many benefits for our
children. I would like to see the continuation of increasing staff to child ratios. Again, the
evidence was shown in the last enquiry. I would like to see support for implementation of the
National framework and National Quality Standards. Funding of one off training is not
sufficient. The NQS PLP has been an excellent initiative to provide ongoing meaningful and
targeted professional development and information for the sector. It is such a shame that
funding for this innovative initiative was cut just before Christmas.
I also have concerns about the continuing corporatisation of the early childhood education
sector. I think there needs to be more research on whether there are benefits of this approach
for our children. The focus of corporations and their responsibility to make a profit for
shareholders does not fit with providing our children with access to high quality education
and care. The ABC Child Care experiment was an epic failure and there should be more
research before the same mistakes are made again.
While the implementation of the National Framework and NQS have been difficult for
services, it is vital that we continue to support services to continue to improve the quality of
services. 0-5 is such an important time in a child's life, investing money now pays dividends
in the future.
121. The childcare rebate has not kept pace with the increases in childcare fees. We have
experienced an increase from $78 per day for my daughter in her toddler class to $109 per
day for my son in the same class 4 years later. As a family my husband and I both choose to
work, which means we are only eligible for the basic childcare rebate, and not for any of the
other tax benefits. The cost and availability of childcare is a contributing factor in our
decision not to have any further children.
122. As a single mother without family support, studying a health science degree (midwifery). I
find it immensely difficult to afford and provide care for my children over the 24hour period
in which I am required to work practical shifts at the hospital as part of practical unpaid
hours. This profession is and will sustain me to enter the workforce to provide for my
children, however there is no incentive or help for people in my situation of which 80% of
my fellow students are also in.
Please consider access to affordable child care via a nanny service who can support us during
the span of hours our health system are expected to work.
123. I have returned to work 3days a week and was forced to go into a share nanny arrangement
with a friend despite the additional cost and lack of any rebate. My first preference due to the
financial implications was a long daycare centre but after putting my daughters name on
countless waiting lists (some which charge!) and not hearing anything I was left with only
one option.
124. I couldn’t have returned to work without the child care service offered by my work. I am a
mum of toddler who and the primary income earner. My partner has a physical disability
which meant we were given priority access. In all, I applied to more than 11 centres in the
early stages of my pregnancy and this was the only offer I have received in all that time and
my child is now 18 months old (i.e 2+ years of waiting). If I had not been offered daycare,
my partner would have had to resign from his permanent position at work and it would have
placed significant physical strain on him and our relationship for the rest of our lives (not to
mention, finances, the mortgage and of course our child).
The childcare I have received (at Owls House, UNSW, Sydney) has been amazing. My child
has thrived in the environment in a way I could not have dreamed possible. It has been very
clear to me that the opportunity to attend daycare has had a significant effect on her
development, in very positive ways. She has learned skills and learned to socialise in ways
that would not have been possible if she did not have daycare. She has been provided with a
learning environment that is healthy, adventurous, and supportive. I could not provide on my
own the range of experiences that she is able to engage in. I would not consider not sending
my child to daycare now that I know how valuable it will be to her development as a person
and member of a community. It will play a significant role in preparing her for the transition
to school – socially, physically, developmentally and academically.
I have significant concerns about the future of childcare in Australia. Without childcare, we
as parents would not be able to work and afford the income to provide a safe and happy
home. Working is important to us so we can contribute to our communities, afford a home,
and develop as human beings – we would both choose to work if we can so that we have an
outlet for our skills and abilities in addition to home life. With the cost of childcare, we may
not be able to afford a second child and have them also attend daycare which would be a
complex decision. The government child care rebate has assisted us so we can afford
daycare. Initiatives to establish more centres to reduce waiting lists need to be developed.
The cost of providing quality care and that impact on families needs to be examined. But
also, the cost of NOT providing care to all those who need/want that opportunity, and
financial implications, and the long term social and community ramifications of that are also
worth investigating.
Finally, daycare has also had a positive impact on me as a parent. The centre staff have
provided me with support and guidance when needed. They have assisted with many queries
and concerns along the way (saving me several trips to our Early Childhood Clinic). The
contact with fellow mums has been much more beneficial than my mum’s group, and I have
found being involved with the centre a very enjoyable addition to my working life.
125. Childcare fees are an enormous burden on young families. The primary school years provide
financial liberation.
The current structure of the CCB and CCR are utterly confusing even for highly educated
people.
There is a financial disincentive to increase work days beyond 3 a week as the CCR /CCB is
capped.
Finding childcare places mid-year and close to home can be extremely challenging for
families.
Employees need to look at opportunities to help part-time workers progress their careers. At
present you can usually return to your previous role, but to move from their and progress is
challenging.
Good quality childcare that respects the individual child, provides them with challenges,
compassion and the chance to take risks, and that does not process them through a childcare
factory is a vital step in setting the next generation of Australians in the right direction for
life.
126. This is an issue of great importance to growth in our economy. Parents who can go back to
work, confident that their children are receiving proper care, are able to contribute much to
meeting the shortfall in skilled staff. When the cost of childcare is reasonable, there is
sufficient incentive to encourage this return. Meta analysis of research papers has shown that
the greatest return on government investment in education is achieved through investment in
early learning, during the period of greatest brain development.
Our current child care system is struggling to establish and implement consistent baseline
standards. Childcare workers are underpaid with little recognition by the current government,
in their watered down position on the national quality framework. This framework is
essential for childcare in Australia to reach even similar standards to those in other
developed countries. While a logical solution, I understand in some cases the family day care
system has much to be desired with only six months of training required and limited checks
and accountability being practiced.
From my own experience, I waited more than a year for my son to be offered a position in
child care and I understand that this is a much shorter period than usual. Management of wait
lists varies between centres, from waitlist application renewal being required every three
months, to retention of the whole list with obsolete records. There is generally no formal
indication to families of how the lists are managed, where they are placed on the list and how
preferences are given. When we were offered a place I felt we had no choice but to accept,
even though I was unhappy with the conditions at the centre. There were very few toys or
games out or music playing when children arrived, most children were very sad and
distressed when parents were dropping them off. I was worried to leave my son. These
reservations were solidified when he fell from a change table. We left that centre and the
manager handled my distress in a defensive way, trying to place blame on my son.
Thankfully we were offered a place at an affiliated centre and it is worlds apart. The carers
are wonderful, management makes a good effort to communicate with families (although
could improve on a day to day level) and my son is learning all the time and very happy
there. However underlying tensions in running of the centre are apparent, with an extremely
high turnover of staff, with thankfully a strong but small core of very caring staff remaining.
Our fees have risen by 10% in the nine months that we have been in the centre, to almost
$100 per day. Thankfully we receive the child care rebate, but it is not worthwhile for me to
work any more than three days per week as we would then exceed the rebate limit and it
would be less financially viable for us. We will be relying on after school care when our son
is of school age and we’ll have to make arrangements for a very short work day when he
starts pre-school. I know these are challenges that most families face. None of which are a
problem, provided we can have confidence that children are safe and happy in whichever
care they have.
I hope the Productivity Commission inquiry is able to provide the government with effective,
workable solutions that support young children - a vital, vulnerable and much overlooked
part of our community.
127. As a mother with a child who has attended childcare for the past two years since he was 12
months old I'd like to submit the following feedback:
- The Childcare benefit and rebate have been very helpful in enabling me to return to work.
It would be detrimental if these were cut as they may be more effective in keeping parents
connected to work than a paid parental leave scheme equal to the parent's salary. I see
such a paid parental leave scheme as inequitable and do not think big business should
have to pay for it. I realise it is a separate issue to child care but I think it is linked. I
would not like to see money that is helping parents out with childcare be redirected to
such a scheme. From my experience as part of a mother's group and play group, a lot of
mothers actually don't want to go back to work after having a child. I did want to but was
in the minority.
- I think the CCB and rebate are quite complex to understand at first - I wonder if they
could be amalgamated into one payment (means-tested) which is deducted from childcare
fees.
- The Mychild website was very helpful in locating childcare centres with vacancies. I
think the ratings system is also beneficial as it keeps parents informed and makes centres
more accountable. The application of the early years quality framework also helped with
consistency and meeting standards. When we moved interstate, it made me feel confident
similar standards were being applied.
- I'd like to see kindergarten programs become more nationally consistent. It has been
difficult to understand the differences between states when we moved from Victoria to
Queensland.
- The staff ratios implemented by the previous Government made me feel confident that
my son would be safe in childcare. Suggestions to relax these are concerning.
- Even though there is much talk of child care being unaffordable, the experience of my
family has been that it has been manageable. I'm keen to see early learning staff paid
what they deserve as they do a very important job and do it very well most of the time.
What we pay in fees seems reasonable for the huge responsibility of looking after and
teaching our young child.
128. Childcare is and has been great for my 3 children. In my experience the centres care for the
kids and have excellent programs in place. My issue is that 1/2 of my partners part time
wage goes to the cost of childcare. Even with the Govt contribution It is almost a
disincentive to work as its cheaper as a family for her to stay at home with the children when
you weigh up the costs. She works however, even though economically it doesn't make
sense. That is my issue.
129. This is such an important issue. Especially through things like no fault of a persons own. I
didn’t want to use the childcare services but when your partner up and leaves there is no
choice. Making these affordable and easy to access is a priority. Having BSC and ASC and
vacation care centres attached to schools is a priority. Ensuring staff are well paid and
trained is a priority. I shouldn’t be still breaking even at the end of the work week - i should
be ahead. I shouldn’t only be $50 worse off a week because I choose to stay home and get
benefits rather than work full time and use care.
130. I have had my daughter in a family daycare setting for 4 years and I have been so happy. My
son started when he was 10 months old also and he loves it. I much prefer the smaller setting
than preschool for my children when they are young. I believe though that cutting the
numbers to 4 children instead of 5 is crazy. The educator I use can definitely handle 5
children and we have never had any issues and I know now she is struggling having to cut
one child per day.
131. My family and I have recently returned to Australia. Having been told about how limited the
child care places are in Canberra, more than 18 mths before our return my daughters ( now 3
and 5 years) were on waiting lists for two child care centers near my place of work.
I was lucky enough to find places for my girls a couple of days a week. My plan was to
gradually increase the number of days they attend before I return to full time work. While is
would be best for the children, the difficulty of changing enrolment mid-term and the cost
($90 a day per child) have made this option difficult to pursue.
Neither issue would be a obstacle if there was more funding support for child care in the
ACT.
I am obligated to return to full-time work later this year. But if I wasn't, it is likely that I
wouldn't return as it would be more cost effective for me to stay at home with the children.
132. I am a father of two girls aged 2 and 4 months. We have used long day care for our oldest
and will be shortly commencing our second child at childcare. My concerns are as follows:
1. The benefit and rebate are confusing terms. I often mix both up and forget which is
which. Can we change the terminology to differentiate the two.
2. The variable cost between centres. We have shopped around many centres and found the
difference in cost is astounding. Something needs to be done about having a fixed price
model so that we are not forced to pay extra to send our kids to a centre more conviently
located. I also think fee increases should be regulated by government and indexed.
3. Pay more for childcare educators. I am disgusted at how little these people get paid for the
wonderful job they do. The promised pay increase should be forthcoming and the
government should absorb the costs.
Don't be stingy with our kids, if we afford to subsidise so many other industries like the car
industry we can afford to do more for our kids.
133. I have 4 children 2 school aged and two who will go to school next year.
My family relies on before and after school care and utilise day care for 4 days of the
working week. We would utilise 5 days but the financial cost of this is prohibitive.
We tried Kindergarten for our daughter last year. This community Kindergarten ran on a 5
day (8:30-2:30) fortnight and did not include government financial support for the costs
involved. We found it difficult to see the benefit to our child (Compared to Daycare) when
complaring the additional costs and logistics involved.
My wife's return to work would not have been possible if we did not have access to the
daycare and their flexibility of days given the continual changes to my wife's rosters.
We intend to continue to utilise daycare and before and after school care as without it we
would not be able to both continue to work.
134. I currently have my daughter in childcare 4 days a week. The fifth day is spent with her
nana.
It was very hard to get the days I required. I had my daughter in 3 days at one centre, 1 day
at another centre and 1 day with family. There are not enough spaces/centres in the ACT to
accommodate all the children. I believe this could be because mothers in Canberra work
more given most Canberrian's work in the public service.
While the childcare is expensive I believe it is appropriate for the services provided. I can
afford to send my child to day care at full cost but many cant and the rebate is fantastic to
help families.
I do think that given the work they do childcare workers should be paid more. This is very
important as you cant run an industry without workers and you wont have workers if the pay
is too little to maintain their own family.
135. * Causes financial difficulties for families with more than 1 child due to exorbitant costs
* Since last Government changes to staff ratios - reduced places for infants 6 weeks to 2
years means accessing baby spots to return to work has been very difficult
* Whilst quality of care is important to parents, stability of care (ie low staff turnover) is as
important
* Educational curriculum more akin to primary school level - does not improve primary
education outcomes, reduces interest of children once they reach school age
* Centres relying increasingly on parental guidance as to what parents think should be
taught - cannot please everyone
* Increase in individual state/territory politically-based education ideas - education seems to
be more focused on environmental/social factors than teaching kids to read/write and
interact positively with peers and others
* Centres education based on owner/director philosophy rather than on the fundamentals of
education
136. The only way to get childcare in Sydney's lower north shore is to visit / call the childcare
centres EVERY week! I went through this experience in May 2013 and put my name down
at 27! centres. I called 14 of them EVERY week. My needs were ANY 3 days of the week
for a 6month old and I only managed to get 3 days split at two different centres. There is no
system of prioritisation - the only reason I got 2 days at one centre is that I burst into tears of
desperation 2 weeks before I was to go back to work and the Centre director said she took
pity on me and put me at the top of the list! The placement system for childcare is ridiculous
and would benefit greatly from prioritisation or government guaranteeing places so that
women can return to work.
137. I have 2 young sons in childcare 3 days a week. Whilst we are very lucky with the childcare
we use it took us 18 months for us to get my youngest into care even though we had his
details down before he was born. The cost of childcare is also limiting my ability to work
full-time, as we cannot afford to have both of them in care more than 3 days a week.
The main concern for me is the quality of childcare workers, we are lucky we have people
who are passionate about young children looking after our children, however, I know the
salary they earn means that many individuals are put off from going into the childcare
industry.
It seems unfair they are paid so poorly when they are looking after our children at one of the
most important times in their lives. There needs to be a review of the pay system, increased
availability of childcare and discussion with families about what we really need.
138. High quality accessible childcare is essential to ensuring high rates of workforce
participation, which in turn support a strong economy but there are a number of challenges
with the industry as it currently stands.
Issue
-
There is an extremely high rate of turn over of childcare workers, which result in a loss
of skilled workers. A huge part of this is that pay rates are so low that good childcare
workers get better paying jobs.
Solution
-
Better pay for childcare workers, better and ongoing training.
-
Opportunities for retention bonuses.
Issue
-
As a result of the high turn over in staff there are a large number of very young workers
or workers that have significant language barriers. For example I had trouble explaining
to childcare workers that at three months old my son was too young to eat solids. I also
had to show another worker how to give him a bottle.
Solution
- While people are able to work in childcare while competing relevant qualifications
introduce a basic set of competencies on childcare and early childhood development.
Issue
- Access to child care is a huge challenge in cities with high workforce participation rates
such as Canberra. Parents are often required to apply for child care places during the
early stages of pregnancy. While the mychild.gov.au website assists in providing
information about child care centres and places it is often out of date and does not reflect
the availability of permanent child care places but rather occasional care.
Solution
- Provide parents with more assistance to find suitable care arrangements. Link places to
workplaces or residential zones similar to schools.
Other comment
Despite the challenges detailed above the standard of care provided to children is Australia is
high with the majority of child care providing working in the best interests of children and
families.
I am very fortunate in that the centre my son attends provides a high standard of care in an
environment that supports him and our family.
139. My wife and I have recently been seeking childcare for our first child who is now almost 9
months old. We applied before she was born (around 12-14 months ago) at 8 different
childcare centres.
All of our preferred centres have advised that there were no places and we have only
received an offer from one place which apparently has far less resources and appears to
provide a lower quality of care than others we have visited.
Surely, given the competing interests between private enterprise and quality of education
there is a genuine case for government run childcare.
A further issue that could be dealt with to ease the transition for parents returning to the
workforce is the application process. Most centres refuse to provide any indication of
potential places until the moment they have a place to offer. This makes it difficult to plan
things. Given the regular exodus of school-age children, centres must be in a position to
appreciate what their position is likely to be well in advance. Providing some indication to
prospective users upfront would help the planning process. Given that most centres demand
that parents ring every two to three months to keep their application from being thrown out
and thereby forfeiting their place in the waitlist, it would be nice to know if the hassle is
worthwhile.
140. Childcare is expensive, however, the 50% childcare is appreciated and helps our family
contribute to the economy through I being employed full time and my wife being employed
part time. We use the money we earn and put it back in to the economy. Apart from the
rebate, we do not cost the Australian taxpayer any extra.
Our issue is that mothers that choose to stay at home get an extra bonus to send their kids to
daycare through childcare benefits because they are not earning a wage. If they choose to
stay home, why do they get an extra benefit to send their kids to daycare, when that reduces
the number of childcare places for mothers and fathers that are willing to work? Places are
already very difficult to find.
Our suggestion would be to increase the rebate and remove all child care benefits
completely. The amount the rebate is increased would be the equivalent to the amount saved
by removing the childcare benefits. This would cost the government no money, but the
government would receive extra revenue. How? Raising the rebate would encourage
workplace participation as you would retain more of the money you earn (make it more
attractive to work). In the process you would also improve the economy by having more
people employed, thereby paying taxes, and then using that money through purchases in the
economy (extra GST) which would allow more people to be employed, and they paying
taxes. All this would occur instead of having to pay out benefits via government handouts if
those people didn't work. Essentially, you would reverse outgoings or expenditure and
increase incomings or revenue. You also have the added benefit of changing culture over
time to one where people want to contribute to society instead of one that expects handouts
from society.
141. I found it incredibly difficult to find childcare for my baby in Sydney. When i started looking
for childcare when my baby was 3 months old, I was advised that i needed to have put my
name on the waiting list for the Leichhardt area when i was 12 weeks pregnant. There was
no guarantee that i would even be offered a spot. I also paid about $300-400 to be put on
waiting lists for about 8 childcare centres in the area.
I paid about $125/day when i returned to work 4 days a week. I enjoy working but the cost of
childcare doesn't make it worthwhile.
In order to manage, my son was enrolled at two childcare centres. This isn't really optimal,
but i had no choice. I am lucky that the staff were supportive and helped enormously in
helping my son adjust.
Although it is outside the terms of reference, it would be useful to consider not just the
economics of lack of childcare, but also the social impacts of childcare and what parents will
do to get childcare.
142. I found the process of obtaining childcare very stressful. Putting my twins down at every
childcare centre I could find even before they were born, in some instances being slugged
with a $100 application fee (which I believe is extortion) and then waiting for even a chance
of a day a week (which wouldn't have helped me to return to work). Turned what should
have been a time of enjoying my babies into a very tense experience.
Also, the costs of childcare can be very onerous: I want my children to receive the best care
(our current centre is not the most expensive but we love it) but the costs of childcare mean
that we will probably have to take out a personal loan once the Childcare Rebate finishes for
us in February. I can't work out how people who earn less than my husband and I can afford
to use childcare when we find it so difficult. The ridiculous thing is that we are worse off
financially if one of us stops work to care for our children.
143. I live in Canberra and it took me 9 months to get a spot at a centre in 2011 - and that was
after having my name down on about 10 centres waiting lists. After waiting 4 years, we are
now only just able to (just) afford a second child as my 1st child approaches school age (i.e
only needing to pay 1 lot of daycare fees and not 2). My husband and I will struggle
financially as an APS 6 and EL1 both working fulltime to send two children to daycare - we
are eligible for assistance through the childcare rebate only, which while helpful is not
enough. Ideally we would love to have three children but the costs of daycare make this
unachievable for us - or we have to wait 5 yrs between children to reduce the financial
pressure of ever rising daycare costs. It sounds ridiculous to whinge about the cost of
daycare when we earn good money - but unreality - we'd be better off if we didn’t earn as
much and were eligible for government assistance.
144. The system for financial assistance is unwieldy and confusing for both parents and child care
centres. The centre my children attended often had mistakes in the billing system. There
were often periods when where overdue fees were claimed. It was impossible to work out
from the bills what was owed and why.
The system of government rebates also seems too complicated for parents to understand and
seemingly the body which administers them as well. In the course of 2 weeks I received 5
separate letters, some of them dated on the same day, stating different entitlements. I
decided to query this and queued at a Medicare/ Family Assistance shop, waited ages to
speak to a person. She then spent 45 minutes trying to understand what the 5 different letters
said and understand what my entitlement was. At the end of that time she seemed to realise
that she had spent too long speaking to 1 customer and that might impact some performance
target she had so she just cut me off. I still have never got to the bottom of that issue. As a
busy working parent with young children I probably never will.
There are too many options for the rebates and entitlements to them are not clearly stated on
the Family Assistance website.
145. I have three small children and finding a childcare place has never been a problem so long as
I have been willing to place my children in separate centres, travel long distances and pay for
a place as soon as it comes up, even if it is six months before I will ever have a chance to use
it.
My biggest issue with child care centres is availability. Even when putting my child's name
on a list 6-12 months in advance, I have rarely been able to get a place when I want it.
Understandably, childcare centres want to fill a place as soon as it becomes available.
If I want to guarantee a place for my child from the date that I need it, I have always had to
pay for a place months ahead of when I actually need it .
I know that I am making the problem worse for other parents by holding on to a place I don't
even need, but I can see no other way to ensure I have care when my employer expects me
back at work.
146. I am really unhappy with the fact that working mothers who are apart from their children all
day and who put their children in care cause that’s there only option while they work are
charged a lot more then stay at home mums who take advantage of the system and just
‘dump’ their kids in care so they can go out and spend the money that they get for doing
nothing. I believe this is really unfair to the hard working mothers out there who refuse to be
another statistic on the dole and work for a living. And in saying that when i was returning to
work after maternity leave it was extremely difficult to get a spot as all of them were taking
by non working mothers and i was only given a spot due to the complaint i made
147. Childcare services are not a luxury - they are essential for workforce women's workforce
participation - and even self-identity, respect and independence. I was brought up by a
feminist mother who told me I could ‘have it all’. When I became a mother at the height of
an exciting and demanding career in my 30s I didn't realise that the lack of access to quality
childcare would in fact result in my career stalling, possibly never recovering, due to years of
part-time work and the associated stigma this creates among my male senior colleagues. This
is because i spent a year on several waiting lists to get my first child a part-time place in a
childcare centre. After taking substantial time out of the workforce then took 3 years for me
to get a place for my second child and I have only now been able to pick up the remnants of
my career. It has been hard but the centre my child now attends has amazingly dedicated
staff who earn dismal salaries and yet remain personally committed to the care and targeted
education of my child. They deserve more - more salary, more respect and more resources.
Parents, especially mothers, should not be made to feel guilty that they are receiving some
kind of ‘middle-class welfare’ when they get the child care rebate. In fact, I would be home,
barefoot in the kitchen without it as I would not be able to afford to work and pay nearly
$100 a day in fees. As it is, I spend more than half my annual salary on childcare services to
enable me to work full-time to support my family and revive my career. Childcare support
from the government is essential to allow women to pursue their economic and intellectual
potential. Early education has been proven to be essential for brain development and to result
in better education and social outcomes later in life. Australian society can only benefit from
that investment.
148. Availability and cost of childcare is a huge issue impacting on working, middle class
Australians today.
In order to access care I had to have my unborn baby's name on waiting lists and cross my
fingers and hope we were blessed with a spot. I wasn't offered a spot in childcare until our
daughter was 15 months old, almost two years since I had listed our names.
Now that we are in, we are grateful for the high level of service and care my daughter
receives whilst in daycare. 95% of my income (APS 6) goes to cover our mortgage
($347,000) and to cover childcare costs ($384 a fortnight) I cannot afford not to go to work,
in order to keep a roof over our heads, I must go to work, I love my job and don't mind going
to work, however I find the childcare costs in Canberra very high when in comparison to
Sydney and Melbourne. We pay $96 a day for one child compared to friends in Sydney who
pay $50 a day per child. I think there should be a fair standard across the country for
childcare costs (without disadvantaging the childcare staff, who do such a wonderful job and
who we wouldn't be able to go to work without them.) Thank you for your time and I hope
this public inquiry provides some equality in terms of costs for parents across the country
and fair pay for those amazing people who look after our children, to allow us to go to work
and pay taxes.
149. I am due with my second child and have another in full time care (3yr old), I really believe
that the $7500 that we get in childcare rebates per year is a joke considering we pay over a
$100 a day ($500wk, $24,000 a year). The $7500 has not been indexed since it was
allocated to careers although childcare fees keep increasing. I believe that it would
encourage more parents into working full time if there was a higher rate of rebate. The cost
of living is ever increasing and to continue full time work I need to look at other options for
support for my child care now with 2 children. I really hope that I can continue to have them
in childcare as I see the benefits of the socialisation of my 3yr old but if it comes down to
paying rent and buying food I will look at alternatives.
150. I am a mother with three children who will all require childcare when I return to work at the
end of my maternity leave later this year. The high cost of childcare in Canberra (including
after the childcare rebate is applied) means that I will not be able to return to the workplace
full-time. Once I reach the rebate cap in any financial year, I am looking at paying about
$330 a day in fees with no rebate. Obviously, the rebate runs out earlier in locations where
chilcare expenses are higher. This directly impacts on my ability to participate in the
workforce. If childcare were more affordable, I would have the option to participate in the
workforce full-time.
151. Its unfair how I as a fulltime working mother with 2 children in family daycare have to pay
all costs associated with the care while stay at home mothers have their kids in care fulltime
also but pay the very basic amount. Prior to returning to work, it took months to find a spot
for my 11 month old and 3 year old together as most area were taken up by stay at home
mums. The childcares refused to withdraw other kids already registered there to
accommodate my children as they all said they had the spot before me even though my
understanding was that working mothers have priority over stay at home mums. I know
personally of mothers who did not work and had their kids in care and paid less than $50 a
week. I was paying $600 a fortnight a huge chunk out of my wages. It was easier for me to
stay at home and not work but I persevered so that I could set an example for my girls when
they got older. I found that the system made it harder for working mothers and easier for stay
at home mothers. It was not an incentive for stay at home mothers to work because they were
not out of pocket much so therefore did not need to work up the difference, whereby working
mothers would get their percentage from centrelink reduced if they made more money hence
resulting in my percentage being 0% by the end of it. As a result I stopped taking shifts on
weekends because it became ridiculous and a joke. I was taking on shift to cover the
childcare fees but at the same time my fees went up because I was earning X amount of
money which subsequently reduced my centrelink contribution because I earned over the
threshold.
152. Accessing the ‘Child Care Rebate’ and ‘Child Care Benefit’ is excessively complex and the
application process is mindboggling. Why is applying for these payments so difficult and
confusing? Streamline the payments and make the application process simple.
153. Please provide vacation care options on the first day of the school year, when continuing
kids do not have school, and care is not offered. It leaves a sole working parent who needs to
attend work with a problem!
154. I would like to raise two issues:
1. that there is a lack of child care services in the ACT. When I was pregnant with my first
child, I put her name down at 5 centres for full time care. I only received an offer from
one centre. There has been talk of another centre being built in Holt but no one seems to
know anything about it.
2. That the child care rebate is capped. Working full time, this means that the government
only assists us for 8 months of a financial year. Once the cap is reached, my fees go from
paying $920 a month to $1840 a month. When we have a mortgage and a growing family,
this is quite a drain on our finances (as we are not entitled to the child care benefit either).
I think that $11000 cap would be more reasonable or no cap at all.
155. My wife and I had registered at a number of day care centres (and family day care) in our
area approximately 6 months before our baby was born on 30/10/12. My wife had 7 months
of maternity leave and we only managed to get a place (2 days per week) 2 weeks before she
was due to go back to work. This was extremely stressful due to the potential impacts to
both of us and the ability for us to return to work at a full-time capacity. It appears that
every family puts their name down on several lists which results in the wait list not actually
being very accurate as other places may become available at any time and each centres lists
not updated until much later.
There needs to be a true national/state wait list register that is updated in real-time when a
family finds a spot so that families can effectively plan their return to work.
In addition to that, while I understand the need to support disadvantaged families,
professional couples are also disadvantaged as we always end up at the bottom of the priority
list. There is little incentive for professionals to go back to work and remove a reliance on
welfare when the system doesn't support our needs equally. Although raising children is
expensive, we don't necessarily need financial assistance but rather the ability to access
support mechanisms like day care equally.
156. Wait-lists for babies are at least 18 months. If you do not have family in the area, longwaiting lists will prevent a parent from returning to work. I work because I want to and
because I have to in order to maintain my standard of living. Childcare is not cheap, nor is
living in Sydney. I’m already paying $130 a day for childcare, and thus, I do not believe that
prices need to drastically rise in order for my son’s care to improve. There is too much
turnover in childcare. 50% of the carers have left my son’s facility since he enrolled less than
1 year ago. The directorship has changed three times. I’m at a university-based centre, so I
assume turnover is worse in other arenas. Operators and governments need to address these
problems. I want my son to develop secure attachments. If his carers are changing every
three months then a secure attachment style will be less likely. An insecure attachment in
early childhood predicts future relationship problems. In fact, it’s one of the most reliable
predictors studied in psychology. Relationship problems contribute to mental health
problems. And thus my son’s attachment is not just a family problem, but Australia’s
problem. Healthier children will lead to a healthier Australia.
157. We have 3 young children, spread across primary school, kinder & child care.
We have a choice - either my wife works full-time to help us pay the mortgage & care fees
or she stays at home & we lose our house.
I we choose to work, we do not yet have a solution as to how we collect one child from
kinder at 2:30, another from school at 3:30 & the other from some kind of care (yet to be
sourced).
I find it amazing that people who choose not to work have access to cheaper (almost free)
childcare, using the exact same facilities we pay ridiculous sums of money to access.
I hope you can find the balance that better supports families who contribute to the economy
through working & paying taxes, thus putting less drain on welfare services / payments,
whilst allowing us the freedoms to actually have a better standard of life that we work hard
to achieve.
We don't want or expect things for free, but we do need to have solutions that help us with
managing time & cost to ensure we can both work & raise our kids in a supportive
environment.
I also hope that this commission is able to identify areas for improvement of the ‘system’. &
reduce wastage in areas in areas such as administration (red-tape) & duplication.
158. -Once we found a centre we liked in our local area, we had to call monthly, then fortnightly,
then weekly, then bi weekly over a 10 month period to get bumped up on the list high
enough to be offered a place. It is those that build the best relationships
159. I think the number of working mothers has increased, and there are many who want to return
to work force, however the lack of vacancy and obnoxious fee charged in childcare centres
prevents this from occurring. It shocks me that there is a huge disparity between fee charged
by childcare centres depending on the location e.g. Goodstart early learning centre charge a
lower fee for services in the Tarneit centre as opposed to point cook centre. Government can'
even seem to standardise the fee structure for childcare during public holidays. E.g. in the
childcare where my 2 year old goes they charge full fee even though it's a public holiday and
the childcare is closed. Whereas in other childcare centres (in same suburb)they charge half
fee.
No wonder a lot of career women choose to stay at home because the fee charged by these
centres amounts to almost same money as the basic wage of an Australian. It's high time that
the government places a capping on the fee, and standardise the close down days across all
centres, also standardise the feel charged over public holiday.
160. Have you experienced difficulty accessing suitable care for your child?
I am currently waiting to get a second day (Thursday). Apparently Tuesdays and Thursdays
are the most popular days to childcare. In my case they are the preferred days because public
holidays generally don't fall on those days I cannot understand why a parent has to pay for
childcare when it is a public holiday or when their child is sick. Why cant there be flexibility
in terms of calling up a parent who may wish to use that day that another child is sick.
Sometimes parents might need an extra day of childcare but not every week.
What factors influence whether you use early childhood education and care (ECEC) services,
care for your child at home or have your child cared for by another family member? Is
affordability a significant barrier to your use of ECEC services or does it influence the type
of service you use?
Factors that influence my use of ECEC services: affordability
I have one child in care one day a week at the moment (waiting on the second day). For the
other 3 days she will be cared for by my mum. I also have a baby that mum will look after
along with my daughter on days she is not in care. I will be back at work full time.
There is NO WAY I could afford to send my daughter for more than 2 days and when my
son turns 2 I will probably cut one day off for her to get my son in for one day. The cost of
care for 5 days for one child let alone 2 means i would be working for nothing (considering
the amount of time I have lost not being with my children as well).
Do you feel you are able to make an informed assessment of the quality of different ECEC
services? Have you found quality assessment information on the MyChild website useful?
Do you consider that the quality of available services is adequate? If not, which types of
service, or particular aspects of a service do you have concerns about? Would you accept
lower quality care if that care is closer to where you live or work, or enables you to work
preferred days or times? Would you pay more for ECEC shown to contribute to better
learning and development outcomes for your child?
I didn’t know the website existed.
I would not accept lower quality care. this is our children (the future) we are talking about,
why are we compromising our children, the government wastes so much money that could
be better spent on childcare options, don't ask parents to consider lower quality care. Not
sure about paying more either, again they are just young children - let them be children. I
think its great to do early learning (i read, count, talk to my daughter and son all the time and
get them involved as much as i can for their tiny age) but we must remember they are still
very young and how much can we make the learning and development better at ages 0-6 for
example.
Are problems with access to, or the flexibility, cost or quality of ECEC preventing you from
undertaking work or study (or the number of hours you would prefer to work or study)? How
should any problems be addressed? Would, for example, extending childcare centre hours or
the length of the school day make it easier for you to work?
Extend the length of the school day perhaps...too many school holidays
Is current support for families (mainly through the Child Care Benefit, Child Care Rebate
and Jobs, Education and Training Childcare Fee Assistance) adequate? Are eligibility
requirements appropriate and clear? Is working out your eligibility, applying for assistance
and reporting changes in your circumstances (that may impact on eligibility, such as work,
training, study, or income) straightforward? Is the online childcare estimator easy to use?
Could delivery of support be improved to make it easier for parents? Is it appropriate that
families receiving childcare support may also receive other government payments for
families (for example, paid parental leave or family tax benefits)?
No its not adequate. I know of someone who got divorced (single mum) and didn’t have to
pay for child care. I have to go to work, miss out on being with my babies (i would prefer to
be a stay at home mum) and have to pay almost the full fee. Just because i work and get a
decent salary doesn’t mean i am rich or even close to it yet my family gets no family tax
benefit and bugger all in child care benefit (don’t care if I don’t but get penalised too much
from the government for actually working). Too many people with money pretend they don’t
have it (cash) and get government assistance.
Should support be extended to types of childcare not currently funded or funding increased
for specific types of childcare — for example nannies providing in-home care? What
standards or assurances should these carers have to meet or provide?
Do you have any specific comments about access to, flexibility or the cost of occasional
care; outside school hours care (including vacation programs); or preschool? Have you had
difficulty finding a nanny or au pair? What could alleviate such difficulties?
If currently using employer provided childcare, what advantages does it offer you? If you
don’t currently have access, would you find this type of care attractive, if offered?
i would love it if employer childcare was provided. i would be able to see my babies at least
on lunch breaks (if this was allowed).
What factors other than ECEC are influencing your decisions about participation in work or
study? Is government assistance, or the withdrawal of that assistance, for example family tax
benefits, a significant factor?
i would love to change my field of work and do another degree but that degree costs approx
$50k - don’t have that kind of money and don’t want a HECS-HELP debt. i would use the
new field of study to open up my own nutrition business and work from home/have flexible
hours of work.
161. It is extremely difficult to obtain a place for your child, such that if you don't put in an
application in the first trimester of your pregnancy then you will have no chance. This is
ridiculous. Furthermore, you can often receive an offer a month or two before you need it
and if you don't accept and pay from that time, then you drop off the waiting list. The
demand/supply factor is badly skewed!
Finally, it is childcare availability that drives whether you can return full time or part time to
work or not at all, and if part time then on what days. His means that important family and
work factors such as financial situation, job requirements and what is best for your child and
family don't get a look in.
162. My experience with childcare ranges across three different age periods.
Before-preschool. I couldn't find a local childcare that would take my children. Even my
employer's in-house childcare provider was unable to confirm my children, even though they
were registered since birth. Instead I had to drive to a remote centre until a place became
available. I was only able to take advantage of the local childcare for 1 year. I found that the
system for ensuring care was ad-hoc. The ‘put the child on the list’ system simply does not
work when special cases dominate the entry and the queue to get in far exceeds the centre.
Also my experience was that before 3 years old it was very difficult to get any care. The two
things that worked was that did work was siblings did get into the same place and it was
possible to work a somewhat normal day.
Pre-school was the most disorganised for childcare. There were no options for childcare that
extended care on the pre-school days. In two stages I had one child in pre-school and the
other in before pre-school or primary school. So care for one, but the other meant a short
day. Different locations just meant a bit of time driving around and the short day for preschool meant it was out of kilter with the childcare and primary school care.
At primary school age (present), before/after-school care has basically became manageable.
It still has constraints. I have the kids booked in for most days and its the only way to
manage a schedule of work and ensuring care for the kids. But when something happens on a
day without care it is very unlikely that it can be accommodated. For example, if it involves
a day flight (particularly for before school care), then I can't book because the before/after
school care can't confirm until the day - hence useless. The management have tightened
arrangements (ie less flexible) before/after-school care over the last 12 months.
Productivity was made difficult with this since work - while it did provide some flexibility because very difficult to schedule. But I have to say that parking was the worst, especially
where I needed a car for transiting the kids, only to find there were no parks left at the office.
I have had days were I just go home.
163. I have two children in long daycare while my husband and I work. My husband and I both
need to work to pay bills and cover the mortgage on our modest two-bedroom unit in
Sydney. While I am extremely happy with the daycare we use I recently employed a
temporary nanny to cover while I was waiting to change my daycare days, and I loved that
my children got to play together instead of being segregated by age group, making it a
special experience for them both. In particular my oldest child is going through an anxious
phase and doesn't speak if I am not there, however under the personal care of the nanny
chatted easily. Daycare plus nanny fees wiped out my salary which means that long-term I
am unable to afford this mix of care which I feel would benefit my children's development.
More flexibility on the childcare rebate would be very much welcomed in our household.
164. Limit the amount of paper work and red tape that has to be met by providers.
I would prefer the educators at my children's day care centre be focused on spending time
with the children, rather than having to tick boxes in curriculum and keeping an enormous
amount of records.
For accountability - contact parents, we will tell you of the centre is doing it's job!
Cost of day care in the ACT is phenomenal! An enquiry into pricing needs to happen, more
consistent across the board.
165. Childcare is far too expensive and not available nearly enough as required.
166. I find childcare a vital aspect for all parents in Australia, more so for working parents. Aside
from having someone care for your child while you are at work, the kids benefit from
interacting with other children, having organised routines and learning from other children
and educators. My children have learnt things that I had not even thought to teach them
(songs, skills before I thought they were capable etc) but also spoke better, toilet trained
more efficiently and transitioned to school better after attending a child care centre.
However, there are not enough childcare spaces available and it is too expensive even with
the child care rebate. Our centre has just reached $101 a day. Yes they have improved the
centre, pay their staff and include nappies and food but it is a big blow to the budget. I
would like to actually pay more so the staff get more but we wouldn't be able to afford it. My
youngest child will be going to child care three days a week for the next two years at least.
We live in Canberra and apparently Canberra has the highest cost of child care in Australia.
We are quite lucky with our particular centre though because as well as fantastic, caring staff
who make a difference to my child's day, the centre is also open early in the morning (7am)
and closes quite late at night (6:30pm) in comparison to other centres.
We have also been lucky to have my eldest daughter in a preschool that has before and after
school care which has helped the transition to preschool work with our work schedules.
But my Mum suggested about a year ago that she go part time to work 4 days a week so she
can look after my youngest daughter all day and get my eldest daughter to school. We
jumped at the chance to save the money and so they could have quality time together. I know
of Mum's that have 3 or more children that find it cheaper to stay at home and Mum's that
have employed an live in au pair as a cheaper alternative.
So my main priorities are more spaces, greater affordability and more government assistance
(FYI - the $7,500 cap is ridiculous for parents of children in full time care).
I would be interested in flexible child care proposals especially those for shift worker as my
husband will be changing jobs soon and won't be doing the usual 9-5 hours.
167. There needs to be more child care places for children under two. In Newcastle, where I live,
I've had my 11 month old on the waiting list at multiple centres since I was 3 months
pregnant and still cannot get her a place. I've been told it will be at lease another 6 months, if
at all. I am coercing family into looking after her three days a week so I can work, but as
much as they love her, they live 2 hours away so it's not a long term solution. If you want
educated professional women returning to the workforce & making use of their HECS and
HELP funded degrees, you must provide adequate child care at a reasonable price.
168. We need more flexibility in childcare! I have a 4 year old with special needs who has
recently started school full time and I am unable to get a job during school hours. I want to
work but with no family close by, I don't have care options for him so I can work in my field
of expertise
169. In my experience it is difficult to find child care centres that are clean, maintained well and
have appropriate staff. After looking at some centres I truly would not put my dog into for
the day I found a child care centre in my local area. This was then taken over by another
centre - in the last 12 months since Best beginnings took over from Little Aussies Child care
centre, I have experienced staff who do not use language correctly with one two free being
taught to my child and other poor language skills. the grade of employee has dropped
considerably. In addition I am now trying to move house and am finding it difficult to locate
schools with on site out of school hours care facilities. In my experience these offer less
disruption to the child and reduce the exposure of the child to additional stressors. These
facilities are more likely to be reasonably priced and are not trying to profit ridiculous
amounts of money from working families. In addition the Centrelink system is frustrating
and difficult for the 50% out of pocket reimbursements. and this has contributed to increases
in fees rather than reducing the amount families have paid. All in all the whole system is not
well set up and makes it frustrating as a working parent to try to navigate. When wanting to
complain to a body around a payment process required by the day care facility, I was sent
between DCP and other facilities no one really knew who should be dealing with my issue.
170. As the parent of 3 school aged children and the wife of a Defence Force full time member, I
regularly need access to non-standard child care hours, due to my shift work during evenings
and weekends, especially when my husband goes away or is doing shift work himself.
The current child care situation doesn't allow or take into consideration, parents who work
outside of the hours of 6.30am-6.30pm Monday-Friday. Although family day care does
occasionally provide non-standard hours, they are very hard to source, and extremely
disruptive to children attending school.
Extending the child care rebate to in home nanny care would allow for families like my own
to source affordable and quality in home care for our children, enabling us to pursue a career.
171. I am a fulltime working mother, with my husband also working fulltime. Our daughter is in
childcare 5 days per week. Our primary concerns are twofold: affordability and
overregulation. We acknowledge that there needs to be a balance on both.
Childcare is extremely expensive, though in many situations families find themselves in, the
little extra gained from an extra fulltime wage is necessary (not a luxury). The childcare bill
is second only in amount to our accommodation expense. We acknowledge that it is
necessary to provide adequate wages, but believe that childcare costs can be reduced through
streamlining red tape and regulations.
We also believe that the childcare industry is overly prescriptive, and adherence to the
National Quality Framework has taken educators' time away from caring for children by
needing to comply with forms and regulations. While some oversight and guidance is indeed
necessary, the emphasis should be on safety and 'play'. We believe the NQF goes further
than what is necessary, and compliance has contributed to the rising cost of childcare.
172. I have had both of my children in daycare from 12 & 9 weeks of age. I am employed full
time by my husbands business plus I have employment as a part time casual working 1-2
days per week.
In the past 12 months I was offered a high level banking position more in line with my pre
children career however had to decline this as financially we were not going to be any better
off and my husband was going to have to employ other people to cover my position.
At present, we qualify (only just) for family assistance A & B. the issue for me is that I own
a residential investment property that despite being negatively geared and requiring a large
amount of 'topping up' from me, the GROSS income is added to my income putting us right
at the threshold. In 2013 on average, after child are and preschool costs, I was left with
approximately $200 per week from which I needed to meet mortgage and associated costs as
well as that of living.
Whilst I well appreciate that there are costs associated with child care, it would appear that
the more you work (& therefore earn) & invest, the worse off you are. There are parents at
my child care centre, neither of which (or one of which) is working and they contribute very
very little toward the cost.
I believe that child are should be a tax deduction as if you are paying tax, generally you are
earning through working so the bigger the outlay, the bigger the deduction and so on.
I appreciate the opportunity to comment, thank you.
173. I am a parent to 3 children (6,4 & 3) and live in north west NSW. In order to work at an
appropriate level (I am Masters degree qualified), my work involves travel. We have no
access to family or overnight care so a live-in au pair is the only option that works for our
family.
It would be great to have out of pocket live in expenses at a minimum tax deductible, even
better if they qualified for the Child Care Rebate.
At times it has proved impossible for me to work, so in order to better assist the family, the
ability income split would be beneficial.
All child care expenses should be tax deductible.
My middle son has autism, so we employ 2 live-in ABA trained therapists - there is no
access to any therapy in our area. Making the therapy costs associated with his autism tax
deductible would lighten the financial burden considerably (ABA is the only best practice
therapy in Fed Govt own guidelines).
In short:
-
Recognition of in-home care
-
Tax deductible child care
-
Income splitting
-
Tax deductibility of therapies related to disabilities such as autism
174. There exists an assumption that workforce participation is always a good thing for everyone.
- For many this is true, and I applaud efforts in recent decades by our governments to
facilitate and provide improved workplace flexibility and options.
What is needed however is greater flexibility and options for those who choose to provide
their own childcare to their own children - I.e. The stay at home parent. It is parents who on
the whole provide the best care for their children. Children copy their parents. The more they
see their parents while growing up, the more they see and know how to be contributing
members of our society when they're older. And the lesser a future burden they are on our
economy and tax system. Our tax system vastly favours families where both parents work
outside the home. This would need to be changed to a system that provides the option of a
family tax rate, to create a more equitable childcare situation for all - those who choose to
have others look after their children against those who choose to look after their children
themselves. For example, a husband and wife who earn $60,000 each before tax will have
the same net income as the solo breadwinner parent who earns $137,000 before tax.
Hardly seems the right way to strengthen the underlying long term fabric of our country - by
creating disadvantage for the family unit.
- wonder what the parenting looked like for the adolescents and adults who think
performing a king hit on someone is ok...
175. As a mother of 3 and a Speech Pathologist currently working part time I use Family Day
Care services. With the current ratio change to 4 children under 5years per educator I have
not been able to enrol all 3 of my children in the same family day care home on the same
day. If the ratio was 5 children under 5 my educator would have had an extra spot for my
son. Not being able to have all 3 children in the same care has caused issues for my family
and delayed my return to work. As someone who works with children and has also been a
user of Family Daycare I have seen how the dynamics have changed between the children
from going from 5 children to 4 and I personally found that I preferred the interactions of 5
children as I felt it gave my children more diversity. The educators are well trained and quite
capable of caring for 5 children under 5 years at one time. It also means that as a mother of 3
if all of my children are in care at the same time then there is only a spot for one other child
which I feel is not fair for the lone child and also does not offer a range of children for my
kids to play with. With the current ratio I have not been able to find appropriate care for my
7 month old baby and I have had to now rely on extended family to care for him when I do
return to work. I'd truly like to see a return to the ratio of 5 children under 5 years per
educator.
176. I experienced an 18 month waitlist period before gaining a place for my son. Following a
residential move I then had a further 12 month wait for a place close to my home, having to
then make an additional 1 hour commute to do/pu to my day.
I'm an ‘on the ball’ Mum and have put my son on every available waitlist at the time I knew
I would have to in order to get the best result. But alas the wait time was unreasonable and I
do not think as a tax payer acceptable.
Please come up with a better way to forecast and plan for service delivery as I have had to
give up valueable work to my family due to a lack of care.
177. I use with satisfaction a recognised childcare centre attached to my job. In order to keep high
quality standards, the most important thing is to train childcare educators and to pay them
properly, so that they find meaning in the job they're doing and want to stay in the centre
where they work. Continuity and routine are essential to children : thus, spending the day
with the same people, well-trained and motivated, over the months and years is crucial to
their sense of security and belonging. I can't emphasise enough how important this is that
childcare educators stay in the same place and continue to improve in it. This measure needs
funding support by the government, as most centres pay poorly their educators, and the
average duration in a job is very low.
178. Regardless of where you live childcare costs or rebates should be the same in country and
city areas. Currently in regional town such as Port Hedland we pay more and receive same
rebate as those parents in the city.
Personally I prefer the structured curriculum delivery for activities in childcare, opposed to
the choices delivery as not all children choose the same activity and therefore the team
activity is lost. I can see the purpose for outside activities such as your choice and this is the
outcome.
179. I am the mother of a child in long day care. The quality of the care my child receives is
excellent, in spite of the low wages received by his carer/educators. These wages do not
reflect the importance of the work involved in caring for children in their formative years,
nor in very many cases are they commensurate with the level of knowledge, skill and
experience held by individuals who perform it. I hope the Commission has proper regard to
this important issue. I hope also that while considering ways to reduce the 'red tape' involved
in the provision of childcare services, the Commission does not lose sight of the need to
maintain measures aimed at ensuring quality service provision and probity.
180. Random audit or checks should be done more frequently to ensure verbal/physical abuse
towards children from child care workers. This being said hugs or picking up the child to
comfort or reassure them should be encouraged
Workers should also inform parent when their child has been hit in some form from another
child, the parent should also inform the parent how the incident was handled
181. I currently work as a technical officer for [locality] in Wagga Wagga. I have 3 children.
[name1] who is in year one and attends [locality] after school care (costing me around
$15/day with my current CCB), [name2] who is 1 and [name3] who is almost 3. [name2] and
[name3] have just been placed in [locality] new Child Care centre full time. I and my
husband both work full time. My 3 children are from a previous relationship in which ended
due to him abusing me and my daughter. I ended the relationship and he now has supervised
visits under a verbal agreement between us both. My new husband also has 3 children from a
previous relationship (they are all in or finished high school). We both work to support our
children and to try to give them everything they need. I earn (after tax) $1500/fortnight. My
husband earns about the same if he does a bit of overtime. We pay about $400/week in child
care for the 2 boys. We get half back in Child Care Rebates. However by the time CSU takes
$760/fortnight from my $1500, this does not leave me with much at all to provide their other
needs (food, heat, cool, transport 35km to and from work and child care ever day from our
small community, school items, nappies etc). So my husband works a bit more
overtime....this increases our family income...increasing our child care. I know the saying
'the rich get richer and the poor get poorer’ but if i choose to work to get ahead for my kids
so i can potentially afford to send them to university if they choose to do that, why should I
be punished? There are millions of families who have kids and don’t work because the
government payments sustain them, i chose to go back to work so could give them
everything i didn’t have as a child of a struggling family. Why because i go back to work
should i pay so much more in child care? I think it needs to be the same low rate for all
families, regardless of their income. This would help women remain in the workforce, rather
than struggling to get back into work after the children are at school. At present i would be
better financially to stay at home as a mum and not work. But that interaction children get at
child care is important in their development and i know I will need my job once the kids are
at school. If us women choose to work to give our kids a good shot at life we should be
encouraged to do so, we should be encouraged to get a promotion. For example our family
income estimate increased by around $5000/yr with my pay rise and my partners overtime.
Instead of being rewarded for a pay rise, i am punished by my family tax benefit being
dropped from $180/fortnight to $109/fortnight and my child care fees going up by around
$80/week. I should be rewarded for getting a pay rise, not punished. Each pay rise I get
brings me down because i know my child care fees will go up. If i do good and earn a pay
rise i should be excited because its more money i bring home for my family, but its not under
the current system. I think we need a low flat rate child care regardless of our income and i
think the government should encourage women to hold a full time position. Its a very hard
thing for a woman to have 3 children and have to return to work before they are 6 months
old, we should be praised for this and encouraged financially to do this, not punished.
182. We cannot talk about childcare without talking about women's policy, this is not because
childcare is exclusively a women's issue but because the structural failure on the provision of
childcare in Australia has highly discourage women with children to join the labour force
and has a bigger impact on women's lifetime decisions.
The current marginal tax system in Australia and the cost/quality of childcare highly
discourage women to use childcare services to either join the labour force, study or both.
I think a report on childcare and policy suggestions should extensively cover the following
issues:
-
Increase the options for care in Australia, let it be childcare, nannies and alternative
options; especially increase the number of places for very young kids aged between 6
months and 3 years. Women who want to join the labour when their kids are between that
range find it very difficult to find spots for their children and therefore many of them
postpone their professional life.
-
PC should look at a model where childcare is highly subsidised and changes to the tax
system for second wage earners. A policy that tries to include more women into the
labour force can payoff a childcare policy because a in most of the cases, a woman's
hourly rate would be higher than the hourly rate of childcare. Or at least that was the
experience in some provinces in Canada.
-
Given the lack of childcare services for very young kids, many childcare centres can get
away with providing a very poor quality of care. A lot of research has been done
regarding children's development and now we know that their first years of life are the
years that define many important aspects for their future performance.
-
Better allocation of services based on personal circumstances. Migrant women, like me,
are more likely to use childcare services due to a lack of support network and that is
something that currently has not been addressed. I am sure that there could be an efficient
discrete allocation model that can improve the current state of things.
Thanks and good luck with the report.
183. Childcare is very expensive & should be more subsidised by the government to assist people
on lower incomes. You can't keep expecting childcare providers to keep doing more have a
smaller child to teacher ratios and not expect fees to go up, its becoming very unsustainable
for a lot of families. Also the hours of preschools do not fit with a lot of working parents as
there is no before or after preschool care or during school holidays because they are too
young. This then prohibits working parents from sending their kids to preschool and
benefiting from this program as a transition to school.
184. The hours of child care have limited career options for many years and I would love to see
more flexible options - maybe each child is given a set amount of funds that can be used as
needed to fund care that suits the family situation? I have long believed that the school day
should be extended (7.30am/8am - 4.30pm ish) and include more organised sport/
Art/craft/music etc and have tutors on hand for homework clubs. The money invested in
ASC and BSC could be channelled towards these areas. Breakfast clubs, school uniforms,
books, shoes, sports fees should come from FTB and paid direct to the supplier (with
conditions), rather than be considered an income source for family. Push the funds to the
high needs of the children and make sure it goes to them. Extending the school day and
maybe the school year will provide more opportunity for learning, socialisation, community
based volunteering and other life skills that are sadly lacking in some areas of our
communities. If all children can attend school and fully participate in other activities
regardless of their parents financial situation (or care factor where they are probably best
spending more time out of the home than in....) then each child hasa greater opportunity to
succeed in life.
185. Child care was designed to assist families where both parents need to work. I think the work
test should be reviewed so you only receive the rebate or benefit if your child is in care
because you are working. Otherwise the rebate can be given to a parent who is working part
time but has their child in extra care on a day when they are at home. I think the rebate
should be reduced back to 30% and the regulations on centres reviewed down so their focus
and time is on caring for kids and not doing paperwork. This could allow for more % CCB to
be provided to parents who need it for work, not just a babysitting service - if you're at home
and you want to use child are you should pay full rate.
186. I have an additional needs child. Local private childcare are very welcoming, but
understanding is average and dependant upon the integrity of individual carers. Carers are
scared, or don't want to relate or deal with my child, excluding him even from being served
fruit because they think he is the responsibility entirely of the extra Carer in the room his
special exemption funding provides. All the carers need more training in additional needs.
For a while he got a real early intervention program due to a brilliant educator who taught
him so much, including signing and pecs. She taught small groups of additional needs
children in short sessions of pre-literacy, hand over hand and other skills. She fought for
inclusion and independence. She was able to sensitively encourage parents to seek
assessment; ie. she had the experience to identify many learning issues from vision to ASD.
However, the program was financially unsustainable and the centre cancelled it, reducing it
back to good childcare, but it was no longer an intervention program. It was her ability to
form relationships with the children due to the extended time she had with them, and offer
therapy in short, routine sessions, while offering a consistent environment which gave them
opportunities for independence and inclusion, that made such a difference, even more than
regular professional therapists could provide in weekly hourly sessions. I dream of a world
where early intervention programs for additional needs children are available in this format,
both for the additional needs students and the social benefit for all students in these centres.
187. Our 16 month old son is attending child care full time. The simple fact is that without
subsidized child care either my partner or I wouldn't be able to work or only work on a part
time basis. Most likely my partner would stay home as I am the main bread winner.
The service provided by our child care center (Stuart park child care) is excellent which
gives us confidence that our son is safe and well looked after. If we doubted this was the case
we would also decide to reduce our work to care for our son.
188. This year I pulled my son out of long day care (due to special needs) and placed him in
preschool (NSW) instead. The staff are more experienced with less turnover in the preschool
environment because they have shorter hours and longer holidays - it attracts better teachers
in our area.
He attends preschool on my working days, but we are no longer eligible for the 50% rebate
on the fees. This is despite the preschool having to comply with the same National Quality
Framework and accreditation regime. Preschool fees should be eligible for the same rebates
as long day care, because they serve the same function of caring for children while their
parents participate in the workforce.
189. As a mother of 2 sons who have both used childcare I am deeply concerned. I am alarmed by
the number of young and inexperienced educators that are prevalent in the sector, many of
who quickly cycle through low quality training courses to attain minimum standard
qualifications. In the past 10 years I have seen mature, experienced educators leave the sector
in droves due to low income, poor conditions and high fatigue. I want to see the current NQF
and pay increase moves continue. Most children now access early education in some form.
As a profession these amazing people have the capacity to dramatically impact positively on
our societies youngest members and OUR NATIONS FUTURE. Government needs to invest
in the sector to retain high quality educators. The issues you outline such as service
flexibility are a distraction from the real issues. Current early education structures meet the
needs of the majority of our nations families. It's time to support increased wages and
professional standards in the sector. My children deserve it as does our nations future.
190. Child care workers do an amazing job. Corporate life makes it impossible to collect the kids
by 6pm but this job is my choice & I accept paying for someone to collect the kids. I
wouldn't want subsidies for that. I would much prefer to see the workers paid more money. I
currently give them a Xmas bonus to do my bit. Wish society & the government valued them
more.
191. I live in a small town where the only option is family day care. This is a great option if you
have back up care available as there is no requirement for carers to provide consistent care.
For example my provider recently took 6 weeks off over Christmas and takes every school
holiday off. This make it almost impossible for me to continue working although I battle on
with two in care. Of course if the carer is sick there is no care available. I also sit on two
regional boards which only meet once every two months. There is no ad hoc care available to
assist with this. I know those on rural areas can not expect the same services as the city but it
would be great if the regs around the minimum service level of family day care was
legislated for and improved.
192. The financial support for Child Care is back to front. There is no incentive for mothers to go
back to work as the cost of childcare out ways the benefits of working. Yet the people who
do not bother with working and live off hand outs get child care for free and have there kids
there every day all day so they can sit at home! Does not make sense. We are creating a
generation of dole bludgers. These people are taking up space for those who genuinely want
to contribute to society and actually require the service.
193. Childcare should be tax deductible. It is a cost I require to go to work. Rebates and
deductions (perhaps capped) should apply to qualified nannies. Why can't I chose my own
form of Childcare that best suits our families needs?
194. We use long daycare in the North Sydney area.
The existing childcare rebate does not take into account varying costs of daycare in different
areas.
In our area, where rates are currently pushing through $150 / day, we are covered for < 3
days a week.
In the past year our out of pocket expenses for childcare for 2 children were over $30,000.
We compare this to the experience of our friends in other parts of the world (e.g.: Sweden)
where high quality care is available at a small fraction of this cost.
There have been suggestions of allowing nannies to be covered by the CCR. We strongly
object to this proposal. It would strip long daycare of carers and put enormous pressure on
daycare wages. It is a nonsense suggestion that would shift a benefit to a relative few at the
expense of many. In any event it would drive up Nanny rates just as the current rebate
supports ridiculous daycare rates in our area. We say this despite employing a nanny
ourselves.
We do, however, suggest that visa arrangements for au-pairs be reviewed to allow more
stability. The current 6 month limit for an au pair to stay with one family should be doubled
AND longer visas of say 18 months provided to enable 12 months work and 6 months travel.
Pay rates should be regulated to ensure reasonable conditions for au pairs (current norm of
board + $250 - $300 / week is dreadful).
195. I have a 14 week daughter and have been very active in putting her name down for childcare
lists, although I am yet to use the services. I thought it would be useful at this point to
comment on the process.
I started applying for childcare after my 12 week scan of pregnancy, having been told it was
impossible to get childcare, particularly as our baby was due in late October.
Many childcare centres were polite, and I scoured the mychild website however the myriad
of differing processes, varying fees and tour requirements were very difficult. Although I
believe mychild is a national scheme I feel it should provide more information about waiting
lists, what is required etc.
I also have had problems as I may be starting work back after my daughter is 18 weeks old
and as that is 6 weeks after the only childcare centre, of 20 that I applied for, has offered me
they wanted me to pay for 6 weeks of childcare to hold my place.
While I understand this is reasonable, it is not reasonable that I would not be eligible for
childcare rebate in this time as I am not allowed to work while receiving maternity leave
from the government.
I believe the application system should be standardised and it should be regulated as to the
earliest point people can apply.
196. Child care services need to be combined in clusters - eg as part of school infrastructure. This
can create a better flow through from childcare to school. There needs to be a better
transition from pre school childcare through to first year of school which should be more
about socialisation and have a less crammed curriculum. Look to the Finnish model which
delays the start of school but introduces state provided ore school care.
197. Our son attends Eastwood Public School, NSW. We are told the current waiting list for
before and after school care is 100 students. We had care with the local Catholic School care
provider (who walked them to and from school) but were informed by email after hours on
the last day of school last year that that service is no longer available to us. Many parents are
forced to either not work or dramatically reduce the work they can do due to the shortage of
places. Our school is in very real need of increased places. The lack of before and after
school care places puts strain on families, affects the way they can provide for them and their
contribution to the economy. Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
198. I had a child in November 2013. I am a manager at a large Australian financial company. I
am required to go back full time in order to keep my job in Nov 2014. I am trying to secure a
place and have been told that the wait is 12-24 months long for most centres around my
home (Malvern). I have been told it is very unlikely I can get care from Nov - Jan as new
enrolments commence Jan.
My husband and I are now faced with dilemma, he might have to stop work so I can go back
to work which is going to put pressure on our finances.
We need more child care places.
199. I have 2 children (18 months and 3.5 years) and am planning another. I use a community non
for profit childcare centre on which i am a committee member.
Thankfully I have a well paying job and am able to work part time. Childcare is a very costly
exercise. The Childcare Rebate makes an enormous difference. Without government
assistance I would not have been able to return to work.
The reporting requirements for carers are tedious however as a parent they are incredibly
valuable.
I agree all carers should be qualified and should be paid more however I can certainly not
afford to pay more.
I welcome this review and look forward to seeing the outcome.
200. I cannot afford to put my 2 other children in care, therefore I have had to reduce my work
hours to 3 days/wk. I am not sure how this is productive to the economy as a whole (I work
in healthcare) nor how we as a family can get ahead financially when people like myself
cannot work as care is too expensive. I know other people that have to quit work or reduce
hours like myself, and then apply for Centerlink benefits to make ends meet. Cut the cost of
care, so people can work if they need/want to.
The quality of carers have risen I believe which is good to see.
Ideally, in a perfect world, it would be so beneficial to the community and families if care
could be provided on site of public service jobs. This way, public service workers can
continue to work, and try to maintain a better balance of work/family as children can be
picked up straight after work, rather than after 6pm on the way home!
201. Having high quality daycare is critical for any parent returning to work. For me, the focus
needs to be primarily on nurturing particularly at a young age as a way of supporting
emotional well being, with a gradual shift towards increasing confidence and educational
opportunities as they grow older. In the early years, this therefore requires high teacher to
pupil ratios with an emphasis on emotional well being. Some parents don't wish to return to
work but often have no other option. Providing high quality care that eases parental
separation is critical not only for the children but also the parents. It would be interesting to
explore research relating to anxiety issues for the parents not just the children when childcare
is required. Investing in the development of children is vital, in order to support the growth
of our nation in all regards.
202. Going to child care has been one of the best things that has happened for my son in the last
12 months. He has had developmental delays and the time he has spent with his peers and
staff has helped him make huge progress in his speech and play development. He has
especially benefited from one on one support through Inclusive Directions. It has also given
me his SAHM with mental health issues much needed respite from my caring role. It is vital
that this support for children and parents continues, especially those with developmental
delays or disabilities.
203. Hi, I'd like to raise a small issue about the current childcare system that impacts productivity
of parents of 4yo's. For those of us using the pulic school system to send our 4 year olds to
preschool, after school care is a problems. Our 4 year olds are not yet of school age therefore
do not qualify for/cannot be catered for by school-based after school care programs.
Similarly, as they are not yet school-aged children, family day care requires parents to pay
for an entire day's care even though they are only in care for a few hours after school. The
cost of a full day's care relative to the extra hours of work I could do after school do not
make it worth my while to work outside of school hours this year. 4 year olds attending
school-based pre-school should be catered for in after school care programs and treated as
school-aged for the purpose of family day care. The productivity loss of parents of 4 year
olds, working 2.5 hours less a day, 5 days a fortnight - adds up to nearly 7 weeks of work per
parent a year.
204. Childcare needs to be more flexible to suit people's diverse needs. Childcare provided within
the workplace should be looked as an alternative model to centre based care.
205. I have two children in childcare (I am fortunate that my Mother is a Family Day Care
Educator).
My concerns are echoed by everyone I talk to - that although we love working and love our
educators, the childcare fees sometimes make you question whether the salary you get to
keep after the fees is worth the time spent away from your children.
For people in my situation (who earn enough to be on 0%CCB), the tax rebate helps a lot,
but why is it capped at $7,500 a child? Is this to limit the amount of hours we are working?
206. My husband and I have been greatly impressed with the care our, now 2 year old, daughter
received at Lyons Early Childhood School. The workers in her room, and all the ones that
we've met, are all caring, considerate, interested in the children, and generally lovely. From
the very start of her care there the director knew her name. She is in a caring environment,
and I think this is shown by how well she is learning to care for other, as well as everything
else she is learning.
Childcare is not about babysitting. It is about educators. It is about the workers being happy
and valued, and secure, in their positions, as this is what the children then experience.
There has been consistency in staff, which we love, and as our daughter moves up a room,
one of the workers is changing rooms with her and the other older children.
It is worth every cent we pay, and would pay more for such quality. It is worth Australia
investing in.
207. There are significant shortfalls in reaching and properly supporting the needs of children in
regional and rural families and parents who are moving from income support back into
employment.
There is No Family Day Care in my Rural Area whatsoever and the nearest Child Care
facility is some 40 klm away and permanently booked out in advance.
Massive costs of childcare make it almost impossible to return to Full Time work without
some sort of family child-minding support ie. grandparents etc.
Access to a rural nannies service for in your own house might be a great alternative!!
208. The cost of childcare for more that 1 child is too prohibitive.
I am on a good income but still struggle to send my 2.5 year old to day care and 6 year old to
after and before school care so that I can work 3 days a week as a public servant.
We are unable to have a third child as it would mean that it would not be worthwhile me
returning to work due to the cost of childcare.
209. It would be wonderful if childcare could be more flexible. We work on a 4 week roster and
different days are needed on different weeks due to shift work. There is no flexibility for
alternating days over a two or four week cycle. Mon/Tues one week and then Wed/Thurs the
next week, for example.
210. I am a full-time working mother of 2 children of childcare age. I have used care services to
be able to resume work after a short 18-week maternity. Since then, my husband and I have
been experiencing serious financial stress due to the high costs of childcare fees and
ridiculously low rebates for earning parents.
Compared to my non-working peers, I felt pressured by the system to leave work and enjoy
all the benefits that the system unfortunately provides for non tax payers. I acknowledge and
appreciate the importance of welfare however there are many loops in its operation where
responsible citizens who force themselves to cope with:
a. emotional detachment
b. stress of leaving their young babies in a care centre
c. Burdensome costs; and
d. Cut down in rebates are seemingly punished for their contribution to the ATO and to the
economy. On the other hand, my non-working peers in my close circle are enjoying:
a. Full-time parenting with priceless rewards emotionally and psychologically;
b
little to no time-management stress;
c
mild financial stress that does not compare to the benefits of enjoying a work-free life;
d. Health care card, social benefits, generous allowances and fantastic child care discounts
and rebates.
In short the system seems like it is designed to cater for low earners and punish ambitious
and hard working parents who yearn to provide a better quality of life for their kids.
211. I live in the North-Eastern suburbs of Melbourne and I'm currently on 5 waiting lists for
childcare for my son who is due to be born in late April 2014.
Whilst I do not require long day care until November 2014 (in 10 months time) when I plan
to return to work following maternity leave, I have been told by all 5 centres that the wait in
the area for long day care for children in the birth - 15 months age bracket is at least 1 year.
I am fortunate that I work in education policy and my employer is flexible and will allow me
to return to work on the days I am able to get childcare for my son.
It is likely however, that when I need to return to work in November 2014 I will not have a
long day care position for my son and will either need to postpone my return to work or seek
out relatives prepared to mind him in the interim.
Anecdotal evidence from family members, co-workers and friends in other areas of
metropolitan Melbourne, suggest that extremely long waiting lists for baby/nursery rooms
(birth - 15 months) are common across both inner and outer suburbs. This may be due to the
increased ratio requirements for staff to young children in these rooms.
I would suggest a different fee structure be implemented in child care centres (varying fees
dependent upon the child's age), as the care required for young babies is obviously far more
intense.
Increased fees could be applied to nursery/baby room places to provide greater incentives for
child care centres to provide more places (multiple nursery/baby rooms). I would be
prepared to pay more than the current rates of between $90 - $110 per day for my son, if it
meant I could return to work and maintain my attachment to the workforce.
212. I have only just been able to access child care services as I am at home mother to a 3 1/2 yr
old toddler plus 2 yr old twins. There is not enough support in Cairns for in home care
which I qualify for and desperately need!!!! I also think it is unfair that Centrelink do not
qualify twins as a multiple birth and only triplets or higher which in fact is called ‘HOM
(Higher Order Multiples).
I think it is appalling that up until now I wasn't able to qualify for child care services as my
husband was on a low wage and still is to support 3 children at home. And I do not have the
time to study or work or train looking after 3 children plus looking after a household and
volunteering time to our multiple birth association.
Something needs to be done to improve the system and not for the whingers out there but for
the fair dinkum hard workers!!!!!!!!!
213. The $7500 annual rebate cap is insufficient and needs to be raised. I have two children (3
and 2 years of age) in care 4 days a week at a daily cost of $100 and $110 respectively (in
the ACT). By May this year we will have reached the cap meaning that instead of paying
$460 per week (after rebate and CCB which is minimal) my husband and I will be paying
double that - in other words a weekly salary with no respite. It is not possible to withdraw
the children from care to have them commence in the new financial year. So instead we will
be crippled for two months. We are not unique in our situation - and this is not even care for
5 days a week. If the Government wants equal or increased workforce participation by
females (I am a tertiary educated manager) then the rebate needs to be reviewed. Or
alternatively review the fee structure of centres (which admittedly would require some form
of regulation, not a priority of the current government). Why is it that a centre in Blacktown
NSW can charge $70 a day and have vacancies where a centre in Canberra can charge at
least $110 a day and have a two year waiting list?
214. The way I view childcare at the moment is, the price of childcare continues to rise, yet the
numbers of carer to child ratios are being stretched to they're limits. The quality of care is
just not what it once was. Childcare workers are loosing interest due to pay and conditions,
which in turn effects the children who have to deal with a high turn over of staff.
215. I am currently using family day care as my daughter is only 7 months old and I favoured the
smaller environment for her to start with. My concern though with child care is purely the
cost. We are wanting mothers to return to work however in my case I am not eligible for any
reduction in the child care (except for the 50% , which I absolutely appreciate). I would love
to return to work full time though and to do this and have my baby in full time care is not
financially viable for my husband and I. I believe the government need to be looking at child
care fees similar to schools, should you be funding these in a similar way more parents
would be returning to the workforce. I would love to have a second child however child care
is the one thing that is ultimately going to stop me. I work in employment services and I
know the amount of out of work parents, unfortunately though this is not often at the fault of
anyone except the parents eg: it is their choice and they can get cheaper care and other
benefits. I chose to have a career and I love my job, however this then puts me and my
family in the category of earning too much (just slightly over the threshold).
I really appreciate the time to be able to comment.
216. Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments in relation to childcare and early
childhood learning services in Australia. For this short comment, I will focus on the issue of
fees and tax rebate,
I believe there is a disincentive for a parent to work more than 3-4 days a week under the
current rebate arrangement in metropolitan cities.
The Canberra daily childcare rate is about $90-$100. Under the current arrangement, the
$7,500 maximum rebate covers approximately 3 days a week for 50 weeks of the year.
As a result, should you choose or need to return to work full time, you end up paying the
entire daily rate for 2 days a week for 50 weeks in the year. Depending on salary level, this
may in fact put a parent in a negative situation, relatively neutral, or marginally positive for
working those days. Many middle income earners in the 30-40 year age bracket find
themselves in this bind.
I myself paid approximately $13,000 (post rebate) to the Early Learning Centre that our 3
year old daughter attends. We find it quite ludicrous that when she moves to Kindergarten in
2015 to the ‘parent’ private school that our out-of-pocket fees will immediately fall by
around $8K.
I also believe that people who work in metropolitan areas are disadvantaged with the current
rebate arrangement - the daily rate is higher, you therefore hit the threshold faster and end up
paying significantly more full-fee days than people who live and work in regional areas
(even though salaries are much the same and sometimes even higher in those areas).
I would therefore like to see a sliding scale of rebate dependent on something like a
scheduled fee for child care services based on current (accurate) market rates on a
postcode/region basis.
I would also like to see that parents who choose to/have to return to work receive support for
full-time care regardless of the cost (eg. 50% off fees uncapped).
I also believe that daycare fees actually paid should be tax deductible as they are
DIRECTLY related to working.
217. Childcare - early preschool and before and after school care are extremely important to us as
it supports our children and enables us to be a productive, 2 income family.We choose
quality childcare and work closely with the carers to ensure the best education and
development for our children. Qualified and committed carers are important. Government
support for childcare is very important to us throughout our children's early childhood and
school-based before and after, and vacation care. We could not survive financially without it.
218. My family has recently temporarily moved to the United States due to work posting. As a
result, I have observed first hand that significant difference in the level of qualification and
training of early childhood workers in the USA compared to Australia, with our child who is
four years old. In Australia, the childcare providers were generally qualified at a Diploma
level, with undergraduate or post-graduate training being the exception. Within the USA,
even in that childcare context, undergraduate degrees are almost mandatory, with postgraduate qualifications in education or allied fields being common.
As a result, the level of educational structure of childcare and early learning in the USA is
significantly higher, and I believe is accelerating our child ahead of his peers in Australia,
and will result in marked advantage when he starts his K-12 schooling.
I believe that policies enhancing the level of educational qualification (and subsequent
remuneration) should be pursued to maintain parity with the early childhood learning
systems of countries such as the USA. This must be done in conjunction with the
advancement of standardized curriculum and formal learning standards that begin in
childcare in order to enable advancement of K-12 learning.
219. I have used childcare in the past with my eldest child. But now with 2 children I will not be
using it as it is not affordable. It is not worth me going to work when most of my income will
pay for childcare as I receive minimal rebates. If my workplace was more family friendly
with start and finish times, I would only need childcare for one child. But as the family
friendly policy in the certified agreement is not worth the paper it is printed on, I will not be
returning once my maternity leave has ended. Instead I will have to work after hours shift
work to make working viable financially. I am sure my children would prefer me home of an
evening and weekend but Im sure they would also prefer to be fed, clothed and educated as
well which is impossible on one income.
220. When I initially sent my son to child care I was shocked to hear both the high cost and the
varying standard in all centre I've visited (5).
I am also shock on the terrible condition some centres are kept yet charges an arm for the
service.
I applause the gov for introducing mandatory bachelor level educator in all centre in 2014.
But will you go further to push all other educators/assistants to further to min diploma?
Most centres seems to allow their staffs to reach Cert 3 which in my opinion doesn't reflect
on a good understanding and standard.
There needs to be better and stricter standard for ALL centres, and management of how they
raise their fees.... Sometimes I can't justify how some centre can charge $100+/day.... When
nearby centre is 20+% less.... Within same standards..
Can we also push centre to start a proper early learning structure which allows the children
to truly transition to 'big school'. Most won't even teach them how to hold a pencil!!!!
221. I have found early childhood services to be a great learning tool for my 2 children. It
compliments what my husband and I are doing at home to prepare our children for school.
The interaction with other children is so important. My first issue, and it is not about the
centre my children attend, is that the teachers are not permitted to give time outs for bad
behaviour, even though I would like them to. Someone in the government has decided that I
can't set the rules for how I want my children disciplined, in fact the teachers can provide no
real discipline which contradicts what my husband and I are teaching them about
consequences. This should be reviewed.
My second issue is that when I was a stay at home mum I was charged almost full price for
my children to attend child care, I received very little rebate but once I got a part time job I
then received more than 50% rebates. This does not make any sense to me, when I needed
assistance the most I did not get it but when I started earning money I got heaps of
assistance???? Now I understand that there would be a suggestion that I was at home so I.
Could care for my children and I get this but at the same time I wanted my children to
receive the huge benefits from being around other children, learning to share and play
happily together and the advantage of pre-school education. Should my children have been
disadvantaged by the system because I could not afford to pay for child care??? This should
also be reviewed.
Thank you for hearing me :)
222. Hard to find care, high staff turnover in centres and terribly expensive. It cost me money to
return to work art time and have my daughter in care, would have been better off financially
staying on the single parents pension! Did not want to do this - so worked.
Care needs to be more affordable for parents and the fee structure of rebates made simpler!
223. There needs to be more places available. Finding hard to get full time care so I can go back
to work full time. All the places are taken by part time kids and stay at home mums.
224. We need more centre's to cut waiting lists down (some are over 1 year!!)
We need a higher rebates or lower costs on childcare. I pay 3 quarters of my salary to
childcare. (I have 2 children @$10/ hour each & only earn $28/ hour. I receive 35% rebate as
Centrelink keeps 15% to the end of the financial year, which I never get back.)
Daycare need to introduce hourly slots instead of daily. Preschool children only go half a day
1 day in the week but we're forced to pay a full day. Paying for public holidays is
unreasonable, casual workers don't get paid for holidays but have to pay care even though
children haven't attended.
225. Over priced - almost not worth working.
Child care workers do not get paid anywhere near enough considering how much money
families and government are feeding into the centres.
226. I find the ACT child care curriculum really good. My Son has learnt a lot during his time in
care. It's very clear what they are learning.
The wait time in ACT for child care is horrendous. It's not uncommon to be waiting in
excess of 18 months to get a spot and it's not usually in the first preference centre. Not to
mention the nonrefundable wait list fees that rack up!
It's also fairly expensive ($108 per day), but I am happy to pay for good centre. I haven't yet
experienced a bad carer or centre (touch wood), but there are many centers that are very
expensive and have poor quality care.
227. Recent changes to family day care ratios have made our previously preferred option more
costly,as our carer was forced to increase fees to cover losses. I feel these changes were
unnecessary and have not improved the level of care....which was perfect to begin with!!
228. Our children love going to Childcare and both are thriving there. They attend 3 days a week.
It is expensive to send them, but the experiences, and socialisation they get there is worth it.
As is the mental simulation I get by returning to teaching.
229. I have been using childcare for the last 2 and a half years for 2 children. Whilst we can
somewhat afford this at the moment with my family being eligible for both ccb and ccr, there
are restrictions that don't allow my family to further our financial security.
At the moment I only work part time and while I like it this way for now, if I were to return
to work full time it just wouldn't be financially viable for my family to do so, especially
having 2 children in childcare. We would lose the ccb and the ccr would only cover part of
the year.
I find there is really no incentive for women who want to further there career or to gain pay
rises. The more pay rises we get, the more our ccb goes down (this goes for partner pay rises
too).
Something needs to be done. The public school system is free, why isn't childcare or at least
severely discounted, especially for working families.
230. My son who is 2.5 years old attends child care three times a week. He has been attending
since he was 8months old. I find child care to be really good for him and I wouldn't hesitate
in sending my next child. the Child care workers at my sons preschool are really fantastic but
I have found the staff change a lot which really affects my son. For example a new staff
member started this year and my son is now struggling to separate in the mornings as he is
not use to this person as of yet. I chose to send my son to child care so that I can work but I
am only just financially better off than I would be if I stayed home, I still send him as I find
the balance works well for me and I find child care great for him.
231. We need to look at providing more not for profit childcare centres. My children attend a not
for profit co-operative childcare centre and until this year I have served as the treasurer at
this centre. Child care is not a profitable business unless you are skimping on the most
important things, food for the children and wages for the well skilled educators. In our area
the not for profit centre has a daily rate at least $10 cheaper and sometimes more than other
ran for profit businesses. Local Councils and Governments need to be looking at the not for
profit model and investing funds into building more centres with this structure.
232. In my personal circumstance the cost of child care has been prohibitive to me returning to
the workplace, It wouldn't be worthwhile for me to work in a traditional Monday to Friday, 9
to 5 job, because of this I have had to give up work in a field I enjoyed and was experienced
in (HR) and work nights and weekends in a Service Station.
This limits the amount of time that we get to spend as a family and is very tiring as I work
when my children are asleep and then care for them during the day on all but 1 day per week.
I believe that nannies and preschools should all be subsidised in a similar way to long day
care and family day care. This is needed especially for people who work shift work, an in
home carer (nanny) is the best care I this situation and would be if benefit to some of our
most essential and skilled workers, including Nurses, Doctors, Police, Paramedics and many
others.
In my case I have been very happy with the care my children receive in both long day care
and preschool but I am concerned that the people who are employed in these places are
underpaid. I cannot understand how an early learning teacher with a degree is paid less than
a primary school or high school teacher, yet they work longer hours with 8 weeks less annual
leave per year.
I am happy with current staff to children ratios and I am concerned about changes in this area
making services even more expensive.
233. I work three days a week and pay over 100 dollars a day on childcare (before rebate). It isn't
worth me going back to work full time because the childcare costs would be too high. The
prices are rising faster than my pay is and certainly faster than indexation.
I also think there isn't enough available childcare places. I put my child's name down at 6 day
care centres when I was 12 weeks pregnant and was not offered a spot at any of those
centres. I was just lucky to get the place I did.
One thing I am sure I have heard of is that somewhere (Scandanavian country?) they pay
grandparents an allowance (perhaps about 50 dollars similar to the childcare rebate). This
might take some strain off childcare centres.
My parents and in laws live interstate so it wouldn't work for everyone, but I am sure it
would be a good option for young pre schoolers. I'm not so worried about education at that
age as that they are in a caring environment.
I like the idea that you could use the rebate for other sorts of childcare such as a nanny.
234. I am a mother of a 3.5 and a 1.5 year old. I hold a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Laws
(Honours) and a Master of Social Science and have had a successful, well paid career to
date. My husband is a mechanical engineer. We both earn salaries around $100k. We
recently talked about having a third child and did the sums. We realised that we could not
afford a third child, given the cost of childcare. Given the level of our salaries, I am not
entitled to the child care benefit. With the rebate subtracted, we pay $32,500 per child per
year for childcare. With my salary, it would be a negative game to have a third child, as
childcare would be costing us $97,500 a year, even after the rebate! More than my salary
after tax and eating into my husband's salary. We are a young family with a mortgage on a
modest 3 bedroom home on the upper north shore of Sydney. We earn well above Australia's
average income and are both well educated. I want to be able to continue to work and
productively contribute to society. I was shocked to do the figures and realise that on our
above average incomes we can not afford a third child, or that we would be better off with
me staying at home full time than working if we had a third child, given the cost of
childcare. Our children go to the particular center they go to because it was the only one in
our area that had places available, and the cheaper options available did not have places
when I returned to work. However, most private childcare centers seem to have similar
pricing in Sydney.
I would like to see childcare expenses become tax deductible, in addition to increased
rebates/subsidies. It would not be fair to substitute one for the other. Without this, Australia
will continue to have the lowest fertility rate of all OECD countries and it will impact our
economy too - we all know the benefits of having a fully engaged productive workforce,
including the well educated and experienced women of my generation.
235. I am a single mum and I work full time as an Area Manager for a Child Care Provider. Prior
to my current employment I worked 6 year with the Child Care Regulatory Authority.
I have a professional and personal perspective in the field of Early Education. Professionally,
Educators work above and beyond each and every day, staying back late, doing split shifts
and sacrificing their paid hours for the labour efficiency of their centres. Educators work the
best they can with limited resources, for example equipment and professional development
opportunities. I have never witnessed an educator who did not have the care of the children
as their first priority. And all of this, for a minimum wage. Personally however, I find that
the cost of quality Child Care is becoming unaffordable. Working full time, I receive limited
government rebates yet I need Long Day Care on a full time basis. I give up my son to a
centre so I can work and provide a quality upbringing for him regardless of our personal
situation. My son begins full time school this year and I had to find suitable OSHC which is
limited in my local community. I have ended up enrolling him into a school, not for the
educational benefits, rather that it is the only school in my local area that offers OSHC.
236. It would be great to see an increased promotion of the learning in the earlier year before
proper Kinder, the term childcare is drawing your mind to a place to ‘store’ your child while
you go to work, it has a lot of negative associations attached to it. If Australian children's
learning is to be embedded from an early age then the term childcare needs to be removed
and pre-school should be used instead.
Also to increase productivity just look at the Swedish pre-school arrangement. From 12
months of age all children with working parents have the right to access affordable childcare.
The fees are based on a % of income with a max-rate which tapers the more children you
have to completely be removed by the time the 4th child enters care. This means all families
can have two parents earn an income which is not the case currently with an enormous
burden on family income if you have more than one child in care.
237. To whom it may concern,
As a mother of a 10 month old daughter, I will be returning to work in a month and a half. I
am lucky enough that there is a childcare centre next door to my house which had openings,
although the waiting list for extra days (she is currently enrolled for two days) is long. I am
lucky enough to have a mother who can take my daughter the remaining days of the week,
but not all families are so lucky.
One of my preferred options for childcare was a centre in the CBD, where I will be working,
as I could have spent less time away with my daughter per day. Unfortunately, waitlists are
long and there are not that many centres in the city.
My suggestion is to open more childcare centres in the city, and around major working areas,
so that parents can drop their child off nearby to their workplace. Many people spend over an
hour each way on public transport per day, and in my situation, I will have to have my
daughter in care for nearly 12 hours each day, even though I only work 8 hours, because of
transport. If there was more care in the city, with shorter wait lists, I would be able to spend
more time with her. This would be my primary suggestion and I think many parents who
work in the CBD would like to be closer to their children, especially babies.
Another option would be to have home help - people who aren't fully in charge of the child,
and don't necessarily need the educational experience that child care workers do, but that can
take care of the child while the parent was home. As more workplaces are comfortable with
workers telecommuting a day or two per week, this would make it easier for people like me
to take it up. If I was home with my daughter alone, I wouldn't be able to get much work
done, but having somebody in the house who didn't cost as much as child care would enable
me to work and spend time with my daughter. It would not require training beyond basic first
aid and basic childcare that a baby sitter has, and would be cheaper.
238. My biggest concern regarding childcare is the cost. There seems to be no regulation
regarding pricing and pricing structure. There are also arbitrary additional fees charged by
centres.
For instance, some centres increase their fees every year, while others don't. Some centres
will not charge you for days that you can't attend, if you give them a month's notice. Some
won't. I also fail to see why centres can charge for public holidays when they are closed.
But the additional charges, which are not covered by Centrelink, are the most unfair. I had
to pay $50 to go on the wait list. I had to pay $70 for linen, a hat and to cover educational
programs that come to my child's centre. This is already an expensive daycare centre.
Fee structures seem to be up to management. I thought that pricing was based on the group
the child was placed in. This means that babies are charged more due to carer ratios. This
year, my child left the baby room, currently being charged $141 per day, and went up a
group, currently being charged $115 a day. I thought I would pay $115 a day. I was told that
until my child turned 2 I would have to pay $141 a day. My child is no longer in the baby
room, and does not enjoy the higher carer ratio. Yet, this is legal.
The government should legislate a fairer price structure. Centres should not be allowed to
charge additional fees, and certainly not on public holidays, when they are closed. There
should also be an ombudsman for the childcare industry. The government has accommodated
the childcare industry enough. Now working parents should be given a voice.
239. I'm from Victoria and I would like to know how childcare centres are allowed to charge
parents for sick days and public holidays?
Most child care centres like a 2 week bond up front. Take money out of nominated accounts
fortnightly in advance.
My son was sick a week before Christmas , through out Christmas and a few days after
Christmas.
We can have make up days but they need to be used within a 2 week period (from the day
the child does not attend).
And that’s only is they have a place on the day the parent has nominated within that 2 week
period.
If unable to make up the sick days, then you forfeit all monies’ paid and kiss those days good
bye.
As for public holidays, the child care centres are closed. And the reason for being charged
for public holidays they have to pay for the staff who are normally rostered on those days?
If a childcare centre is unable to provide a service, i don't see how parents should be charged
for a service that can't be provided?
240. I have one 3 year old in long day care 2 days per week and am on the waiting list for day
care starting in 2015 for my 16 month old. The lack of availability for the under 2s has
caused some frustration as I am ready and willing to return to the workforce, but am
currently prevented from doing so on a permanent basis. A council-run day care recently
closed in our area which has put further strain on the situation. Family day care is already
full through word-of-mouth, so asking to be put on the centralised waiting list has been
futile. The situation has been less than encouraging for many mums wanting to return to
work. The rebate is a great help however, and does allow for part-time work, without which
many women would either have to work full time and therefore have more need for
childcare, or stay at home until all children are at school
241. If I was single not working id get more child care subsidies than I do whilst working. Quiet a
few of my friends are saying they are stressed to get free child care something needs to be
done when I was on single parent jet would pay child care I didn't work that much but used it
because it was free... You need to give more to working families and sahm that are single
why do they need child care If you can't handle your kid stop having them!!
242. We returned to Australia (the inner West of Sydney) in mid-2013 after four years in the UK
and were very surprised and disappointed at the difficulty of accessing good-quality
childcare in Australia. We had placed our child on numerous waiting lists in May, returned
in late September and only received a place in a well-run facility in January. (We had one
offer before that time, but it would have meant travelling an extra hour each day and was for
a nursery with very poor feedback from other parents.)
This meant that only one of us could return to work while we waited for a place.
The place we have found now is well run and our child's basic needs are met - she is well fed
and there are plenty of games, toys, and the staff are very kind - but, to date, it falls short of
the carefully targeted and monitored education/learning programme and one-to-one attention
that our child received in the UK. (She was at a centre with an outstanding Ofsted rating.)
The Australian early childcare system, as we have experienced it, has prevented two highly
qualified people from returning to their chosen professions and I worry that it is not
providing our child with the same quality of education that she would have received if we
had remained in the UK.
243. Finding care for children under the age of 2 is too difficult.
There are not enough centres in Sydney that accommodate. When you can find a place it will
be for not enough days or only full time. It makes it difficult and stressful to return to work.
The government needs to consider providing benefits for those who have to use a private
nanny or family to provide in house care so lessen the burden on current centres.
After school care is too expensive for the service that is provided and is difficult to find.
Vacation care is completely unaffordable when centres have compulsory outings making a
too expensive.
There are no services that accommodate shift workers within western Sydney
The government does not support working families in which both parents are on the average
wage. It is frustrating to see some unemployed parents receiving almost free care when I
have to work and charged full rates.
244. I used the MyChild website to locate child care in my area. It was not up to date, as it
indicated vacancies that did not exist (that was in 2012).
It was hard to find childcare in my area (3146), even though I put my name down at various
centres while I was pregnant, no vacancies were available a year after I put my name down. I
was very lucky to find child care in time for my return to work. I think a centralised system
for child care may help - it was very time consuming ringing centres all the time.
The 50% rebate is great. I wouldn't return to work without it as child care would cost the
same as what I earn with 2 children in care.
245. Child care is simply not financially feasible to allow both parents to continue working once
two or more children in a family require care.
We have two children 0yr 8mths and 2yrs 5mths. Child care in our area costs $148/day for
the younger one and $138/day for the older one.
That is $71,500 per year (must pay a 50 week year). Less the government rebate it is
$56,500, which before tax, is back to around $70,000. The same amount my wife was
earning as a fulltime Architect.
If a professional with 15 years experience can't afford to go back to work as the cost of
childcare is more than she earns, then what hope is there for most non-professional mothers.
In an attempt to avoid dropping out of her profession altogether, my wife has been looking
for part-time work which is somewhat feasible given the government rebate. This has been
ongoing for over 18 months. However, whilst she has had plenty of offers for fulltime work
(which she would be more than happy to accept, could we afford it), no-one wants to employ
an architect part-time.
There has been a huge amount of talk in the media about the lack of women in management
positions, and equality in the workplace. You can put this down to the current state of
women typically earning less than men, and the fact that childcare is simply unaffordable for
most people.
246. I use family long daycare and nanny 1-2x per wk. Factors influencing choice: return to parttime optometry work, no available family/friends available to help, daycare has encourages
good daily routine and toilet training, hygenic, location close in between home/work, nanny
for weekend work as daycare not available then. Not all placements viewed had these
features.
Finances: childcare rebate for daycare helps a lot.
247. There is a case of lack of supply for childcare centres at present, at least in my area.
I had to put my son's name a year before he was born and there are a few centres that abuse
this by charging parents a non-refundable $20 fee for merely putting our name on the wait
list. Even when you have your child's name on 5-6 wait lists, you have to continually ring
them to check if there are any vacancies.
Perhaps if there can be a centralised website where you can review vacancies across various
daycare centres in your area, it may be useful and some legislation against the private
daycare centres exploiting parents who are keen on looking for the best care for their
children.
248. I don't believe children that who are not vaccinated should be excluded from attending early
child hood learning centres & parents receiving child care rebates . I believe it's a parents
right whether they want to vaccinate their child or not and not be penalised for it, we are
governed by drug companies these days and I don't believe there has been enough research
done on vaccinations to ensure they are entirely safe for our children, it's almost
discrimination against children that are not vaccinated.
I think that there should be subsidies from government for in house Nannies, I am currently
having my 2nd child and maybe able just to afford having both in day care but if I was to
have a 3rd & still continue to work part-time I would consider having a nanny as this would
be more affordable, but a little help from the government wouldn't go astray with this. With
the rise of cost of living, in house bills, groceries etc it's impossible these days to have a semi
decent size family and survive on 1 wage. Gone are the days where my mother had 6 kids,
stayed at home, worked P/T here & there but back in those days it was frowned upon for
mothers to work. Wow how times are so different now, I just don't want genuine hard
working families to lose sight of that dream of having a few beautiful kids to look after them
when they are old because it costs to much now, kids in the end if brought up correctly will
give back to the community and help the aging population. I also feel strongly about relaxing
our Australian adoption laws for Aussie kids not over seas, we have a huge problem with the
amount of children that are abused & are brought up in drug inhabited families, this is a
disgrace those poor children what future do they have- history repeats itself. yet we have so
many genuine, hard working couples out there that can not have kids and are spending
thousands on IVF or overseas adoption when we have too many children here in our own
country that need loving parents and stable families to be brought up into. This really does
have to change.
249. I found that finding childcare was difficult for my firs child - my role was made redundant
whilst I was on maternity leave so when i was ready to go back to work had the double
challenge of looking for daycare and work. Hard as when a space came up had to take it so
had the cost of care before the job. we also moved house to a new area and had the challenge
of finding care in a new area too. So little choice you just have to take what is available
regardless of cost- our 1st centre was $145 a day. which would not be affordable for lots of
people. Not enough and can be v expensive. As a parent tough as no choice is place of price
range.
250. I don't like how the child care hours are charged to families by daycare centres. Why is it if
you only use 8 hours of childcare for 1 day, you are still charged for 12 hours, from the time
the centre opens to the time the centre closes. I don't care about having to pay a flat fee for
the day, eg $75 per day, even if I only use 8 hours of childcare for that day, but I don't think
it is fair if you have an allowance of 24 or 50 hours of childcare allocated to your family by
Centrelink, if you only use 8 hours for 1 day of childcare, you are still charged for 12 hours
of childcare for that day. There should be some type of 'clock in' & 'clock out' system for
families at daycare centres. And why is it that you can't get CCB or CCR for proper
kindergartens such as C & K ? But you can get CCB & CCR if your kids attend a
kindergarten program at a daycare centre. Doesn't make sense to me.
251. 1. Extend parental leave from 12 to 18 months. This enables parents to personally bond and
raise their children to an age where they are better prepared to enter child care. Children
are more likely to complete their vaccination schedules, reduces medical costs and work
absences due to illness contracted at day care centres for this age group. This will assist in
reducing demand for day care for children under age of 18 months. This will also give
parents better confidence in returning to the workforce.
2. Grant short to medium stay visas for grandparents from overseas that come to Australia to
assist in caring for their grandchildren. This will provide relief for working parents,
increase productivity in the workplace and again facilitate the reduction of demand or
create more flexibility for day care.
3. Increase funding for local public libraries and community centres for early childhood
learning programs and play groups. This encourages early learning and socialisation for
young children and also access to social support networks for carers of children.
252. I have a 2 year old, and when she was born in 2011 I was in the middle of a 3 year Bachelor
degree. I was unable to find a place for her in a childcare centre in metro Melbourne
throughout 2012 (was waitlisted in centres between Kew and the CBD for more than a year),
resulting in having to pay hourly babysitting fees while I attended classes and dealing with
unreliable babysitting services - having to miss classes (and therefore attend additional
make-up classes) as a result if my sitter was unavailable. The end result was our family
relocating to the Mornington Peninsula at the end of 2012 so we could get our daughter a
childcare place, to enable me to complete my studies. This entailed a 1 hour 45 minute
commute between Mt Martha and the city twice a day for 3 days a week for 6 months.
Needless to say the stress was considerable, I barely saw my daughter, and resented having
to move away from the city in order to complete my studies. Better availability of childcare
places in the CBD for young children would have enabled us to stay in the city and reduced
my travel time to 30 minutes a day, and therefore significantly reduced the stress of this past
year for my family.
253. As a first time mother returning to work shortly I would like to make the following
suggestions which I believe would help alleviate the dire shortage of childcare in Sydney:1. Clearly the building of childcare centres and encouraging more family daycare centres is
one of the main things that can be done
2. Allow nanny and in-home care services to be eligible for the tax rebate - at a minimum
for families whom are unable to get a place at local day care centres- after all these
families, like mine, do not have an option.
3. The Australian government should look into migrant work programs with other countries
such as the Philippines - this would increase the supply of workers for in-home care and
allow women to return to work sooner. Such a program could also serve as part of
Australia's foreign aid program, given the lack of jobs and opportunity in the Philippines.
(A program such as the one the Singapore government has with the Philippines).
254. Childcare and Early Childhood Learning is so important to our children's growth. Life has
changed so much in recent generations, we no longer have 10 children per family and
therefore the learning of important social skills from older children in the family has
disappeared, these centres allow our children to learn these important skills with well trained
educators and other children. Technology has changed life so much too that very small
children have greater skills in numeracy, reading and writing before reaching school age
which need to be encouraged and techniques taught by these early childhood educators.
Good training and incentives are important to attract good quality educators. Investment is
needed to ensure all children have access to good quality childcare, as many lists in the
Sydney area are 2 years plus. This has a knock on effect on business as returning parents find
it too difficult to solve the childcare problem.
255. I have found it incredibly difficult to get my child into child care. This has been a huge
impact on my time as most require you to visit the centre before you can even go on a
waiting list, and on my finances as many require a non refundable deposit to go on a waiting
list - which I think this is a rort. I ended up on over 30 waiting lists with no guarantee of care
for my child. My friend had to move interstate as she could not get child care so had to move
closer to her parents.
Affordability of child care has also been a significant barrier as I am a single mother with no
family support and I am losing a large percentage of my wage each week to childcare. The
rebates I find helpful but not enough to help people remain in the workforce, especially
single mothers who I believe should get a higher rebate as they are working with one
income. I also find it extremely difficult to understand my eligibility for child care rebates
and mygov website id confusing and does not make this easier. I have had to call centrelink
and remain on hold for one hour to simply ascertain my eligibility which I should be able to
do easily over the internet.
All types of child care should be funded including in home nannies etc both to encourage
participation in the workforce but more importantly because group based care is not the ideal
situation for a lot of children, particularly very young children. Most parents are forced into
using group based care but it has been shown not to be best for the child.
I know a lot of people who do not work as the cost of child care makes it almost pointless their whole wage just covers the child care so they don't work. Not great for workforce
participation and has a negative impact on the person's ability to get back into the workforce
later on.
256. My two children have been in child care since I returned to work when there were 9 and 10
months old and have been using the same centre since 2009, and have been happy with the
care of both my children. In the time I have been using Child Care fees have risen more than
what I consider affordable and unfortunately government rebates don't cover enough of the
cost for working families. I find it disheartening that families where neither parent is
working or studying or families where one parent is not working or studying are able to use
full time care and pay almost nothing for this. I believe that in these cases they should have
a limited number of hours, eg 2 full days or equivalent they can access with rebates so that
more money can be directed towards easing the financial burden on working families. This
may also help in areas where parents who are needing to return to work but are unable to
find a spot in a centre as spots would not be taken up by children who's parents are at home
and capable of caring for thier own children. Fees at my centre are about to increase for the
2nd time this financial year in order to cover the cost of having a teacher in child care.
Personally I don't see the need for teachers in Child Care (I am a teacher myself and my
degree is Early Childhood), My children are in care because I have to work, I do not send
them there for an education, that can begin when they start kindy at 4. I want my kids to be
in a safe caring environment where they can play and be kids engaging in age appropriate
activities not be forced into learning before they are ready. I'm not saying that child care
centres don't teach anything, they are a valuable part of children's 1st steps into education but
I feel the study that child care workers have done is more than adequate and the introduction
of teachers into child care is a way to slowly remove funding from for formal education
settings such as Kindergartens in SA and equivalent in other states, as child care centres have
teachers and I fear the government will eventually take the view that such settings are
unnecessary as children are receiving the same benefits from child care. I sincerely hope this
fear is unfounded. In summary I would like the government to consider the structures of
rebates and how to assist working families more with the associated costs of child care and
to review if there is a necessity for teachers to be employed within child care settings. .
257. Unaffordable and parents not working paying next to nothing for care and clogging up
spaces when I work pay tax and have to pay full rates. If you don't work you should have
your children home with you. They are in full time care and the ccr runs out 3 mths before
the end of the year. Employees not paid enough. Fees go up not passed onto employees.
258. I am a medical doctor at a hospital in Sydney and my return to work has been significantly
hampered by accessing child care in the Inner West. I have had to rely on a nanny from 6
months of age despite having my son listed at > a dozen child care centres from when he was
in utero. I have registered him with private child care companies both in the inner West,
Sydney CBD and Randwick (where I work), the local council, the hospital day care (which
has a 3 year waiting list), the university of New South Wales (with whom I have an
academic appointment). With significant persistence on my part he has just been offered his
first childcare placement which will not start for another 6 months, as the centre is still being
built.
This bottleneck in accessing childcare has not only caused significant stress, but has
negatively impacted on my return to work, and has stopped me from returning full time.
259. My daughter is seven months old. At four months she attended full-time care as I returned to
work. My partner is a 1st year mature age apprentice and therefore my salary is our main
income. Whilst the $7500 rebate is helpful, it does not offset the costs of our day care for
about four months of the year. I am a successful working mum and come May 2014 I will
find that the majority of my salary until September 2014 will be used to pay the $435 per
week child care fees. This will make, 'making ends meet' during this period very difficult.
We are a mature age couple - 37 years old and a sibling/s for our daughter will be unlikely
due to the exuberant child care fees. At this stage I will always have to return to work. The
costs of child care also inhibit my wish to complete post-graduate tertiary studies which
would benefit my career in the Government Sector. On another note, the work that the carers
perform at the Kalgoorlie Early Learning Centre is of a very high standard. My partner and I
are very impressed with the standard of care, communication from the staff and the facilities.
We value the level of service available to us. Can I add, that securing a full-time child care
place for our daughter was particularly difficult and she was on a waitlist from when I was
twelve weeks pregnant.
260. I found it difficult to book into a childcare service of our choice, the waiting lists are very
long in our area (regional QLD). We had our child in a daycare we weren't happy with which
made it upsetting but I needed to go back to work due to financial reasons.
I now have a position at the childcare of our choice, however have had to accept a spot for
occasional care which costs more money than a long day care position.
Without government support I would not be able to afford child care, I would have to quit
work and look after our daughter full time. My career is important to me, but spending time
with my daughter is more important so I work part time. If CCB and CCR were not available
I would have no choice but to either work full time and miss time with my daughter or I
would have to give up my career and be a full time carer.
I find CCB and CCR confusing to work out.
261. Family daycare provides an excellent source of childcare, particularly for very young
children that need a single carer rather than shift workers (e.g. in a larger daycare centre).
This option should be actively supported as an alternative to care in a larger setting.
For families with more than 1 child, a nanny is an excellent and convenient option,
particularly given the scarcity of childcare places in larger centres. However, as there is no
rebate available the cost is typically prohibitive. This option should be actively supported
and subsidised.
262. It took 3 months to be able to get both our kids into our local childcare after I went back to
work despite being on the waiting list for 12 months.
The cost of care makes you wonder if it is worthwhile working. After the benefit & rebate it
is still costing us $700 a fortnight!
263. I have a 10 year old son with a severe disability. I was informed by the vacation care at the
local public primary school that I have always used to be able to go to work, that they no
longer had funding for my son to attend (he only went 2-3 days pw). I now have to use
Novita Teen Zone which is good, however it is full of teenagers and not really age
appropriate for my son. Its really difficult to find quality age appropriate vacation or after
school care for children with special needs. It makes school holidays really stressful.
264. Our largest expense at present is having two children accessing child care simultaneously.
Our other concern as users of the child care system is equitability in access. I would be
interested in seeing the Productivity Commission investigate this matter further. From
personal experience, we had a lot of difficulty accessing child care for our second child
despite already having another child in the same centre and having placed his name on the
waiting list 12mths in advance. I do not believe we would have been successful in securing
a position unless I had submitted a letter of dissatisfaction to the manager of this service and
I regret having had to resort to this as it has impacted on the interpersonal relationship with
our director.
Equitable, consistent and transparent access to child care services is paramount. wait lists
need to be kept current and regularly reviewed by Intake officer or directors. Perhaps the
prioritisation system also need reviewing.
265. Child care cost the families more due to ratio and qualification changes which is all very
good and well but makes this unaffordable to work and place your child in care with a cost
for myself with two children being $400 per week plus 4-6 week period were l am required
to pay $800 due to going over my $7000 limit per year per child that can be rebated. Why
not pay the workers more to keep the right type of workers in there roles you can stack
shelves at Aldi and earn $29 and hour yet our child care workers are well under paid. The
government changes to keep up appearances and standards in line with other countries has
hurt parents with extra costs, has had limited to no benefits to workers and places more
strains on centres that make cuts to food, equipment, excursions to lessens the load which
means they provided less services to our children were it should count. But at least the
government we can say we ate in line with other countries standards, you bloody idiots!
266. I was completely unable to get my son into Daycare in Yarraville (where we live). He's now
22 months old and we just took him off the wait list after 20 months because we were told
that we would probably never getting a place for him in daycare in our suburb. I now drive
him into the CBD to a private day care facility. I was very upset with our council at the time
but he loves his daycare so have learned to try and focus on his happiness - the 40 minute
commute is still pretty painful though.
267. I am a single mum of 3 year old twins... Without flexible & affordable childcare, I can't work
& feed my children! This IS an important issue & it IS a gender issue, yes of course it
impacts men - but it overwhelmingly impacts women!
268. Mine and my partner's jobs are shift work. I love my job but with two very young children, I
probably won't return to it following my maternity leave. Current childcare is almost too
expensive for us with two children compared with what we earn. The hours just don't suit
either. We are grateful for the childcare assistance we would receive but we would love to
employ a qualified nanny. Our salaries however, are not high enough for this. I really want
to keep working. I have a decent amount of superannuation accrued now but with a fairly
high mortgage, I need to grow it some more. My partner's superannuation balance though, is
not very good.
269. I live in a Rural/Remote area and have never had any trouble accessing child care services. I
have used Centre Based care and Family Day Care.
I feel that in recent years many restrictions have been placed on Family Day Care providers
(In the scheme I used) that means the kind of activities the FDC educators can do with the
children has decreased, especially in regards to taking the children on educational outings
(eg park or library etc) had to cease because the rules regarding vehicle travel were too
complicated to make the outing worthwhile.
As in many areas of life Centre Based Fees and FDC fees are constantly increasing and
while the CCR and CCB help with the cost I think the rates at which these are paid to middle
and low income earners should be raised.
I am also very strongly of the opinion that Early Childhood Educators are not paid a fair
wages for the excellent and vitally important job which they do. They are educated
professionals providing much more than ‘babysitting’ and should be remunerated
accordingly.
In some areas (esp Metropolitan) there is a drastic shortfall in the availability of childcare
spaces available and I think this needs to be rectified. It is unimaginable that a parent needs
to seek out child care availability 6-10 months before the care is needed. This shortfall can
make it difficult for parents trying to return to the workforce.
270. I am writing to express my concern regarding a business practice within the childcare
industry that I consider unfair. My complaint is with the practice of charging parents the
daily rate for holidays when the centre is closed. Since daycare fees are charged on a daily
basis, I do not understand why parents have to pay for holidays when the centre is closed. I
brought this up with the owner of the daycare whose response what that it was the law. I was
shown a policy regarding fees that had to be collected and paid. The document made no
mention regarding holidays. If there is a law or policy that allows daycare centres to charge a
daily rate for holidays where no service is provided, then I do believe that is an unfair
business practice.
I have documentation that shows we are charged for holidays.
I am also concerned with the rising cost of daycare. Our current daycare centre in Leichhardt
NSW costs $132 a day. In a full year, this is comparable to the fees of a private school
($18000+ a year). There are daycare centres that cost even more. As parents who live in the
area, we have no choice in the matter as all daycare centres in our local suburb have
comparable rates.
271. I am from Seymour Vic and although I have found good child care arrangements it is not
flexible and there is a lack of options.
I am largely concerned about the out of pocket expenses I am left with.
My husband and I both work grossing an income of $135000 a year so we only receive
minimal benefit.
I can not afford to send my child to care 5 days a week, so I am forced to rely on extended
family to do 2 days a week for free.
You need to understand the cost of living (mortgage, insurances and utilities) don't leave a
lot of excess for hard working families.
I wonder how it makes sense for me to bother returning to work if I put my child in care 5
days a week
But I'm concerned if I don't return to work in 5 years time I will be unemployable with no
career prospects
272. I am a registered nurse. One of many out there! who will be attempting to find access to
daycare. I have two children under 5. I use preschool and family daycare. I work in general
practice. I have some permanent hours and gain many casual hours each week. I access
family day care 1-2 times weekly for those extra hours. The restrictions placed on FDC
numbers to 4 children will impact greatly on my ability to do casual hours and my
availability. This also impacts on what I can afford for the other child for before and after
school care. There are many nurses in the area working casual hours as this is all that is
available.
273. My wife and I both work full time. We have 2 children, aged 3.5 years and 1.5 years. 6
months ago, having finished parental leave, we struggled to find full time affordable
childcare for both children in one centre. We eventually found a spot after looking in over 20
suburbs of Melbourne and had to move house so as to live closer to the centre. We have been
on the central waiting list in Footscray for 3.5 years now and still are at number 37. By the
time we receive an offer, we will no longer need the childcare as our children will be at
school.
We pay $39,000 per year for two children (after the 50% government rebate). This is
relatively cheap compared to many other childcare centres.
We struggle to understand why the government pays for public schooling in Australia but
will not fund 100% early childhood development. It doesn’t make sense.
We also don’t understand how the government can be serious about women returning to
work if the government is not ensuring more childcare centres are available in the inner
suburbs of Melbourne and Sydney.
274. I started looking for child care for my son when he was 5 months old and we moved into a
new area. I was also looking for work so it was difficult knowing which one to get first. I put
his name down with the council centres as well as every centre in my area, hoping to get him
in for January this year (3-4 months later). I also paid a subscription with Care for Kids to be
notified when places opened up. The general response from centres was that I could put his
name down, but not to hold my breath! I ended up finding a place with availability a few
suburbs away (1 hour round trip in peak hour) but wasn't very happy with them and they
were subsequently shut down 2 months later. Fortunately I had heard that a new centre was
opening in the same suburb so put his name down and we got in. I had to adjust my job
search so that I only looked at jobs in the direction of the child care centre as I could never
have made it back from the city by 6pm. I felt like I was left with no options on where to
send my child and had to settle with whatever was available.
275. I am the mother of a 20 month old and expecting twins in the new year. This will place me
with 3 children under 3. I also hold a management position with a ASX listed company.
Despite earning a good salary in comparison to many, childcare will still be a large cost
when I return to work with 3 kids and the rebate system really makes the difference between
working being worthwhile or not.
Access to childcare is a huge issue. My first child is happily in a family day care spot for 3
days per week. However, I have no idea how I will find a place for all 3 children near to my
home (Brisbane) and in the same location. This is a huge source of worry for me in
committing to my return to work date.
More needs to be done to increase supply and support all types of care including in home
care and family day care as these provide more flexible and child friendly options. A small
group environment with carers who genuinely enjoy children is what I am looking for with
my childcare. If I can't find this, then I will need to stay home myself to provide it. I'm my
view this is the right way to raise kids and even though in today's world two incomes are
generally required, we shouldn't force parents to put their kids into care which is centers
where kids are not nurtured and staff turnover is high.
To encourage parents of all walks of life to return to work the rebate should remain at 50%
as this makes it possible to consider working if it were less it would leave me out of the
workforce and stint my career opportunities and the contribution I can make to the
Australian economy.
276. My child was at long day care while I was working full time. Now I have had my second
child I will not be going ahead with long day care as I simply cannot afford to put them both
in. I would only have $274 in my hand at the end of the week, 1. That means I'll get just over
$50 a day for 8hrs work and 2. It's not much considering I will be missing out on my kids
growing up so I might as well raise them myself and be $274 poorer for it. (When you have
personal debt also this doesn't go far when running a household and providing for my
family). This is very unfortunate because I consider long day care extremely beneficial for
young children. The prices for long day care are assisted by human services but not enough
to see me return to full time work.
277. 1. Difficult to find vacancies in child cares/family day cares.
2. Very expensive for working parents like us @ $119 per day will come upto $2500 per
3. The support for the government is excellent in term of benefits and rebates
4. Very limited child care centres accept children below 2 years
278. The childcare rebate should not be recapped according to family income.
I will start to pay $800 a fortnight to childcare centre next month. It is not fair, I need
childcare full time because I am working fulltime. All my salary is going to child care...If I
choose not to work...Government will pay most of it...go and figure....
279. In order to live in western Australia both parents ‘need ’to work I believe child care should
be attached to every school
both private and state( mandatory). The children enjoy the down time with their friends . I
used this system in QLD where child care was available at 630 am but unfortunately WA is
not the same they don’t open early enough and are always booked out so therefore I resort to
friends and nannies as I don’t have relatives here. This is very stressful. I am a nurse and
may be asked to work an extra hour , if the child care was available at the school they attend
that would be fine but if not i have to let my colleagues at work down or stress for 1/2 hr on
the phone trying to get someone to take my children home from school
280. Parents who choose to use a nanny or au pair should be entitled to the same child care
rebates as parents who choose to use a long day care service.
Some parents work irregular hours, weekends or afternoon and night shifts where long day
care or family day care is not an option. These parents should not be disadvantaged
financially because their occupations do not fit into a standard 9-5 Monday to Friday
working week.
This will also relieve the pressure off our current long day care centres and family day
carers. I had to wait over 2 years for a spot to be available at my local child care centre.
Rebates should also be available to parents who choose to employ their parents to look after
their children. Some Grandparents would love to look after their grandchildren but simply
cannot afford to give up work to do this. Once again this take off pressure off the child care
centres.
281. It would be nice if there was some help for people with mental health issues to get their kids
to and from school. This may mean including nannies/au pairs in the rebate scheme. It can be
difficult on families if the main carer is housebound.
282. As childcare services are difficult to secure agencies that have affiliations with providers
should maintain those affiliations. Those without affiliations should seek and secure one. A
work environment that supports and encourages diversity should be trying to assist new
mothers returning to work through establishing these affiliations. The Department of
Agriculture had an affiliation that lapsed while women were on maternity leave. I do not
believe this information was disseminated in any way and those who believed they would be
able to secure places were not able to. I suspect this department is not the only one that has
difficulty supporting new mothers.
283. Hi there...I have two boys in part-time ccare. 4.10yrs and 3.5yrs. They both have
Developmental Delay & Autism. The care centre have been nothing short of awesome in
their support of our family. They've been able to access KU funding for additional staffing
whilst my boys are in care (I believe 3 hrs per day)
Over the past 2 years, I've seen the staff take on the personal responsibility to educate & skill
themselves in regards to 'special needs'. They've strived really hard in an already demanding
environment to create an inclusive experience for my boys. It's been a priceless contribution
to my children's Early Intervention Program.
284. I feel that child care should be dramatically reduced in price or even free like public schools
as a lot of families cant access childcare because of the cost.
I’m a stay at home mum of 3 and would love to be working I just cant because of the cost of
care.
I believe that early education is vital for children not only do they get an early education they
learn how to socialize and interact with others, sadly not every family can afford this.
285. My family has used registered care at a non-profit community based preschool for 4 years.
The childcare rebate is not available, and the childcare benefit available is only 66 cents per
hour if the family qualifies. Our type of care is the one missing out and hurting families
financially. Community based preschools provide great quality care and education,
especially in preparing children for school and unfortunately can not survive without
funding. Why should they miss out on funding and make it more difficult for families to use
the service due to it being unaffordable.
286. The waiting system for early childhood places is inconsistent and provides incorrect data to
Govt. Day care centres don't have enough staffing to check and maintain their waiting list.
Once a placement is found the administration and paperwork involved in managing costs of
fees and rebates is cumbersome and repetitive, especially if multiple services are used eg.
Day care and after school care & holiday program.
More work placement day care centres should be funded and encouraged , less travel time &
multiple drop offs & pick ups, staff retention is also better.
287. I would prefer to pay more and have smaller carer : child ratios.
I found it very difficult to get into a child care facility.
I would really like to see the Centrelink assistance apply to nannies as well as would have
preferred to use a nanny whilst the children were young.
288. Childcare is very expensive even with the CCB and CCR. Kindergarten for my 4 yr old in
care similar hours as my 10 month old is quite reasonable compared to day care. Eg $14 a
day for kinder. $96 a day for daycare. We need more help from the government to make
Childcare more affordable. It makes it hard to go back to work to earn money for a living
when all you are doing is earning money to pay Childcare fees in which you may as well
stay home and make more money from welfare payments.
289. As a working mother I rely on a mix of services to care for my children while I'm at work.
The cost of full time private care is prohibitive but always my most preferred option for my
youngest children. To enable a balanced environment I use a mix of home based care twice
a week, child care center twice a week and Kinda once a week with my husband and I taking
turns to finish work early to care for them the extra hours and the school children.
My frustration is I employ qualified carers in home without any rebate or support. Why can't
private home based care be given the same recognition as center based or family day care?
Better yet, why can't I have a tax reduction per child, pre school / school age based, for me to
decide how best to pay for care? Why does the government believe they are better placed to
make decisions on my child's care than I am? They know nothing of my circumstance: 5
children aged between new born and 5 years with no family to call on for support. I need in
home help that is flexible to suit the hours we need, not what the government decided we
need. Who works 09:00 to 5:00 these days!! How many weekends my husband has been
asked to work and I have hired someone to look after children in the home while I attend
sporting events to help umpire or judge, or we are both required to work on a Saturday. It's
madness that we have a system that is inflexible to our needs. I can't imagine how a single
parent can cope.
290. Better wages. Simple.
Better wages = a real career choice = lower staff turnover = consistency for the children =
better care.
291. I have two boys aged 5 & 3 and currently access both long daycare (2 days a week) and a
kinder program. On alternate days my children are cared for by grandparents and my partner
stays home 1 day a week. I would not have been able to justify returning to full time work
and paying for full time child care.
The care my children receive is exceptional and at this stage I do not require further care nor
could I afford it however, difficulties arise when grandparents are ill or when they take well
deserved holidays there is no access in the area that I live in to short term care as the one
child care facility is at capacity with permanent children.
Therefore I believe this is area that could be looked at that could support parents to return to
and remain in the work force but also provided support to grandparents who provided 1000's
of hours of unpaid care to also still be able to enjoy other areas of their lives as well as caring
for and supporting their children and grandchildren.
292. We are paying $147 per day for my daughter's childcare fee and the price goes up every
year. I have to work part time from next year to look after my daughter for a few days per
week to save some money, simply because we can't afford the childcare fee. Both myself and
my husband work full time, that make us non eligible for any of the family tax benefit, we
only get $7500 rebate, and that's it. Our out of pocket fee is $147 per day. As a young family,
we are really struggling financially. I think the high cost of the childcare is getting
ridiculous.
293. My issue is mainly with the lack of support for working parents with regard to financial
support.
Most of the support is means tested, meaning our combined income only gives us access to
the CCR ($7500 PA).
With no regulation on the prices Daycare facilities charge, and charging for all days
including absences and public holidays, means that for a child in 5 days a week amounts to
$16000 per child per year.
Next year we will have 2 children in daycare, amounting to $32000 PA - this is just
ridiculous and does not encourage parents to return to work and in so doing, contribute to the
tax income of Australia.
More should be done to regulate the prices charged and profits earned by the child care
centers (there is no consumer power in this market as they all do the same thing and parents
don’t have any alternatives) and the government should assist more in the early years before
children go to School.
294. In Sydney's inner west most mothers I know could not secure childcare before needing to
return to work. Once children are in care mothers are then too nervous to relinquish their
places/days, so end up paying for childcare when taking breaks between jobs or on maternity
leave with subsequent children. The threat of not being able to get them back in is often
worse than the (un-subsidised) care they're forced to pay as the alternative.
The current family benefits and rebates definitely help, but are means tested by family.
Regardless of family income, if a mother's income does not cover the cost of childcare, it is
difficult for her to justify returning to work.
No doubt the same support being extended to nannies etc would take the pressure off the
system.
295. I feel that a qualified person is needed for the child/children who have learning delays, that
find out when it's to late.
296. Shortage of local Long Day Care Services, women are forced to give up work as there are no
childcare places. In our area (Lower North Shore and CBD) there is minimum of 2-3 years
waiting list!).Nanny care extremely expensive and not covered by Childcare Rebate
therefore out of reach for middle class families.
Family Day Care in our experience is not properly regulated, because there is a shortage of
the Educators their local authority - council is allowing them to do whatever they like even
breaking legal requirements. I have reported one Family Educator in September 2013 to be
investigated as she was providing shocking care for our daughter and December 2013 I still
haven't heard anything back.
Australia wake up and join the rest of the world where government helps to raise a new
generation and helps parents to contribute to the economy.
297. I feel that early care services are getting more and more expensive. It doesn't cater well for
middle income families i.e the sandwich generation. I work Mon to Fri 8-5pm and need 2
kids in care...however it's so difficult to find cost effective care providers.
I also feel that care providers should provide quality services e.g. enrichment classes,
sporting activities etc rather than the focus being on art or play. children are like
sponge...they can absorb a lot of information and this should be harnessed.
298. I found it very difficult to obtain Childcare for both my children and had to start out at a
centre in the city at well over $100/day five years ago.
We are now in a centre near my home and my daughter is at primary school b/a school care
and son at daycare. Myself and my husband work full time - he works very long hours which
leaves me to drop off and collect the kids. However I regularly have difficulty working
around the 7-6 hours including travel to/from work and when my work requires interstate
travel I have to organise something else.
I am an Australian manager and feel with our family a nanny would be a much better fit but
with no rebate available or tax deduction unfortunately this is not financially viable.
We have had to make the decision not to have any further children as with costs what they
are and the difficulty in obtaining placements both in Childcare and b/a school care this is
the major contributing factor in our decision.
We both work hard and earn good income however with all other living expenses Childcare
just tips us over the top.
A nanny rebate or tax deduction would be wonderful and both assist people trying to obtain
placements as well as families with their work-life balance.
299. The 50% child care rebate should definitely be extended to in home care provided by
nannies. This is essential to ensure flexibility and accessibility of care, especially for young
babies.
300. Support should definitely be extended to other types of support like nannies. I can't afford to
hire a nanny as I would earn no money for that day. There is such a need for nannies and
they provide wonderful one on one care for our children. Also, if you wish to increase your
days at childcare, you have little hope till the following year as so fully subscribed; that is
where nannies really come in handy.
301. A severe shortage of childcare availability is cropping the careers of workers in Melbourne's
inner west. While there is a lot of debate about the merits of paid maternity leave and the
rate/duration, the much more significant issue for us us whether your child can get care when
you want to return to work. It's completely crippling.
302. As a mother of 2 children in daycare 2 days per week, it is not financially viable for me to
work and put my children into full time daycare. I would be paying to work. I live in the
City of Melbourne, and there are no affordable daycare solutions available to me.
There are no 4 yr old Kinder programs offered which standalone from long daycare I am
aware of close to where I live.
I received JETCCFA whilst I did 18/24 units of a degree at a full-time rate. The last 6 units
will take me as long to do as the 18 took, as I will need to wait until my children are in
primary school to finish my degree, due to the cost of daycare which makes it financially
unviable for now for our family.
303. Overall kindergarten is a blessing with awesome people with whom I have the greets respect
for and I felt very comfortable and extremely pleased with how my daughter progressed
throughout the year.
As a father who pays close to $15,000 dollars a year in child support and who also paid
100% of my daughters kindergarten fees plus excursions I think this should be taken into
account with child maintenance payments through CSA. When a parent can make over $900
a week through single parent pension, one day a week work plus CSA payment what makes
things fair for those who actually work 12 hour night and day shifts?
Give single hard working fathers a break who actually also care for their children. It will be
interesting to see if I see a response.
304. As a career move, my family and I are relocating to Canberra from the Northern Rivers of
NSW in Jan 2014. We have found it extremely difficult to find ANY placements for our 3
and a half year old daughter in child care centres close by to the ACT civic centre and inner
suburbs. We have had her on 15 waitlists since I was offered my job in Canberra in
September 2013, and have only just this week (Dec 2013) been offered two placements at
two separate centres; however as yet, we still have no care for our child on Thursdays for
next year. Availability really seems to be a serious problem in the ACT and I have heard of
Mothers leaving their jobs as care is just not available (particularly for younger
children/babies).
305. I am a 34 year old single parent, who is studying my Master of Environment. I have one year
of full time study remaining although, I had planned to do this part time over two years.
On Thursday I received my childcare bill. Instead of the $24 that I was expecting, it was
nearly $700. On the invoice I could see that my usual JET funding had not been added as a
deduction. Earlier this year, I had received a letter from Centrelink warning that my JET
funding would expire and under the childcare's advise I had contacted them to give my
particulars for another year of funding. Given the immanent expiry date, I asked how I would
know the outcome of my assessment. I was told to expect a letter advising of the outcome.
Time passed and no letter arrived.
Upon calling Centrelink on Thursday and advising them of this hefty and unexpected bill, I
was told that my funding had been approved and that they would send through a letter which
I could show to the childcare and which they would then use to correct my invoice reflecting
my funding. My relief was short lived. No sooner had I hung up the phone, JET called me to
say that in fact my application for funding had been declined. They said that this was due to
Federal Government changes to JET funding which now excluded all Masters and Doctorate
students.
My grievance is two-fold. Firstly, the effect of this news on my life is catastrophic.
Secondly, had I not called JET, I still would not know of the mounting debt that I am
accruing. It is unacceptable to have not been informed that I was no longer eligible! To
expand on my former point - with Uni starting tomorrow, I now need to find a way to fund
the childcare on my own. As I'm using the childcare to look after my child while I'm
studying, I'm generating no income to pay for it. As my ex partner believes that he is well
within his right to decline my request for him to pay half of our child's childcare fees, I have
no financial recourse through him. Interestingly his rationale for this is (to paraphrase): if it
was fair that i should pay half of our child's childcare fees the government would make me.
It's YOUR choice to go back to study or work, so YOU pay for it. This is a whole other can
of worms which for brevity I will not go into here.
So how can I pay for childcare fees when the little money I earn from my casual job plus the
pension goes to enabling us to survive? There is barely anything left over. Certainly not
enough to cover the cost of childcare. What this means, is that I am forced into prostitution
to cover these costs. The irony of this situation is that, I had started working as an
independent escort in the last 8 months to ease us through a tight patch which unfortunately
preceded the 'festive' season with all the related financial commitments. Earlier that week I
had decided to quit as I believed that the net effect of this work was destroying my self
worth, whilst simultaneously destroying my new relationship. This new relationship held for
me the promise of healing from the pain of the previous dysfunctional relationship; of a
chance of exploring all of life's wondrousness with my child and an incredible lifetime
companion; and of a intelligent, kind and gentle father for my child. This relationship has
caved under the pressure of my decision making. This is not a reflection on my partner, or
the relationship, but on the reality that prostitution is ultimately stigmatised and isolating.
But how else to pay the bills? My ability to parent is first and foremost on my list of
priorities, therefore I need to work the shortest amount of time for the most amount of
money. I want nothing more than to witness my child grow-up firsthand...not hear about it
retrospectively from her teachers.
I am writing to you to tell you my story. A story that is happening now, at the grassroots
level. I am heartbroken and desperate. My education, chance of a family and personal well
being have been pawned on my behalf for a few budget dollars. I am dis-empowered but not
beaten. Please use my story to generate awareness of what these unfair policy changes to real
people striving for better lives in a mining obsessed, people forgotten country.
306. There need to be more in-home care places available to suit the needs of shift workers and
people who work beyond 6pm. The govt should provide assistance to the in-home care
service to find suitable carers. My in-home care provider is really good but it was up to me
to find the carer, ensure they had the necessary certificates/training, then link them to the inhome care service. It would be much better if the total service was provided by the in-home
care provider. Regular daycare doesn't accommodate for shift workers or people who work
beyond 6pm.
307. I think rebates need to be extended to other forms of Childcare. Ie nannies. The current
rebate system seems very complicated and the forms needed were excessive. Access to good
Childcare in my area is difficult. I was on a waiting list for a year and have had to take a
position at the beginning of the year for my child who will not yet be 1 just because I
couldn't get a spot if I wanted to wait an extra few months.
308. I believe the childcare benefit and childcare rebate should apply to all types of childcare
including community preschools. I have accessed both long day care the 2 days I work and
one day in a preschool each week. The education in a preschool I believe enhances a childs
transition to school. They are encouraged to be more independent and think more critically
about choices by the teachers. I fail to see the difference between long day care and
preschools that make one available for financial help and the other not.
309. it is very hard to get in childcare. It’s really frustrating. Also childcare waitlist condition
criteria should be publicly available .e.g first priority will go to siblings already in the centre,
then its per number of days; more days=bigger priority. At the moment this is not apparent,
so I could be on the waitlist for 4 years, with still no chance to get in for a 3yo because its
always those kids will get priority, who are already in the centre as they are moving up. Why
bother with a waitlist in the first place?
310. this is a service all parents need and the cost is ridiculous. if I were to return to full time
work I would spend over 3/4off my wage to cover child care cosy surely the govt could
subsidize child care workers wage to reduce costs for parents. this is more important than
gay marriage issues yet less off a priority
311. I believe, that there needs to be better funding given to child care centres, the expectations
for the care and education of our children continues to rise, the demands from accreditation
and from individual parents, and the different levels of care for children with special needs is
constantly pushing our child care educators to. I have a 3 year old in child care and my mum
and sister both work in the field, I see my mum come home every night exhausted from the
care she gives to the children in her centre, especially working with autistic children, and I
see her struggle financially on their wage.
I also believe that child care centres should offer a little longer times, I am a single mother
and I am a nurse doing shift work, and currently am only able to do night shifts due to the
hours of the centre opening.
In short I believe child care educators deserve better money and conditions, and that hours of
centres should be a little longer to cater for shift workers.
312. It took me 18 months to get childcare. I put my name on the waiting lists for all 3 of the child
care facilities in town as soon as I found out I was pregnant.
I was able to finally secure full time care when my daughter was just over 9 months old. My
name is still on the other day care lists and at one of the centres I am still not even in the top
10 and my daughter is now 15 months old! affordability... $700/FN for 1 child, very
expensive but still viable for me to work and pay bills. I don't have any savings or additional
spare spending money though. something needs to be done to create more day care spots...in
our town of 10,000 there is approximately 130 spots....
313. 5 comments & 5 proposed solutions
Comments:
1.
Scarce places causing 2-4 years waiting for a spot.
2. High rates ($110 – $150 daily = 65% Mother’s full time wage) making childcare
unaffordable for many families.
3. Good educators employed; opening hours acceptable.
4. Childcare is the only option for migrants with no relatives in Australia and fewer job
options (lower salaries). This is a substantial number of electorate that builds future
Australian generations.
Recommendations:
1. Child-care fees deductable from individual income tax prepayment (salary sacrifice
reducing prepaid income tax) – increasing disposable family income. Employers keep
records and generate compliance reporting reducing this way costs for the government of
servicing these payments.
2. Various ages of kids in Family Day-cares allow more flexibility for educators. Current
restriction to 4 kids per educator in Family day-care caused price increase with no
increase in quality ($20 and more daily = from 20% up and more).
3. Unrealistic $3.99 CCB rate. It is too low and income testing reducing CCB if FAMILY
income $33K is too harsh. Please increase to $60,000 (rent 1 bedroom $400 pw, energy
$500 pq – very difficult to meet ends with 2 parents working. Some saving for the future
education like university is very difficult.
4. No part time jobs for mothers to unload childcare system. Currently available options are
a full time job or no job. Work from home while caring for 0-36 month old child is
inefficient. Tax deductions for caretaker supplement would create more work places and
release more professionals back to their work place.
5. Introducing tax breaks for employers for employer operated day-care before / after
school care. It’s reducing government’s capital investment and increasing private sector
employment. It would be a good investment option for employers ensuring employee
stays for longer with the same employer (lower costs of training). State to control quality
standards and cap on fees charged by employer operated childcare to avoid frauds.
Thank you for looking into this urgent and strongly shaping the future of Australian nation
issue.
314. Child care currently does not currently cover shift working hours for example 'health care
workers and nurses'. Child Care therefore should be extended to in-home care. At least if
one can prove exceptional circumstances are required in order to attend work.
I often loose a whole days work because I am unable to obtain child care or a measly hour
and a half. An example of this is if my shift starts at 9pm and my husband’s doesn’t finish
until 10pm.
315. First of all thanks for conducting such a needed research.
When I moved to Australia with two kids aged 3 year-old and 6 month-old, i could not find
any spot in any of childcares in Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. I was told I should be prepared
to wait at least two years especially for the little one who was under 2 since people put even
their unborn babies on waiting list due to long waiting periods. I told them I could not put
their names earlier since I just moved here, I did not even know childcare shortage in
Australia. I managed to find five days care for my kids after 1.5 years and able to start
working after moving to Australia. If you ask me what was the most challenging part of
moving Australia, I will definitely say childcare. And childcare fee is the other big issue. I
will be paying AUD125 per day for my 3 yo next year for childcare . Although the childcare
does not pay any rent, they still charge AUD125 as a non profit childcare. When child care
benefit increases, childcare fees are increasing too. I really do not understand how these fees
are determined. I believe instead of funding the fees, it is better providing them free like the
ones in England. I believe funding is contributing to fee inflation. And having two kids in
childcare, I am paying nearly all my monthly salary (more than Aud4000 per month) to
childcare and receive some of it back through childcare rebate. since my husband and I work,
we receive AUD6 for both children as childcare benefit which is very insignificant compared
to what we pay. Sometimes I think we can be in a better situation if I do not work. But to
keep my career, I should work. It will worth continuing working once they start public
school.
316. I am both angry and disappointed at the lack of local care in our area. My son had been on
the wait list since he was born he is now over 2 and we are still waiting. When working the
centre we had to use was out of both my husband's and my way adding an extra 30 min
round trip in peak hour. I now have a new born and it would have been great to be able to
walk him to a centre while my newborn slept. Instead I have to drive 15 minutes and pay
115 dollars a day at a centre I'm not happy with.
Something needs to done about the shortages of care, early education and high school
education in our area. It has been a stressful and very unpleasant experience.
317. I think overall, the system works very well; however there are loopholes where children are
still missing out. When my child was born in 2011, I didn't have my permanent residency in
Australia yet although I had been here for 4 years (originally from UK) and working here for
all of that time. My child's father and my child are both Australia Citizens but my child's
father refused to take on a parenting role and fled from all responsibilities, refusing to
contribute financially. The government system really failed my child here. As an Australian
Citizen, he should have been able to benefit from the Baby Bonus, Family Tax Benefit and
the Child Care Rebate. But this was not the case because I was not a permanent resident.
Luckily my boss allowed me to bring my child to the office with me, kept me employed and
helped me gain my permanent residency with sponsorship. He is a unique man. Had it not
been for him, my son would have been unable to live in his own country, because daycare
was not affordable for me at $90 a day. I struggled to make ends meet for another 2 years but
finally did it and gained my permanent residency in May of this year.
318. I have a 2 and half year old and an 8 month old and I'm hoping to back to work part time. I
have had my eldest on a waiting list since she was 10 months old at a quality child care
service near us. We were offered a place for her when she was 20 months old but didn't take
it up as I was having my 2nd child in a few months time and would be at home again after
going back to work part time. I put my 2nd child on the waiting list when she was 5 months
old and have just been offered places for them for 2 days per week as requested at the
beginning of 2014. I will take the places up despite not having found part time work as yet as
I don't want to lose their places. I am currently on parental leave from a part time job until
March 2014 but I'm wanting to find alternative work before then. We will find it very
difficult financially to pay for daycare until I find work. Even then it will hardly seem worth
it but we need the extra bit of money coming in. We won't get Child Care Benefit until we
find out if we qualify for any at the end of the financial year. I would liked to consider
having a nanny especially with a baby at home but this is not an option financially without
access to the Child Care Renate for nannies. So I have found access to quality child care
difficult and financially it is almost unattainable. I will pay $90 per child per day minus 50%
from Child Care Rebate which still work out at $180 per week for only 2 days care.
319. I would like our pre-school to have fully trained teachers. The director is not fully qualified
with 4 years training as a teacher. This needs to be addressed Australia wide, and into the
remote areas too.
320. I found it really difficult to find suitable daycare that has availability. Most have long wait
lists that are over a year long. There are simply not enough of them and therefore I strongly
believe that benefits should extend to cover nannies, in home help and au-pairs.
Quality daycares are also very difficult to find. I have looked into most daycares in my area
and do find that there are not enough staff/carer ratios as they don't comply with the
standard. This is a major issue and not negotiable for when choosing a daycare. Educational
aspects are not always of a good standard but most importantly I have found that supervision
and interaction with children is minimal (e.g. my 2 year old child was bitten 5 times by
another child on the same day at his daycare- can this be anything other than lack of
supervision?)
Finally, the cost of daycare is forever on the increase. They've put the fees up 4 times since
May 2012! This will directly influence when and how long I'll take to go back to work.
321. We live in a remote village, 1 hour to nearest major town of Tamworth. I am a full time
working Mum and so is my husband. The cost of living these days leaves us no choice but
to work full time, and we have twin boys, now 3. Since the boys were 2 mths old, as I could
not afford 12 months maternity leave, i have evolved their childcare needs between in home
care, family members, day care, and now our local preschool this year. This has been a
juggle and an expensive exercise. I don't have the boys in full time care, despite working full
time hours from a home based office, as this we could not afford. I also have to drive to
Tamworth some days in order to put them in care and work remotely from a cafe or the
library. The cost of travel to/from childcare is an additional burden. Although we now have
access to our local preschool, it is only opened 2 days per week. We don't feel this is enough
preschool for our children, especially if we send them to school in 2015. Therefore, I have
to drive to Tamworth again to access more preschool and more childcare to allow me to
work and to ensure our sons are getting the best development in readiness for school. More
childcare benefits and discounts should be offered to mid range income earners like our
family, we get very little support and it is also not communicated clearly the income
threshold for the benefits, therefore in 2013 we were awarded a huge bill for our 2012
payments. This is extra pressure and we unknowingly did this with no clear advice on
threshold cut offs, from Family Services during 2012, despite the countless letters they send.
More discounts and benefits should be given to multiple birth parents, it is more costly to
raise and pay for care for 2 or more children of the same age, than siblings of differing ages.
322. I am due early January- and have applied at approx 8 childcare centres in my area. I was
hoping to return to my nursing career in July, however have been informed there may be a 2
year waiting list. Both my parents are deceased and it looks like I won't be returning to work
as I planned.
323. I have my 7 month old child enrolled in family daycare and I think the effort they put in to
the care and development of my child is fantastic. In saying that I work a 40 hour week and
give my CCB and CCR to my daycare and with their ratios being lowered to 4 children next
year my fees are going up. As it is I'm struggling to pay for daycare with no support besides
the CCB and CCR from the government. I think families where both parents are working full
time need more support with paying for child/daycare.
324. I live in a rural community in northern inland NSW. I have been disappointed that the
Nundle CWA Pre-school has been limited to two days a week while my sons eight and four
accessed the service. There was a reluctance from the director to pursue opening the preschool for a third day, even though this is the Federal Government recommendation for fouryear-olds.
Thankfully the parents and preschool management are looking at this again. The alternative
was to enrol my sons one day a week at a preschool at Quirindi or Tamworth but I decided
against this because of the confusion it would cause and of course those preschool prefer you
to enrol your child for three not one day. I have also used in home care and family day care
which I found to be beneficial and supportive.
325. The 2 main issues with the current system are affordability and availability.
Even with the CCB and CCR, the cost of child care greatly affects the mothers' decisions to
return to work. In addition, since our financial conditions were changing at the time, it was
very difficult to know beforehand how much child care would cost us out of pocket.
Availability is the other issue. My wife has just had to turn down an offer to work an extra
day a week simply because we couldn't find a child care spot for this day.
326. There is a serious lack of available childcare places in the ACT with centres having up to
200 families on their waiting lists.
327. I have 2 children in daycare 3 days a week, with my eldest starting school next year. My
main concern at the moment is after school care. My child has been on the waiting list now
for 2 years yet has not been given a place for after school next year. There is only 70 places
in a school of 640 children where many parents work at least part time jobs to enable them to
pay enormous mortgages in the inner west of Sydney. We have no choice as mothers but to
return to work, yet no support in finding available and affordable child care positions. As no
private daycares have places available for the school kids next year either, I am forced to
look for a nanny for 3 days of after school care - meaning I will no longer get a rebate for
childcare! Yet I have no option as there are no after school care places available for her! This
is unfair, discriminatory and infuriating for the many parents who do not have family support
in Sydney and very limited funds. Why should we be penalised further for not gaining a
place in after school care by then also missing out on the rebate even though I have been on a
waiting list for 2 years? As it is, I waited 2 years to gain the desired place for my eldest in
long daycare and had to use a fairly substandard one until she finally gained a place. I think
it is imperative especially in areas like Sydney with very high mortgage repayments and
therefore there is a neccesity that parents both work, that more childcare and after school
places are made available and affordable and that people using nannies are also allowed to
receive the rebate. Schools should more easily be able to extend their after school care
programs to admit more children of the many parents needing to work beyond a 3pm pick up
time. This needs to happen in the immediate future not after some long drawn out
investigation because I am one of many other parents I know in similar situations. We have
to work to survive yet we have no-one to look after our children!
328. Demographics is destiny. Our ageing population is caused by a shortage children to replace
the old. Immigration is a poor substitute for naturism, because immigrants may be quite old
and hence not reduce the dependency ration by much. Immigrants may not be as intelligent
and fit into Australian cultural as Australian-born people. High levels of immigration lead to
social dis-harmony.
Children are a public good. There is a market failure because our best and brightest have to
sacrifice the most to become parents. The opportunity cost of children is huge for a
professional couple, while for an unemployed single woman, children increase her
disposable income.
We need to build a clever country. The tragic result of over-generous welfare coupled
means-tested benefits is that the smarter you are, the fewer children you will have (on
average).
We need to make children cheaper for professional families, or families with professional
fathers. So professionals can afford the children they want, and that the Australian economy
needs.
Childcare is too expensive if you have more than a tiny family. Few people can afford
childcare for 3 children... yet if every family only had three children, eventually there would
be no humans left. Why? because too many people are failing to have any children. We need
to encourage professionals to have larger families to make-up for those who miss out.
Tall parents have tall kids, black people have black kids... Smart people have smart kids. Yet
we are running a eugenics program in Australia where the smarter you are, the fewer
children you will have. Means-tested benefits, means-tested childcare, and over-generous
payments are the cause.
Many welfare-dependant are able to access FREE CHILDCARE, through the JET (Jobs
Education Training) system. Yet working families struggle to afford the children they want.
We need to make children reduce your tax with income-splitting for the whole family.
329. I am concerned that the steps taken by the previous gvt to improve the quality of care are to
be sacrificed for the gain of short-term cost savings. Childcare needs higher subsidies for
users, and these subsidies should be means tested. As a professional engineer, it is only
marginally worthwhile for me to work more than 3 days per week, such are the disincentives
of the rebate cutoff. For non professionals there is hardly an incentive to work at all. The
review must account for the cost of educating women who then cannot participate fully in
the workforce due to lack of availability of quality day care (or in my case, simply no places
available at all until months after my planned return to work).
The review MUST also consider the long term benefits to children who receive a quality preschool education. These are the formative years for behaviours and set a kid up for life. Just
because the benefits aren't realised for a decade or so, does not mean that they are negligible.
Increased productivity is the means to a higher std of living in Australia. Fix the mis-match
of providing subsidised quality care available when and where families need it, and we'll see
the boost to our nation's productivity. It is a simple and proven concept. Let's not let this
review take us backwards.
330. I would support and encourage the government to consider a rebate for all forms of in-home
as well as structured pre-schools and childcare. This would give all families flexibility to
choose what is right for them at the right time i.e. preschools/ nannies/ daycares - your needs
are different when your baby is 6months old to when they are 4-5 years old.
Currently mothers who work in mid to lower paying roles have to take considerable time off
when their kids have a cold etc because daycare won't take them - a nanny would allow this
flexibility. This also takes the stress out of the employer/ employee relationship as it is the
employer who has to pay the sick day. The mother still has to pay the childcare centre even
when her child is sick. these two pressures contribute to further sickness in the centres - as
people run the gauntlet by sending their sick kids as they have to pay for the care anyway
and upset their employers when they take the day off.
331. Places for child care in the inner west of Sydney are impossible unless you want to spend
$165 a day. I was lucky when we moved out of the area to find a place in a wonderful centre
but it took 6 months of centrelink tomfoolery before payments started and they were $4 a
week off my fees! $4!
It seems to be the rebate and benefit payments are given to mums who don't work rather than
those who do work. Apparently I earn to much yet each week is struggle to afford rent, food,
bills and other expenses and I can't access any benefits because my husband and I both work.
I would be better off as single stay at home mum! This is ludicrous!
If you want more women to return to work then child care fees need to reduce or the benefit
and rebate need to more accessible to working mums who are not high income nor low
income earners. It seems the middle income families are forgotten and left to fend for
ourselves.
332. I live in an area where childcare is extremely difficult. I have one child starting school and
one in daycare and trying to align the days in care for both has been horrendous. I tried to
change my work days for next calendar year but couldn't make it work. Further, our daycare
is closing for 3 weeks over Christmas so I am forced to pay for a non subsidised nanny
because i cant take that much time off work. It is always a stress and a juggle and you just
want consistency for your children.
333. It is extremely important for me to have accessible and subsidised child care options for my
3 children (all under5yrs)as I am a working mother that works 35 hrs. per week. It has been
an important facet of my children's learning development skills and social interaction.
Education based learning through play has also helped with their speech and motor skills. If
the government were to abolish funding for children under 3 (which I have heard is being
considered) I think it would be detrimental to the community. It would cause hardship to
working families and bring those needing to work below the poverty line. SURE You would
see more women back in the home but children less capable to handle the basics before
attending school. For my family I would not be able to work and I would have to ask for a
government handouts rather than being self sufficient.
Child Care organisations provide the community a service that cant be taken away. It
provides jobs for young people and a career path for many. Its where life long friendships are
made and behavioural issues can be addressed. It is a saving grace and offers peace of mind
that our children, OUR nations future are being looked after in a caring, loving and
supportive environment. Most importantly they are safe! Whatever changes you are wanting
to implement thinking of those already struggling to make ends meet take away childcare
you will take away families independence to provide for their own.
334. We are aware of friends who have had difficulty accessing care in the area but we were
fortunate as we put our kids names down at birth,
Affordability is a significant barrier to using child care - I believe the full amount should be
tax deductible retrospective and extended to all types of child care. We spend over $2000 a
fortnight for 2 children in childcare for 4 days a week - about the cost of a private school
after tax.
My wife is the primary breadwinner and I was fortunate enough to work part time for a while
but its difficult to keep you career going working part time - I have considered giving up
work to look after the kids full time, but feel I would not be able to get back into the
workforce at a reasonable level.
335. Quality care is hard to find for my child who is now 2 years of age even though she was in a
existing centre in a younger room they have been unable to accommodate her in a room that
caters for 2-3 year olds she is in a room for 1-2 yr olds.
Affordability for childcare can always be reviewed but we understand that you get what you
pay for. Without the governments assistance with care we would not be able to work and
send our daughter to day care.
Current support for working families should be reviewed, it often feels like we are penalised
for trying to work and support our families instead of relying on handout for the government.
Support should 100% be extended to all types of child care provided they meet a certain
level of qualifications.
336. I have a pair of twin girls, 5 years old. We migrated to Australia when the girls were 14
months old. It was hard finding an affordable and good care at the time. We moved places
from one suburb to another to live close to a good care, so that the girls could have the best
option. We had to pay a heavy price for it, even with all the rebate that the government
provides us.
Around 90% of the day care here are average and I am constantly worried about my child
when working. Those which are really good are beyond our limits. I look out for a care
where I can be confident to leave my children and at the same should be affordable. We have
spend a major portion of our income for care and never felt satisfied with it. Most of the
days, the kids would return with an infection, and then we had to take carers leave and other
leave to take care of the girls. I had run out of my carers leave within two months of my
joining work. I hardly felt there was any need to return to work with this kind of problems.
The care should be more affordable, and reachable to masses. I would recommend surprise
inspections to day care, to review what food the kids are given, the toys that are found
around, how hygienic they are.
337. Both my children were in childcare 3-4 days a week from 8 months. Their development
skills including motor and communication are both much more advanced than other children
I know who did not attend daycare until they reached kinder age. I also believe access to this
service which has allowed me to return to work has given me diversity in my life so I'm
better able to cope with the challenges of being a parent to young children. Financially, it has
been a little tricky but definitely worth it for the wellbeing of our family.
338. There is a lot of focus on parental leave as a means of improving equality in the work place
and making family's lives/choices easier. This is misplaced. Cheaper high quality childcare
and more places would do much more to achieve the above goals. We are very lucky to have
accessed a fantastic childcare with a focus on early childhood development. However, even
at student rates, it is $90/day/child. This is very expensive and would be prohibitive for
many families. Not to mention that we were just plain lucky to get a space at all. We live in
the inner city and so are competing with families who want childcare close to work. So
many families miss out. Cheaper high quality childcare and more of it would give families a
real choice in terms of work and study options.
339. When we lived in Chinchilla (QLD) we struggled to get our 1 year old child daycare) since
moving into Brisbane City we can only put our daughter in 1 day a week because we only
get 50% rebate Nd nothing else as my finances income is high we can still only afford one
day. We might earn a lot of
Money but their is a lot of debt from my finances past and we still struggle to pay out debts. I
would love to go back to work but it is not worth it with petrol prices and car maintenance
and paying the final bill for daycare weekly.
340. I would love to see the rebate level lifted. The price if childcare continues to rise and with
the rebate staying the same even with only 3 days a week we will find ourselves paying full
rate in the later part of the year due to the rising daily cost. It also needs to be higher for
persons accessing non government care. Council run centres are very hard to get placements
and in fact I have been on a wait list for almost a year now with no joy. I really like the
current centre but there is almost $30 a day difference which as I said means that in the later
part of the year we will pay full cost.
I would also like to see centres have long daycare - afternoon shifts etc for emergency
service workers and other shift workers. It's a constant stress trying to organise rosters fit
with current centre hours. Thank you
341. Childcare services were almost impossible to access in the first year I returned to work
despite my baby's details being on a multitude of wait lists for over a year and a half. I wasn't
able to get a place in any centre near home or work, and family day care only offered
reduced hours (8-4/5) which would have further restricted my working hours once travel
time was factored in.
We had to engage a nanny (sharing with another family) to enable me to return to work.
Whilst the arrangement was more flexible and convenient it was a lot more expensive and
without any rebates, my salary almost all went to my daughters care.
Even in my child's 2nd year it's been a struggle to find appropriate care and the random and
often arbitrary processes that centres use to allocate places mean that the only way you can
be guaranteed a spot is to call and pester every day until they get sick enough of you that
they give someone else's wait listed spot to you instead.
342. We live on the Southside of Canberra and despite registering in March 2013 (it's now
December) I have no confirmed childcare spot for 2014 start. I am on the list for 5 centres.
I have a full time job starting in 2014 and not sure what will happen.
Also, I don't think it's reasonable for childcare centres to charge a wait list fee (see Peterpan
Early childhood Centre) even if they are private. As there is no refund if a placement is not
offered.
In my past experience, quality of care at Only About The Children run by Universal is varied
due to the Staff turnover. wages in the sector are too low that carers leave.
343. About one year ago I was looking into buying a kindergarten, went to council to ask about
extending the amount of children and what not, one of the comments was that it was easier to
get a brothel approved than a childcare centre, now that tells me there's a reason for high
demand on waiting lists also I think that you should be able to get something back for having
a nanny, not the same amount as in childcare because they have different policies and
nannies aren't regulated like childcare centres but for some a nanny suits so maybe you could
claim the childcare rebate for having a nanny .
344. Having a daughter a being a single mum I needed to find a child care provider around my
living zone.
It is disappointing that until yet, over two years waiting, i did not get a vacancy in my
preferred child care. So can only say that waiting list was not respected.
I was lucky enough to get a vacancy in another child care, a bit further way, were I am
completely satisfy with the service.
Also it would be good if single parents could get priority in getting a vacancy, as I am sure
many would not have family or friends to help care for a child, my case. So i would entirely
benefit from In-home care when child can not attend day care because of illness.
Centrelink should grant JET to single parents studying despite of level of qualification being
higher/lower and not increasing the out of pocket expense for single parents as despite being
low compare to the full rate affects affordability.
Affordability is a significant barrier when using child care
345. There's just not enough child care places.
The rebate is good, but because it is capped, it is only worth my while to go back to work 2
days per week.
Child care workers need better pay.
346. I use a nanny to look after my children at home because I work irregular hours and because I
prefer for my children to be looked after in their home environment by someone I know and
trust, and for whom I set the ground rules. If I didn't feel I could do this I would hesitate to
go back to work, as I don't like the idea of very young children being looked after in a mass
care environment.
I could not go back to work without the peace of mind and flexibility afforded to me by my
nanny, and I don't see why that should preclude me from financial support, which I would be
entitled to if I chose to put my children in mass child care arrangements. Nannies are a
sensible choice for many working mothers, who face all sorts of social rejection from so
many fronts. I don't understand why receiving the same level of financial support for a nanny
that is provided for broader child care is not offered. I believe many parents would go back
to work earlier and work more hours if this choice were available.
347. I am concerned about the replacement of traditional kindergarten services at stand alone
kinders, with that provided in the childcare setting. I understand that childcare centres are
supposed to meet the required standards imposed by the DEEC but do not feel that a ‘for
profit’ organisation is in the right position to provide the educational outcomes compared to
that of traditional kinder, nor do they have the ‘community’ associations (for example
attending local kinder, getting buddied with a child from a local school and then attending
that school). My main concern is that I can see in my area that new or extended council
based kinder services are not being developed, rather there is a reliance on childcare centres
taking that role instead. Childcare centres providing this service meet the care requirements
of some families, but should not replace the option of traditional stand alone kinder
programs.
348. The cost of child care delayed my return back to work. At the time I was holding a senior
management position.
If the cost of full time child care is equivalent to $50K before tax then the majority of
Australians are not in a position to access suitable child care.
349. It is very important that we valuable the amazing work done by childcare workers. They
should be qualified and the ratios should not be changed. It is important that we do not go
backwards
350. I live in eastern suburbs Sydney, have six university degrees, nine years' experience in the
university sector and two children. I was recently offered my first permanent job in an
Australian university and seriously thought about turning it down as the waiting list for
childcare at that university is 2-3 years. By the time my three year old is 6, she could be
offered a place in the three year old room.
After almost 2 years on the waiting list at my current employer, I have been offered two days
of childcare which I risk losing if I take another job.
The best option seemed to me to get casual work paid at an hourly rate for the next 2 years
until my youngest child is in school in order to ensure access to childcare, but unfortunately I
was not able to find casual work. I have decided to go with the permanent job for now and
resign if the lack of childcare and commuting make life impossible.
My anecdote illustrates the choices which usually women are forced to make between
working and childcare. The stress of finding good quality childcare is a significant and aids
to the problems of navigating work and family life.
351. Currently there are not enough places in the local area for children in my daughters age
group. I send her to family daycare 15 minutes south in Algester which is the opposite
direction to work.
This is the choice that I make in order to get quality care.
We receive the childcare rebate. If I have a second child I will rely on childcare and the
childcare rebate. I'm concerned that scrapping the rebate would mean I would not be able to
afford to work. The effect of this would mean my daycare mum would also be out of work
too due to lack of demand.
The tax that we all pay more than covers the $7500 rebate.
Please do not remove the childcare rebate. If you need to find the money, don't implement
the proposed maternity leave scheme.
Leave the paid parental scheme as it is .. otherwise the rush on babies post 1 July 2015 will
create higher demand for childcare which won't be available. Women will essentially be
accepting a government funded redundancy as there won't be places for their children in
childcare to allow them to return to work once they have completed their maternity leave.
Thank-you
352. Finding childcare for my children has been a nightmare! My first son was on the waiting list
for over 2 years, my second son is still on the waiting list. I've been told that he is around
number 90 for his age group in our LGA. Why, if there are so many children in need of care,
as the waiting lists indicate, are there not more childcare places available? Pay childcare
workers what they are worth and more people may be inclined to work in this very
demanding field. More workers means more childcare places. I need to go back to work and
I need to be able to find quality childcare for my children in order to do this.
353. I have been using family day care for almost 2 years. My daughter is about to start preschool
1 day per week as a 3 year old turning 4 in 2014.
The cost of child care almost outweighs my earning capacity but I wanted to contribute
financially and to work to maintain my skills and .
The lack of availability of care meant I was forced to return to work as a casual as I couldn't
commit to the hours required by my employer. After 11 months part time casual I was let go.
Shortly after that 2 permanent part time mothers were made redundant from the same team.
It took me 6 months to find another part time role which would work around day
care/preschool.
I am surprised at how little financial support their is for 3 year olds to attend community
preschool. I understand wanting to encourage Preschools to take more 4 year olds but
financially penalising them for taking 3 year olds is not fair to children who are
developmentally advanced and need access to the educational stimulus and opportunities
preschool can provide.
Overall I think child care in NSW has a lot of room for improvement. Vacancies are hard to
find. Funding is confusing and inconsistent and makes choosing the right option for your
child and your family difficult. Child care workers are underpaid and are leaving the
industry because they can't just do it for love but the fees we pay for care even after
government CCR & CCB rebates is prohibitive for many people as they don't earn as much
as it costs for 1 child to be in care. If you have 2 children your even less likely to be able to
afford to return to work or find care for multiple children in the same location.
354. After the birth of my first child I was extremely anxious and concerned regarding securing
suitable childcare upon my return to part-time work. My local council was over-subscribed
to the point where I was told by Council staff 'can you just put off going to work for another
year or have a family member take care of your child?'. Neither of these were viable options,
suffice to say not exactly encouraging of women returning to the workforce. In the end we
had no choice but to use a private based centre, and though extremely happy with the level of
care, the cost is quite high. I am now on maternity leave with my second child and also
planning a return to part time work. However, even with the childcare rebate the cost of
having two children in childcare is really quite prohibitive. I have a number of friends who
just aren't returning after their second child due to high costs. I would like to see the
Government make it easier, more available and more affordable for women to continue to
participate in the workforce. I strongly believe this would lead to a more economic and
prosperous Australia for all of us.
355. Childcare in Sydney is a disgrace. You will hear this from lots of parents but try talking to
people with multiples. It's even worse.
Finding childcare for our twins has taken four and a half years; they just turned four and we
were on waiting lists since I was 9 weeks pregnant.
Not subsidising nannies is appalling. No they don't do the laundry and they're not hired
chefs - but there is no other option available.
My twins turned four a few weeks ago and January 2014 is the finally they have received a
full-time childcare place.
Seriously - you should be ashamed of yourselves.
356. It is difficult to access quality childcare. Not only is it difficult to access but then the quality
and turnover of staff also impacts negatively on the child's experience, feelings of belonging
and learning.
Putting my first child into childcare at 12 months so i could return to work was not an easy
decision - the cost and skill level of staff was also a concern. I have just had my second child
and I don't know how I will be able to afford double fees at childcare later in the year. I only
work part time. We are not eligible for the child care rebate - but we are far from rich. I
therefore have to pay full fees each fortnight which severely impacts on our cash flow. I will
barely make sufficient money each fortnight to pay for double childcare fees. This is
seriously impacting on my decision to return to work.
I would welcome a review into the affordability and further subsidies available for all types
of childcare.
357. More affordable Childcare places are needed esp for the under 2's
I has my child on 13 centres and over 16 months later still had no Childcare to enable me to
return to work.
I also think the rebate should be able to be used for whatever Childcare service you use
including nannies. Given the long wait lists sometimes parents with no family support as
forced to pay for nannies as the only option and with no financial assistance. Cost of
Childcare is often prohibitive to parents returning to work.
Thanks for listening
358. Finding care for young children is very hard. My son was on 12 wait lists for nearly 18
months before 1 child care centre could offer us any places at all, it was a very stressful time
and I had to return to work during that time so we had to employ a nanny. This means we are
totally out of pocket with no support.
It does not make sense for a country of our size not to be able to provide care for all children.
The UK has a population 3 times our size and they live in much denser population areas but
yet the wait lists are nothing like we experience nor are the cost implications of it.
The child care system as it stands does not work for the majority of working families and we
would have a lot more women returning to the work force where they are needed, if the
system was improved. We can do better from an availability point and financial point of
view.
This is high priority and will only get worse if it isn't addressed soon.
359. Child care is so important to so many yet it is still so expensive. I know for those who are
eligible do get some rebates that do help with the weekly cost of child care but I honestly
don't think it's enough. I work 20 hours a week 5 days a week with 2 kids in care 3 days
each. My out of pocket is $175. I only earn $330 a week. I'm almost working to just pay
child care, but I don't see any other way around it. We struggle every week to pay our bills,
the mortgage and put healthy food on the table and we are no way earning the big bucks but
being a couple of thousand dollars over, our assistance is considerably less. What I'm getting
at it is maybe we can have a system that is more of a case by case assessment of families
situations and distribute rebates to those families in need better. Everyone's circumstances
aren't always as black and white as the yearly estimate we submit. I know even $50 more a
fortnight or month would help us. Thank you.
360. Getting your child into care should be a lot easier than it is at present. There are limited
places and it is almost impossible to get a place in the middle of the year for a baby.
I put my son in care when he was 8 months old even though I would have preferred to wait
until 12 months, but I was very concerned that I would not get a place in the middle of the
year.
He subsequently got very sick and had a number of hospitalisations and I had to take him out
of care for six months. Luckily the child care centre he is with was very accommodating and
allowed him to return, but they had not obligation to keep a place for him.
The lack of places also means a lack of flexibility, so a worker with irregular days can't
easily return to work.
I also strongly believe that child care should be a lot cheaper for low income earners. On my
salary, with the subsidy, I am well able to pay the fees. However, the cost is a significant
problem for a low income earner.
361. I need to work but find it hard to afford childcare i use my mum 1 day a week so i can afford
to go back to work, but i can not afford to pay her, i definitely think a scheme for
grandparents/carers (other than parents) should be set up so that legitimate grandparents who
look after children so that the parent can work can be paid for a days work even $40 a day,
every bit helps them, but it helps me to (that's what i pay in childcare fees for my 1 child per
day after rebates etc).
362. Very hard to get into quality child care, my son has been on waiting lists for over 2 years at
numerous centres near our house. I finally got him into care 20 minutes away from home on
the way to my workplace. It would also be helpful if centres charged per hour not per day,
as I study part time I only need him cared for a few hours while I am at uni but still have to
pay full day fees. Also the staff are underpaid in comparison to the fees I pay, they do a
tremendous job in educating our young children and it should be reflected in their wage (god
knows I pay high enough fees to warrant this!).
363. The early childhood care and education system in NSW is both confusing and daunting for a
first time parent.
When you leave hospital they provide you with forms for medicare and birth registry, but
no-one tells you that you should be putting your names down for childcare and pre school if
you plan to have a place available by the time your child is 12 months or beyond!!
In the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney there is currently at least an 18 month wait for a place in
childcare and even then you are not assured a place on the days you need. Also the child care
rebate/ benefit is so horribly confusing on the government website. You know you have to
fill out a form, but finding the form you are sent around and around in circles, and when you
ring the helpline you sit on hold for hours and then sometimes the person you speak to isn't
even clear on how it all works! Surely the helpline waiting time would be reduced if the
website was more user friendly? Seems a simple solution.
Its wonderful that we live in a country that can offer a rebate for childcare, I am just not sure
why it has to be so difficult to enrol and also why we are not using tax payers money to build
more pre schools and childcare options. We need to encourage Mums to return to work to
further their careers, whilst knowing their children are receiving the very best early
childhood care and education possible. Much improvement and better communication with
families is needed. Thanks.
364. I believe nannies and babysitters should be included in the Child care rebate scheme.
365. too expensive, child care is very expensive, and it is nothing special, simple care, the kids
don't even have beds to nap in, they all nap on the floor.
366. I am a mother of three children. Ages are 6, 3 and 1. I have been using daycares since 2008
and still currently using them. In five years I have seen the quality of care decrease and the
price and no availability’s increase. I think it is unfair that working mothers get penalized by
having to pay more for daycare than mothers that stay at home. Because it is based on our
income. All our wages goes on daycare fees. I cannot afford to go back to work three days a
week, it will cost me about $500 p/w for two kids to go three days and for my eldest after
school care. My question is where is the incentive for mothers to go back to work? Because
there is none. The quality of care is only standard, I think for the money we are
paying it should be a lot more.
367. Being on a very average salary, sending my first child to childcare was justifiable but with a
second in care, it is not affordable for us to put both in care.
With such limited places available in daycare, it would be logical to subsidise nannys or au
pairs and make it so much easier for mothers to re-enter the workforce.
I would like to return to work but juggling two children on a low salary would make this
more stressful than the value of any income I bring into the household.
368. I am a working mother and has difficulty in accessing child care. My sons are 7 and 11.
They prefer to have nanny support so that they can spend more time at home than in an afterschool environment. If I could pay my nanny from my before tax pay, that would greatly
help. Currently, my nanny cost $25 an hour. I pay in excess of more than $500 per week
min.
369. The time we put our children into care is heavily affected by high costs as well as the lack of
services in the rural areas
370. Our daughter is an additional needs child who is unable to attend school full time. We are
ever so great flu to our wonderful family day carer, however as a school aged child the cost
if care is very prohibitive. Yes we get 100% but then this is dropped to 85% due to her age. I
need care so that I can attend college - which also gives me respite. We would love to access
more care but with all her medical expenses and our only income being centrelink ( due to
her and her brothers needs) we struggle already to pay the $50 a fortnight in costs. It would
be very helpful to families with additional needs children to be able to access care at the
preschooler rate, or some form of reduction. This would also assist in reducing pressure on
ndis
371. I understand that the support for families through Child Care Benefit, Child Care Rebate and
JET are adequate for families where at least one parent is not working, however for families
with both parents working there is minimal rebate and for many family’s it is more
financially viable for one parent to stop working.
I believe that we as a community are creating an unskilled/under skilled community where
people that do not work or do not want to work have the ability to place there children in
child care for a significantly reduced fee, where as the people paying taxes and therefore
supporting the people not working again get the raw end of the stick.
372. Childcare and Early Childhood Learning has been essential for my 5 yo daughter's
socialising skills and a fun way for her to be educated enough to commence schooling in
good stead.
The Government rebate must be increased as $22K in full time daycare p.a. with only a $7K
rebate is far underfunded.
While I agree that it would be good for support to be received for nannies used, there must
be stringent testing and somehow checks done following commencement to ensure they are
doing the right thing.
373. Hi, I'm a mother of a 3yo and a 1yo. Childcare is so expensive that it is going to be almost
impossible for me to go back to work with no family to help us and with childcares doing
whatever they want, they charge for public holidays, they charge 12 hours a day even though
we only use 8, we cannot have vacations without paying or we lose the spot, in general no
help for mums who want to work. It's just not fair...
374. I am 26 weeks pregnant, 32 years old and live and work in Melbourne. Due to the well
known lack of child care places and following some strong advice from 'Care for Kids' I
commenced looking into care options at 13 weeks pregnant and started to put my name down
at centres both public and private around 15 weeks pregnancy. I hadn't even told my
workplace yet nor many others in my life I was pregnant at this stage yet was trying to was
having to think about something I may need 18 months down the track. The anxiety felt
about whether child care (however many days) would be available is a strong deterrent to
many women I know when considering having a child and taking maternity leave and the
impact it will have on careers. As a female in her thirties, it feels very much like a career
limiting decision for women to have a child these days, undoing years of hard work,
education and advancement of gender equality in this country. We're losing too many
talented women in the workforce which is surely having an impact on this country's
knowledge and productivity. Personally, I'm thrilled to be pregnant and I know how hard it
for some couples, but it is mixed with some sadness and anxiety for my career, all the
tertiary education I have completed (and the country has invested in me through HELP
payment support) and what I know I can contribute to the wider community skills,
knowledge, and experience in my area of expertise.
375. I find the rebates and benefits very confusing - my daughter is 2 in February and has been
going to daycare since she was six months and I still don't know which is which - why don't
you do away with all the childcare rebates and funnel that money directly back into the
daycare so that daycare workers can be paid more (they deserve every dollar they earn) and
reduce daycare fees and make it more affordable. The fees are so expensive it's like paying
for another loan!
376. Lack of childcare spaces is a huge issue in the Inner West of Sydney. Unfortunately it means
you have to put up with a centre that is not ideal, otherwise you'll have no childcare options.
I had to keep my 1 year old son at a centre even though he was unhappy there and my
husband witnessed a carer being disrespectful to our child (she threw a bouncy ball at his
head). Hardly any centres cater to 0-2. Ive been looking for a space for my 9 month old and
have been unable to secure a place for 2014. Meaning I am unable to work and pay taxes.
The centre my middle child attends, want to open a centre catering for 0-6 where I would
have a place, but this is being held up by Ashfield Council and red tape. When looking for
care in 2012 for my then 4 y.o and 1 y.o I was offered a family day care placement where the
child would only be allowed to play and sleep in the hallway and kitchen of a 2 bedroom flat.
I don't think playing next to the oven is really that safe. The carer did not let the children out
on the balcony or take them to the park. This was meant to be ideal for 2 children for over 18
hours a week?! I obviously declined the position. We need more centres in general in the
inner west and more spaces for 0-2 year olds.
377. I have been very happy with the general availability, affordability and standard of care
available for my two children (8 & 9). I am a single mum who shares care of the children
50%.
I work full time and I have my own business.
One difficulty I have is that I work for an organisation where the only time off I can have
over Christmas/New Year are the public holidays. I am sure there are other parents in the
same position. However I cannot find Vacation care as all centres I have contacted (six in
total) are all closed for the period between Christmas and New years. Some for the two
weeks around that time, others for just the days between the two holidays.
I have had to ask some friends to help me out for the 27th, 30th and 31st of December as I
could not locate a single centre which is open on these days. This obviously makes life
difficult for me as I feel like I am letting down my work if I am forced to take time off when
this is a very busy time of year for us. The alternative is also not ideal in having to rely on
friends who are not trained professionals in child care.
I enjoy being in the workforce, however things like this do make it more difficult, and lead to
parents being seen as unreliable, which adds to discrimination against parents in the
workplace.
378. My husband and I live in Newcastle, NSW and upon finding out we were pregnant placed
our name down at 8 day care facilities for access once our daughter reached 1 year of age so
I could return to work. The first available spot became available to us when she was 3 and
that was for 1 day a week. Since 7 months of age we have paid for a full time Nanny (not an
au pair), rather a lady qualified in child services etc to work the 40 - 50 hours per week with
us to allow me to return to the work force full time. Our Nanny is devoted to our daughter
full time and doesn't do all the other household chores usually thought of Nanny's
completing. Day care even if available would struggle to meet our needs as my husband is a
medical professional who easily works a 12 - 14 hour shift therefore not fitting into most day
care hours of 7am - 6pm. Whilst we recognise it was our decision to have a child and hence
our cost the inflexibility with the current child care services (and lack of availability) have
seriously challenged my ability to return to work (I am a senior and educated professional) .
We have decided the approximate $1000 / week out of pocket expense is worth our daughter
having a qualified and experienced person however recognise that others may not be in the
same position to make a similar decision.
379. Daye care in my area is not only scarce but i find it very expensive especially with rising
costs of living and if i had more than 1 child in daycare it would cost me over 80% of my
income put that together with the expense of train fares and parking at the station and i
would not be doping more than breaking even. But taking 5 yrs off and trying to find work
again at 44 would be high on impossible. I do believe we need a better system even home
day care centers are astronomical often charging more than day care centre's and they have
less over heads and less facilities for the children. So home day cares are not providing an
alternative nor more affordability.
380. The issue with current childcare services is the lack of services available to service for any
one area and there is no structure to how the care service providers charge per child per day.
There is such a discrepancy on the amount that is charged by each provider that this does call
into question whether parents are better off staying at home to look after their children
instead of returning back to the workplace. Instead of providing a childcare rebate I see that
the money would be better put to use to provide council run childcare centres. This would
provide more competition to the privately run operators where some are charging above and
beyond what they are providing. There should be state/national standards to how much
centres can charge therefore if the childcare rebate were to continue actually provides more
relief to families.
381. After months on a waiting list I finally had my child join a family daycare family. 2 weeks
later, the family closed their services due to personal reasons. Back onto a waiting list for
daycare. After a year on multiple lists we had a call from a beautiful long daycare centre that
also provides the children with daily meals and has grounds that have a great variety of
vegetation, large trees, grassed areas and natural shade. We were thrilled. A few months after
this positions in our area opened up for family daycare which I no longer needed.
My children have now been attending long daycare 2 days a week so I can work in my
husbands business and try to run my own small business. However financially this is not
working for us and we have made the decision to have myself go back to full time work and
my husband Full time Uni.
The interim is interesting... do I put my children into full time care while I look for a job?
Something we can't afford. Or do I find a job then attempt to get my children into full time
care? Something that is next to impossible when there are waiting lists months to years long.
You can hardly tell an employer you'll take a position but can you hold it for a few months
till my children are in care.
Maternity leave never applied, though I worked full time, we relocated away from where my
job was so even if it had been held for me, I was unable to return to it.
I have contacted countless centres in Brisbane to where we are relocating none have
positions coming up in the new year for both children, none have even guaranteed positions
for one, I have simply had to put my name down and hope for the best. I have had to book all
5 week days until we find out my husbands Uni schedules, and as I am searching for a job
have no way of knowing if I will be able to look after them at all or if I will get full time
work. Some of the centres start back on the 2nd of January, we are not relocating until Feb
when Uni starts so have to pay 100% of fees for a FULL 5 days every week until Feb for
both children with no government assistance as they will still be on the Sunshine Coast till
we move and won't be attending. This is only IF we get offered positions for the new year.
Most centres are saying for my 2 year olds age group that I should have had his name down
at birth.
At the beginning of 2013 I was looking for a centre that was similar to where they are
attending now, I've come t the realisation that most daycare centres are sterile, grassless,
unnatural environments. Family daycare appealed as it was a real home, with a real yard.
This makes the transition for children so much easier, then into a classroom/hospital type
environment like so many franchised childcare centres. We were lucky that we found a
daycare centre that has the same homely appeal of a family daycare but with the size that
enables more variety and interaction with more children and different areas.
I had always planned to go back to full time work after 1 year. This has now stretched into 4,
the advantages of being the main carer for my children outweigh the minor financial
advantages (after paying daycare) I would gain in going back to work full time. Our
mortgage is at its limit, we struggle because we believe that they are where they need to be,
at home with their mother. Update on 2014 daycare position. No positions have been offered
and so Uni is being differed for another year till 2015. In 2015 my eldest will be able to
attend 5 days of prep eliminating any need for daycare for him. So now its simply finding a
position and holding it for our youngest, being 3 in 2015 will make it easier as he will be in a
group where the teacher/child ration/need is less.
382. I was a board member for 3 years helping out at a non for profit child care. The child care we
received was very good. The difficulties we faced were mainly the inability to hold onto
talented staff for more than a year. We also had cost pressure mainly due to Federal changes
to accreditations required and a reduction in the staffing per child caused some problems
(and keeping staff). The ambiguity with the Union/Labour $3 dollar pay increase cause a
disruption due to many questions unanswered and the Union pressuring small centres to sign
up to their agreement.
I would also liked to point out that not every industry needs to be gold plated, meaning the
Daycare centers were rated as good a couple years back why are we trying to change things
to create more expense to the centers and pressure on families to pay... I don't believe you
need a 4 year degree to be a child educator, I think a basic certificate would be appropriate.
383. I had a $100K job, but after the first year of childcare use, I decided not to return to work on
the birth of my second child, simply because when it came down to it, I couldn't find
childcare of a high enough standard to make the return to work acceptable. If nannies were
subsidised, I would return to work, because children need a consistent carer, but at the
moment, they are too expensive and the quality of care in a centre with a ratio of 4 children
to 1 carer (who are usually inexperienced with children) simply isn't worth it. Mat leave pay
isn't the big problem, its the cost and accessibility of high quality childcare.
384. As a single father with two kids age (3.5 & 2 years old) I was on waitlist for 12 months &
the fees for full time childcare still very high comparing with my low single income
385. I have been using the JET program. However my course for returning to work is a three year
program and the scheme is only for two years. I now have to pay full rates next year which is
very hard when I still only receive centrelink.
386. •
Long wait lists and high costs definitely made, and to some extent still make, it difficulty
to access suitable quality care (child care and early childhood learning) for our children.
•
The wait lists are just ridiculously long indicating a significant shortage of supply, and
also resulted in a fair bit of stress and anxiety (read, many sleepless nights as to how we
were going to make it work).
•
Being a double income family on good salaries, we are fortunate enough 'to be able to
afford' the child care/early learning we want and need for our kids. Keep in mind though
that in order to perform these 'well paid jobs', someone needs to look after the children
(and we don't have family around to help us out).
•
With the previous point, I am not suggesting we need the same 'assistance' as people in
different circumstances, but I like to make the point that in terms of required amount of
affordable hours of care and flexibility families like ours could be in more need than
other. For example, we can not do pick ups from childcare by 6pm and therefore need to
hire extra help (nanny/au pair/etc) for this. Same applies to preschool where the after
school care only runs until 6pm. So, the nanny does pick up. This help does not at a
significant cost. But without the help, we are not able to perform our jobs satisfactory...
If you add it all up, almost an entire well paid salary after tax goes to childcare fees for 1
child, preschool fees for 1 child, vacation/holiday care fees for the preschooler, before
and after school care fees for the preschooler, and nanny wages. I find that disheartening
and demotivating, and often makes me wonder what the point is.
•
That point for me is quality childcare and early learning on the one hand, and the fact
that I like my job and career on the other hand. The first point however, quality child care
and early learning, is very hard to find. The definition thereof is of course somewhat
subjective, but my experience is that the well structured, good resourced child care and
early learning centers with high standards for their educational programs are few and
amongst the most expensive ones.
•
I can only imagine how people on one income or low income(s) must struggle to access
childcare and early learning and, not surprisingly, end up deciding that they can not opt
in resulting in at least one of the parents staying home to look after the kids. This is
definitely not assisting these families and should be addressed.
•
I believe the common goal here should be to keep/get women in the workforce taking
into account the particular circumstances.
•
I perfectly understand eligibility to the various current family support provisions.
However, given its complexity, I wouldn't be surprised if many people don't fully
understand. It took me a while to understand the full details. Also I am convinced that
many of the application processes could be simplified and be made more userfriendly.
•
I believe the support is not adequate, both in terms of system approach, as well as what
families receive on an individual basis.
•
Firstly, the support should extend to all types of paid child care arrangements, including
nannies, au pairs etc. (see points made above)
•
Secondly, the link between the childcare center fees and their cost base seems to be
decoupled in the light of the current system of rebates (The fees seem to be artificial
prices incorporating the $7500 per year per child most families receive). In my view this
creates a perverse system signalling the wrong message.
•
I believe a much better system would be to make all genuine and proven childcare costs
tax deductable.
387. I’m currently registered for 10 different child care places in the hope we may get one so I
can combine work and looking after my baby.
Working Mums needs more support not a situation where they have to beg childcare places
to let them in and then deal with whatever conditions they offer because you are desperate to
get in somewhere so you can work.
388. The cost of childcare is exorbitant. One child in childcare is manageable but if there is more
than 1 child the cost doubles which means that there is less/no incentive for one parent to
return to work. I believe the childcare rebate should increase on a percentage basis per child
depending upon the number of children in day care.
I also understand that there is a framework for child care providers however that appears to
be increased regulation with no apparent benefit that I can see. If your child is young they
should just enjoy their time at day care without the educators having to write about how this
activity meets this framework etc. Why can't kids just be kids, why do we have to worry
about targets and regulations etc when the children can't even walk or talk?
I believe the cost of childcare is too high and this is directly related to the regulation that is
forced upon the childcare providers by the government. Continuing increases in childcare
costs may drive parents to use unregistered childcare providers which may or may not
provide safe environments for children. By reducing the cost of childcare we can ensure that
our children have the proper care at a reasonable price.
389. I am a mother of 17 month old son, married and work as a contractor in Television
Production.
Due to several months of non-work periods per annum, I am on low to middle income wage.
My husband works in manual labour and is also employed only casually with no holiday or
sick pay. His wage would be considered low.
We live in the city of Sydney in an area close to the CBD and we had incredible
difficulty accessing suitable care for our child. In fact we are still awaiting a spot in
affordable care. We have had to pay a women in our suburb to care for our child. On some
days she can care for up to 8 kids, with only one extra person for support.
Because she is not 'registered' with the government, we get no rebate. Our son's childcare
costs almost as much as our mortgage weekly. After childcare & mortgage, remains about
$200 a week from my husbands pay packet to pay for all our other bills, etc.
Affordability is a significant barrier to our family. Despite this we use child care because I
want my son to learn social skills and assimilate with other kids his age. I want to ensure
when he starts school he is ready and adjusted to a learning environment. Plus I like working
and wanted to return to work force.
Our current Child Care Benefit/Child Care Rebate support is pretty much no existent as I
explained previously. We get roughly $60 per week from Famly Benefit B. This pays our
health fund and little else. I don't know what JET is but I will go and look it up now.
I find the eligibility for Benefit A unfair. We were deemed to have too high of an income in
2012-2013 to receive Tax Benefit A. By the end of the year our family net income was close
to $72,000. Our out of pocket child care costs were over $13,000 alone. It's unfair to put us
in the same category as couples or individuals who earn over $100,000 per annum. $30,000
is a large whole - trust me.
I do believe that child care support should be extended to nannies. Irrespective of if they
reside with the family or not. If we could, we would use a nanny two days a week. I am sure
alot more people could be employed if the support extended to nannies. But the nannies
should be registered and vetted through somewhere like DOCS. It's hard leaving your most
valued treasure in the whole world with someone you have to trust isn't criminally negligent
or just plain cruel.
However, a nanny rebate should be means tested and only apply to families with a combined
income of less than $100,000 per annum or sole parents with an income under $85,000. It
costs more to raise a child in two separate homes.
I think re-educating senior citizens or people within retirement age would be beneficial to the
community as a whole. I know my dad turned sixty and couldn't find a job. Nobody hires
sixty year olds anymore. But maybe he could be a good carer.
390. I am a working professional mother who waited until I was 28 to have my first child. I am a
Civil Engineer and I will be limited in having another child due to the cost of the child care
system in Australia. The child care I require is Long Day Care, Family Day care does not
suit me and my family due to our working hours.
The cost after the rebates for our single child is $600/fortnight, and if we were to have a
second child in day care it would be $1200/fortnight out of pocket expenses!
This is more than our mortgage.
Instead of having children close together, and having the 'newborn baby period' of 2-3 years,
I have to stretch out focusing on my family for min 6-8 as we will not have another child
until our first child is 4 years old.
I am not able to get back to fully focusing on my career as I know I will be looking to take
another 12 months off in the next 4 years. if child care was cheaper for everyone, we would
be able to have another child in the next year or two and therefore my productivity would be
back at 100% alot sooner. I will not be able to take on a 'Senior' position until after my final
child is in full time day care which will not be for another 6 years.
391. The system is outdated, expensive and out of touch with ‘real needs’ I have a 2 year old and
3 year old in care. I have to use 2 different services because of lack of ‘spaces’ something
which is worse now the ratio of 1:4 has been introduced. I want my child to be played with,
have fun not forced to complete education program's at such a young age and I don't want a
carer to have to document everything - taking the emphasis away from care to admin worker!
I want to increase my working days but can not afford any more days of childcare because
the cap in the rebate is far to low and will not cover that day. I also struggle with having to
pay for holidays as I don't get paid when I don't work but have to pay for someone else to
take the day off and not look after my child because my day falls on a public holiday.
If you want mums to go back to work make childcare what it should be ‘care’ accessible and
affordable.
392. Child care costs me a fortune simply so I can go to work. I don't qualify for the child are
benefit but pay my fair share in tax. If you want women in the workforce paying taxes then
child care needs to be cheaper.
393. Finding suitable child care is incredibly difficult, even for someone educated and wellresourced and looking well in advance of the date of need. I assume the low supply is partly
because of the relatively low wages and poor conditions for child care staff - obviously this
is problematic given the importance of their jobs for working parents. At the same time,
child care is very expensive, and for some families this must be a strong disincentive to
return to work. The rebate obviously helps, but the cap means it won't extend to full time
care.
394. I love my family my children and I love working. I feel valued and I have a valued status in
my community. However my ability to afford both childcare and a valued life to maintain
and form social relationships as well as paying a mortgage etc.. Is largely affected due to
paying over half my fortnightly wage in day care and out of school hours care. What it will
mean for my family to have access to affordable quality childcare would be life changing.
This would enable my children to receive such luxuries as being able to afford swimming
lessons, playing sports, and attending birthday pArties. Apart from the impact it would have
financially it would affect the entire well being of our family by giving us a sense of relief by
just being able to afford petrol to attend family gatherings and pay for our electricity bill on
time, instead of struggling with extension after extension. It really is at a pivotal point where
the choice really lies with is working really worth all this finsncisl stress directly related to
paying childcare fees.
395. I have found going back to work full time impossible due to the fact that I am only entitled to
50 hours of child care and I would need to have my child booked in 60 hours a week to
enable me to go to work. The fifth day of child care is full price and therefore out of reach
for me financially which limits the positions I can apply for and the amount of hours/days I
can work.
396. My experience with child care centres has been the following:
1. Paying up to $50 at a time to be included on a waiting list and then never securing a spot.
In one instance I waited more than 2 years and was still not given a spot despite ringing
constantly and being an ABC employee. Half the Ultimo child care spots are supposed to
be for ABC employees.
2. The hygiene levels in all child care centres and pre-schools I have had my daughter in
have been very poor. Dirty and food left out on benches to defrost.
3. The quality of teachers is poor probably due to the poor level of pay they receive. At the
Chippendale Childcare Centre I witnessed one carer parading around in a nappy over her
jeans as she was joking with the other carers in front of children. On another incident I
witnessed a male employee behaving inappropriately with a young male child while
changing his nappy - I reported this to the centre. On another occasion my daughter was
left in a soiled nappy for so long that it took five days of constant and heavy application
of Sudocrem to sooth her extremely red bottom. I complained about this to the centre too.
4. Many teachers/carers I have encountered seem to have a very low care factor. At
Montessori Thirroul young boys were not stopped from bullying younger children, my
daughter was regularly walking around with her shoes on the wrong feet and one day
they even wrapped a soiled pair of underpants and put the entire thing inside her
backpack for me to find as a surprise when I returned home from collecting her.
I could go on but I'm sure you'll have lots of examples from other dissatisfied parents.
The fees for these centres are very high and the level of care just does not match.
Thank you
397. I have found the child care services with availability and the best care services are the most
costly, where I would be paying as much as my take home pay in a fortnight after the current
centrelink benefits have been paid. The places I can afford are not available in my area
which means I must drive further out to find care.
I am a shift worker and find no care available that centrelink will approve to cover the hours
I need for later or earlier hours. So providing assistance for nannies or home services would
be MOST appreciated.
398. We moved from overseas and then interstate in the first 12 months of my daughters life.
Access to childcare was a significant issue both times we moved as waiting lists are often
12-18 months long and often require you to place your child on the list prenatally.
After much debate we elected to hire a nanny so that both my partner and I could return to
work while we waited for a private childcare position to become available. The cost of the
Nanny was prohibitively expensive and when we were finally offered a spot in a private
childcare centre we accepted the position; we are still waiting for a place in a City of
Melbourne centre 18 months after moving to the City of Melbourne and putting our daughter
on the council waiting list.
The affordability of childcare has also influenced our decisions about expanding our family.
As a family who earns just above the child care rebate entitlement, the additional cost of
sending another child to childcare 3-4 days a week is prohibitive. Any income generated
from work outside the home would be directly funnelled into childcare costs. The incentive
to work outside the home would no longer be financial, but a decision based on interest. As a
female doctor I believe that my skills and knowledge (acquired mostly through government
sponsored education) should be used outside the home and that I can, and should, contribute
to the delivery of healthcare to the Australian public. However, by choosing to have another
child, the cost of childcare would increase so significantly that there would be no financial
incentive for me to work outside the home and faced with a decision to look after the
healthcare needs of the Australian public or the childcare needs of my family, I would
choose my family.
Given that for that majority of households the second earner is a woman, I wonder what kind
of message this is sending about our community values and ideas of woman's role in society?
The cost of childcare and the lack of childcare places available seems to send the message
that as a society we believe in equality up until the time that a woman decides to have
children. At that point all her education and skills become redundant and her place is still
firmly rooted in the 1950s kitchen as the homemaker.
399. I believe that accessible, affordable,. regulated, quality childcare is imperative for parents to
resume work and continue to add to the productivity of Australia.
Childcare needs to be accessible - numbers for places need to be adjusted so that areas like
the Inner West NSW do not have ridiculous waiting lists that your child needs to be on from
birth.
Affordable childcare - I believe the current subsidised arrangement is sufficient and certainly
helps working parents.
Regulated - nannies and au pairs who do not work for an agency and do not have any formal
qualifications should not be subsidised. Although Nannies and Au Pairs may be a way of
extending childcare facilities, similar to family day care, but this needs to be monitored and
not open to any more subsidies than long day care as a day care centre benefits many more
children.
Quality childcare - the quality framework that has been implemented brings a level of
consistency to our children's development and level of care and is open to audits and checks
and balances. I think we need to recognise that those that care for our children and encourage
them to receive qualifications by offering fair pay for advanced qualifications in an educator.
I think that we need to remember that these are our children in the educators hands and value
their experience and contribution more. Not only do they allow parents to return to work, but
they help to mould and grow our children.
400. I find it very difficult to access childcare services. I only require childcare for one day a
week and the services don't accept children for any less than 2 days a week. A nanny would
be more appropriate, however then I have to pay upfront. Therefore, I am getting help from
grandparents in looking after my daughter. I simply can't afford a nanny at $25 an hour
without any rebate or assistance from government.
401. Accessibility and availability are both significant barriers to using child care, but
affordability is really the biggest problem when families are deciding whether or not to use
child care. This has negative consequences for workforce participation (especially for
women), and early learning opportunities for children. It is critical that child care is
regulated or accredited or licenced in some way to ensure quality, and offering financial
incentives for families that choose to use quality child care is a good way of upholding high
standards. Quality is achieved when staff are paid decent wages with good employment
conditions, and children can learn and play in a positive and safe environment.
402. Providing funding for Childcare services outside of current approved facilities would be of
great benefit to both parents and children. Providing a funding for Nannies, Au Pairs and
Grandparents to care for children would be a massive benefit both financially and to the
family. Children are then able to attend after school activities, spend more time in their
home and have less of a burden on them having to attend Out of School care facilities. I
have used both of these options in the past with no financial assistance from the Govt which
we believe is unfair and nearly unaffordable however the benefits to our children were
enormous and they were happier for it.
403. It would be good if private Childcare's could give holiday rates. I pay 1800 out of pocket
while I'll be overseas for 7wks.
I need the holiday break as I work full time, but cannot afford it because I still have to pay
care in full while baby is away.
Also quite difficult to get full time places at council Childcare's which are cheaper.
404. I currently have twins is child care facilities and found it impossible to find suitable care for
both at the same facility. I had never heard about Family day care until a friend of mine
mentioned it to me. I was fortunate enough when I enrolled with them that they were going
to place a new educator on and that she was happy to do the hours I required. if it was not
for that I would still not be at work.
I only found out about my eligibility of JET through a friend and I rang them to see if I was
eligible. only then did they tell me I was eligible for this assistance. This should be part of
the CCR & CCB application.
The cost of child care is ridiculous vs the amount of Pension you receive. In my
circumstance it cost me $830 a week to pay some one to look after my children. However
my parenting pension is only about $600/fortnight and another $449 in FTB. I have no
choice but to go back to work however I am actually in a worse financial situation due to the
total monies outgoing including Child care , the fuel to and from work. I do not need to
return to work as my children are under the age of return however I am unable to survive on
the income from pensions.
I believe that support should be afford to all types of care, ie nannies etc. as being a parent of
a multiple birth situation it is very difficult in find any care for them. Places may be able to
offer one place but not two. Even if this on a approved base application.
I am part of a multiple birth association and I hear the same issue constantly going on in the
forums. Most mums stay at home as they are in a worse financial situation than they would
be if stayed at home with the children.
405. I feel benefits should relate to all childcare including nannies. Nannies make it easier for
mums to get to work earlier, not worry about leaving children less than two in group day
care, where their needs are not as well easily catered to, and reduce extra out of route drop
offs and pickups and raises to get to the centre in time. For multiple siblings, they can play
together and not get segregated into age appropriate rooms. Little children do better at
home, I have seen this compared to my first who was in day care from age 10 months, and
became withdrawn and screamed her head off for a lot of the time, on admission from staff
there. It was no their fault. My child was out of a homely environment and cared for my
carers who had several babies and changing staff. Her individual needs could not be catered
for. Likewise allowing grandparents to take on a nanny position allows parents to not feel
guilty about grandparents giving up work, and also the child is with family or someone who
loves them.
406. The real challenge is getting a place in childcare. Unless you plan to return to work in
January you are totally reliant on a child leaving childcare centre mid year that happens to fit
with your requirements (part-time, full-time care etc) They are so full that often people are
not able to put their child in the centre that they want to, it is more a matter of putting them
in anywhere that will take them. I have friends who are putting their children in one centre 2
days a week and another for a third day. Its a joke and very unsettling for the littlies.
Also having to pay to go on a waiting list is a total rort and I believe childcare centres should
be penalised for doing this.
407. All forms of child care should attract the govt rebate to help keep highly skilled professionals
in the workforce.
I waited over a year for a child care place for my son in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney. We
desperately need more non profit centres with properly remunerated staff.
408. Childcare facilities are very expensive, especially the non-community child care.
The facilities are quite good though for the child’s growth and development.
The Child care rebate is not available to all (457 Holder) and its is impossible to get
admission in the community run child cares.
I become very difficult to make ends meeting with the raising expenses of child care each
year.
I hope the commission will take the necessary step to make the basis early child care
available and affordable to all.
409. I find the ever increasing cost of childcare is very draining on a working family budget. I
think it should be considered as a tax deductible expense as it directly relates to allowing me
to work as a mother of young children.
410. There is difficulty as well as unaffordability issues in accessing childcare in Sydney
especially in the lower northshore area and the 0-2 age group of children.
It took me nearly year to get my child into a childcare center close to home.
Rates of childcare are often based on area and it means to access cheap childcare I have live
in more suburban or far from the city cbd areas.
At the moment as working mother , I find it extremely unaffordable . I am expecting another
child in 6months and will most likely quit my job as I won't be able to afford 2 kids going to
childcare .
Currently the lower northshore in Sydney has no government Pre schools and hence longday
care is the only other option for working parents.
Childcare rebates need to be simplified as well as increased based on what is paid. Including
nannies will surely reduce the burden on childcare centres .
Hopefully changes will be made to assist the middle-class families .
411. I struggled to find Childcare for my son when I returned to work 4 days a week in July. I had
been on waiting lists from when I was 18 weeks pregnant and still had a hard time finding a
centre that could look after him on the days I required. It was a very stressful experience. I
also find the centres terribly expensive, even with the rebate. Especially since the childcare
rebate is capped. Paying for childcare uses up a lot of my disposable income, I have a partner
who can assist with costs, however I really feel for single parents and parents with lower
incomes. It would be impossible to save, pay bills and Childcare. I find it ridiculous that
public holidays are still counted as a paid day even though the Centres don't offer care. There
needs to be more assistance in this area to encourage women to return to the workforce after
having a baby.
412. I am a shiftworker and work for a state government department. My employer would not
negotiate hours or days with me so in order to return to work I was required to work a 12
hour rotating roster working both day and nights. I was not able to have set days. I found
flexible child care non existent. I had to have my child in child care for 5 days a week at a
cost of $120.00 a day when I only had to work 3 days a week. My child has been in long
day care since she was 18 months and she is now 4. Due to the lack of flexibility available
my daughter had to be in daycare on days when I was off and it would have been of benefit
to be at home with her mother. It has also been an enormous financial strain. We could have
been paying for 3 days a week and sometimes even less due to many of my shifts falling on a
weekend however this was not possible as flexible child care just doesn't exit. We were
unable to consider a Nanny due to the financial cost and there being no financial rebate for
this. I know there are a lot of shift workers out there who would be experiencing the same
problems we have had. The other problem I faced was living in the inner west, the lack of
availability for under 2 year olds. I wanted to go back to work when my child was 1 and had
to wait 8 months before a place became available. I had my child down at over 20 day care
centre and was offered 1 place. I am only very grateful that it turned out to be a fantastic
centre and my child has been well cared for.
413. My daughter is 18 months old and I placed her on several lists for daycare the week she was
born. So far, all I have managed to get in terms of child care is one day per week which will
commence in January 2014. In the meantime I've used family (who have very limited
availability) nannies (very expensive) and occasional care via my local council (very limited
and not easy to get a place). This has made my return to the workforce very difficult and
especially stressful, not knowing week to week if I will have reliable care. The nanny option
is very expensive but offers a level of dependability and ease as they come to you and you
can focus on getting yourself to work. Nanny style care should definitely be covered by the
child care benefit and the child care rebate. Most nanny's only wish to be paid cash and if
there were benefits associated with it, it would eliminate the ‘black market’ in nannying and
make it more affordable for all. The benefit to government is also obvious - increased tax
collection and increased employment. It would take pressure off child care places and give
parents more control in their lives. It is also a quick fix as it doesn't require an investment in
infrastructure / child care facilities that building more child care centres would need.
414. I would love to see funds to cover nannies, I think some of them do a fantastic job, and some
of them take care of the child all day same hours as a preschool/child care centre. I also think
yes costs can sometimes be a factor in whether a child goes to a centre or not. My husband
isn’t working and I don’t think if we were paying more rent then we are I could afford to
send my daughter to a preschool or a day care centre.
415. I certainly wouldn't be able to work if it wasn't for the benefit/rebate I receive. It would be
great if the rebate could be increased but I would have to give up work if the rebate was in
any way decreased.
416. Childcare costs at 100 per child, I find it difficult financially paying 300 a day for my 3 kids.
It affects me returning to work and we struggle financially because of this.
I would really like to see childcare support extended to inhome care provided by nannies.
This works better for my larger family as to having more flexibility to work if one child is
unwell out of three .
I cant afford nannies because govt provides no assistance for nanny at the moment.
417. The child care centres can be made more productive if they start providing opportunities for
learning essential sports like swimming, taekwondo, etc. Working parents are struggling to
have their kids learn such activities.
418. I find that childcare is not only very difficult to get (i waited over 2 years for a placement) its
very expensive and personally takes money from my children’s mouths. Government
assistance is great but there needs to be more done to help out working families
419. My comment is in regards to obtaining a childcare place.
During my pregnancy I put my name down at a few childcare centres as I was intending to
return to work when my son was 6 months old. I was quite impressed with one particular
centre that was close to my workplace and the school that my older children attend. When
discussing available places they were a little vague stating that they wouldn't know whether
we would get a place until later in the year. They said that some children were already on the
list but implied that it was quite possible that we would get a place. We rang them a few
times during the year. At one stage we were told that we were 'somewhat near the top of the
list' but we wouldn't know for sure for another couple of months. Closer to returning to work
I rang again and was told that there was no way we would get a place and that we were tenth
on the waiting list which came as quite a surprise.
I then had to madly ring around other childcare centres and was again met by many vague
and noncommital responses centred around sorting out places and they would have to see
what was available. All of this occurred merely weeks prior to returning to work. It was
incredibly stressful. Eventually I found a childcare centre that could guarantee us a spot and
could confirm with work that I would be able to return.
I think that there needs to be more transparency in relation to waiting lists and available
places. I understand that centres cannot guarantee places in advance because they need to
sort out their existing enrolments. However, the childcare centres that i dealt with were not
forthcoming in respect to the state of their waiting lists and possible available
places. I needed to be able to guarantee to my employer that I was returning to work
however due to childcare I was unable to do so until the last minute.
420. I have a one year old daughter and have been repeatedly informed by child care providers
that there is no child care available in the foreseeable future in my area (Inner West).
This means that our only options are to travel long distances to access childcare (which is
also in very short supply and I have not yet been able to find any within reasonable travel
distance) or to hire a private nanny or babysitter which is not financially viable. My career is
being put on hold even longer than planned, which also means that future work is in jeopardy
as I'm ring forced to turn work down and we are struggling to manage financially.
421. Other forms of childcare ie. nannies should be treated the same as long day care etc and
available under the childcare rebate system. In fact all forms of childcare expense whilst
working and obtaining assessable income should be tax deductible. It's expense and in some
cases does not make sense to actually work. The system needs a revamp and for all income
levels.
422. My two children, aged 3 and 18 months, attend a council run integrated child care service in
Yarraville, Victoria. After being on the council's central register, my son was offered a care 2
days a week at 18 months old. There were no other options for me locally, I was lucky to
even get this spot. There are a huge number of young families in our area and few child care
centres. The council ones are packed with 3 year wait lists in some instances.
The fees at my local not-for-profit centre were $76 a day in 2011. Each year since then,
there has been an increase. The fees for 2014 will be $105. This is a 40% increase in two
years. My wage certainly hasn't increased 40% to support this. Other centres in my local
council are around $90. I have no idea why the discrepancy exists. This is the price of a
private centre, not a council run not-for-profit. I am appalled by the continual fee increases,
however I have no other choice. All the other centres are full, as is ours. I have no alternative
care options with family being interstate. 4 year old kindergarten is no better, with all centres
appearing to have different fee structures. Mine is $385 per TERM! Another local council
kinder is $285 per term...why the discrepancy? Somebody please explain why this fee is not
set across all providers? Child care has been a headache that I will unfortunately have to
continue dealing with for another 4 years, until my youngest begins school in 2018. Let's
hope the system is improved before then. These kinds of fees are abominable and are not
supported by parents' salary increases (which are often non-existent). Shame on the
Australian Government for not providing better funding for the early childhood sector, to
allow women to re-enter the workforce and make it a worthwhile choice.
423. It is extremely hard to find childcare for children under 2 years old in Canberra
I also believe the CCR needs to be increased. $7500 per child per year is not enough when
you have a child in full time care and are paying $100+ per day
424. Its far too difficult to access good quality care with experienced and compassionate carers.
Ridiculously long waiting lists (which don’t work anyway). Have had terrible experiences in
accessing care and then dealing with far too young and inexperienced carers. The monetary
assistance to families is necessary in order to afford care and should definitely be extended to
nannies or help mothers stay home. The best carer is the mother but many families cant not
afford for them to stay home full time.
425. I believe that the child care rebate is an important part of family's affordability for child care.
This should remain. Child care centre opening hours are an issue for those that don't work in
traditional 9-5pm jobs. Consideration for extended hours should be made. Discounts for
multiple children should also be considered. Some sort of rebate option should also be
considered for babysitting services, particularly if used when the child is too sick to attend
child care.
426. Childcare services are too expensive for parents in Australia and prohibit women from
returning to work
427. Need to find ways to reduce fees. I agree with changes made to ratios but fees are now
upward of $130 in my area (lower north shore Sydney). For home based care which is more
reasonable, I have been on waiting list for 3 years.
Perhaps to encourage more home based care, for children aged under 5, remove requirement
for certificate qualification or at least reduce qualifications to basics such as first aid, food
preparation awareness, cleanliness and child management techniques. Everything else is
superfluous - particularly the practical component of the course where you have to spend 3
weeks in a centre essentially doing all the work no one else wants to do. Work experience is
good in theory but never works the way intended.
The other option is to force state schools to utilise some of their underutilised real estate to
setup centres there. High rents/real estate is probably large factor in keeping costs so high as well as government subsidy which naturally encourages rent seeking behaviour but that's
another topic!
428. I believe that childcare rebate for in home care should be available to people working, but
with very strict income & assets tests in place. I think it is really important that people who
are students, nurses, shift workers etc have access to in home care when the regular working
hours of childcare centres do not meet their needs. I live in a very wealthy area and do not
believe that the majority of people, although they would like in-home care to have a rebate,
do not need it to be able to work or study. We do not need to perpetuate the middle & upper
class welfare support - let's leave the welfare & rebates for those parts of society that really
need it.
429. as a single working professional parent I've found it incredibly stressful to 1. find exemptions
to get into childcare being a single parent wanting/needing to be employed full time to
support myself and my child, on top of 2. the child care rebate falling short of what's actually
needed to to put my child in full time care in a service where i know my child will be
sufficiently looked after and educated (age appropriate of course) with great qualified and
happy staff. It can NEVER be underestimated the difference these carer's make to our future
in these critical first years of our children pluse ensuring parents are supported as best they
can be, especially single parents who work full time wanting to set an example to their
children of what's possible to be a fully functional person who contributes fully to the
Australian economy and working community. many thanks
430. I put my daughter on my neighbourhoods daycare centre 6 months before she was born,
there was still not a spot for her when I returned to work when she was 10 months old. I had
to resort to family daycare which I was not impressed with for 4 months until a spot came up
for my daughter. I'm currently pregnant again and put the unborn child on the waiting list
however still not guaranteed as spot and list is 2 years long at the moment.
I find it extremely expensive to send my child to daycare while I work 3 days a week. I
would love to work more but simply cannot afford it. What I find unfair is parents who do
not work can send their children to daycare at a very low cost, that needs to be looked into. I
also do not understand the whole benefit, rebate or JET program that centrelink offers. Some
detailed information on that would be very beneficial and helpful.
431. I have been on a waiting list for child care services in Bacchus Marsh for 2 years. I travel out
of my way to drop my son at child care which is an extra cost for fuel.
I am a single mother and child care is a huge cost that I can barely afford but I have no
choice but to utilise the services due to having no family close by to assist and being required
to work full time to support my child.
I also work shift work and have to rely on friends to assist due to hours of child care not
being suitable for those that work shift work.
432. If you want women to participate in the workforce, and you think that women have a right to
meaningful and productive work, then you have to offer fully paid full time childcare from
two years old.
The modern workplace has irreversibly changed and you cannot expect to leave it for five
years and pick up where you left off. Everyone knows this and that's why they'll break even
to keep working just to keep their place until they are ready to dedicate themselves to work
again.
Why not look at the Scandinavian model where women are offered fully paid childcare from
two years old? It's an extension of the schooling system.
433. Please look into after school care. There is no point parents returning to work, only to have
to leave when their child starts school. Also, how can a single parent be expected to look for
work, unless they have after school care available? It is not right to expect an 8yr old to be a
latchkey child. After-school care should be available 5 days a week at all schools with 100 or
more children until at least 6pm. It could incorporate homework help, sports, arts or music
programs.
434. I am a mother of two children who both attend family daycare. I have found this service to
be ideal for my son who has speaking difficulties as a home is not as noisy as a child care
centre. However I have no idea how I will be able to continue sending them there with the
proposed ratio decreases. In order for an educator to earn the same income ( Say $70 per day
per child x 5 divided by the new ratio of 4 is $17.5 more per day per child) I understand
CCB and CCR provide assistance but when you have 2 children prior to any rebates that's
$175 a week difference! Please delay the change in ratio's until after the inquiry this is
disadvantaging families who have their children in the family day care scheme.
435. Childcare rebates should be applied equally to all forms of childcare, irrespective of where or
how the service is provided.
It is on this basis that I support the inclusion of home based options such as Nanny's and Au
Pairs being included as rebatable.
To do so would make the current system more equitable and also ensure that children could
be cared for in their home environment rather than needing to be placed into a childcare
centre.
Additionally, preparatory or ‘prep’ classes that are designed to ensure children are ready for
embarking upon formal school education (often offered by schools but also act as a form of
childcare) should also be eligible for inclusion under the current childcare rebate
arrangements.
Comments from people who use education and care services
436. It was difficult to obtain a childcare place, I put my child down at 7 different daycare centres
when I was 3 months pregnant and not one of those centres had a space available when I
required care when my child was 12 months old. I was lucky to obtain a spot at a different
centre, by calling at the right time and paying a $100 fee to go on the list I am worried about
finding a daycare spot for my second child.
437. The current model is not working. There are too many issues in the sector relating to costs
and access.
To fix it state based public education systems should be extended backwards to cover the
childcare and early childhood stages of education. For-profit provision of services in the
childcare and early childhood stages of child development should be phased out.
Total commonwealth funding of the sector (including rebates, the costs of administrating
rebates, the costs of regulating the private sector and profit margins) should be paid directly
to state education departments to facilitate the incorporation of child care and early
childhood education into state education systems
438. Training amongst nannies and carers vary a lot! One nanny from well established agency
reported visiting daycare centre and asking her mum for tips but no interaction with more
experienced nannies nor other related training. Daycare lady experienced with feeding but
not with daily routines/toileting toddlers and thinks crying baby 6m old needs to be trained
not to be picked up. This is possibly lack of training? Good to hear infant/child CPR &
allergy updates required. Perhaps on-going group continuing education in general care
(sleep, routines, tantrums, etc) useful too.
439. You are regressing the country. The worst government in history.
440. I have two children that will be using kindergarten services in the next few years and I want
to know that the government will fund at least the number of hours that they currently do, 15
hrs a fortnight in Qld. I have had one child pass through these services and I cannot explain
how much he has gotten from the kindy experience both socially and cognitively, and how
positively it has set him up to enter school this year and thrive. Please take into account all
the research that points to how beneficial these services are for our kids and recommend to
the government that the hours not be cut.
441. I am a parent of two children who attend not-for-profit centres. While access to and
affordability of care is important, the overarching concern for me in relation to care for my
children is the quality of that care. This includes the qualifications of those carers working
with the children - I am fortunate enough to have a qualified teacher (with degree) caring for
both my 1.5 year old daughter and 4 year old son in each of their rooms. The teachers set the
tone for the other educators and lead them and it makes a huge difference to the quality of
care. Additionally, the staff to children ratio is of critical importance in the standard of care.
Any profit motive is likely to compromise on quality as reducing qualified staff or increasing
ratio are ways of increasing profit. On the affordability front, despite the fact that my
husband and I are both high-income earning professionals - we find it difficult to make ends
meet each month. Losing the childcare rebate by means testing would have a serious impact
on our financial situation and it is likely that we would no longer be able to afford care.
442. We have a 11 Month old son, for whom we have been in wait list for the past 15 months; I
called the South Melbourne central wait list program when I was 5 months pregnant, but
apparently even that is too late. We have no family in Australia like many immigrants, and
rely on the local support that I personally expected when I voted in Tony Abbott's new
government. We are currently supported by a nanny as result of which I am able to work part
time 3 days a week. Our nanny has a sudden spinal operation and will not be able to support
us starting next week. I am desperate to find a new nanny, but if we can't find a good one, I
will be forced to quit my work as I am still on wait list with the 6 child care centres I queued
up with 15 months ago. I strongly encourage you to provide for additional funding for this
significant cause I.e. Child care support, as without them, many of us will not be able to
contribute to the GDP! I thank you for considering the paid parental leave, and it should
another mechanism for women to return to work - just like the Scandinavian countries.
443. It is time to make sure there are sufficient child care positions for parents who want to return
to work, are able to return to work. Please use the funding from the planned paid parental
leave to fund more child care centres, and training for child carers.
444. Please consider funding for rural preschool children to have access to the bus services the
same as primary children have. This is a huge issue in Mudgee. Children will miss out on
access because of lack of transport. Our rural bus service for preschoolers has just been
cancelled due to a risk assessment deeming it is unsafe for them to travel on the bus. This
means many preschoolers will no longer attend and also extra costs on families to travel and
less time for parents to study or work. I fully support the submission by the isolated
children's parents association on this matter. Early childhood is now considered as important
as primary education and therefore finding needs to happen for out rural kids to be allowed
to catch the bus that is already going past their driveways with their older siblings. It's
important for their development of independence and also gives them more awareness of
their larger community in which they are a citizen of. The argument of unsafe is unfair as
kindergarten and year one students require child restraints but not on the bus.
445. It's expensive and difficult to find a high qualiy long daycare centre in parts of Sydney,
particularly for children under two. And forget what you read about vacancies - they're either
typically geographical impossibilities, or are vacant because the centres are grim, poorly run
places.
Also care is so expensive, that it's often cheaper to remain at home - thereby lowering family
income, future caree progression, superannution and so on. And women bear the brunt.
Can we not have a system like in Sweden where every family with working parents can be
promised a place, locally, and inexpnsively? What about capping the fees? Or supporting coops? It's all very well to offer paid parental leave, but how about supporting women
returning to work? Surely this would support productivity?
And as for working parents requiring care outside of work hours (e.g. Shift workers, such as
nurses) I can't imagine the difficulties they face!
Additionally, if you are seeking childcare at a period other than the start of the school year,
its nearly impossible as vacancies tend to arise in January, when children move up a year and
head to school, creating new vacancies in turn at the centre. Please, please, please, do
something soon to improve this dire situation.
446. As a first time mother with a six month old I have begun to try and navigate childcare
services.
When I feel pregnant I was told I would need to put my name down at as many providers as
possible, in order to secure a place, as they were so limited. So I went ahead and did so,
calling a number of childcare providers, some required email confirmation, others I was
required to fill out online forms, many requested a non refundable fee to be put on their lists.
At the time I thought that was excessive and decided that I was not sure of what care I would
need after a year on maternity leave so I did not pay the fees. Deciding to revisit the fee
paying centres when I understood my situation further.
Recently, following the birth of my child my attention has once again turned to the care of
my child when I return to work. I had planned to return to work in November after 12
months maternity leave. I began to call some of the centres where I put my name down, only
to be told my name was no longer on the list. All of the centres are totally full. I was told, in
order to keep you name on the list you needed to call once a month to retain your position. I
had basically no chance of getting a place in November and perhaps if I tried in January I
would have some chance…
I then began to look into other options family day care was one which I explored but found
out the care could be cancelled with only two weeks notice. Which didn't sound very fun, as
I now knew how long the wait at the childcare centres was.
The situation I am in has got my thinking, the system for caring for children does not seem to
be working. As a society we seem to have forgotten the value of caring, educating and
building a better society for the next generation. Yet as a result of housing prices, parents are
forced back into employment shortly after having children, trying to find an option that will
allow two wages to be made to pay off the mortgage.
Employer provided childcare would be a system that could solve many of the issues around
childcare. I could see a system where childcare is a mandatory requirement of workplaces or
buildings with a particular number of employees. Small business employees located in that
area, would also then be able to utilise that care. Some benefits of employer provided care I
can see include:
-
Efficiencies gained in terms of travel and work time
The development of a sense of community at workplaces
The ability to visit your child in lunch breaks, or find out quickly regarding sickness etc
More women returning to work in a full time capacity
Parents being able to be present in the workplace, knowing their children are being
looked after
I’m sure there would be many other benefits and I believe this type of care needs to be
further investigated.
447. I'm a mother of a 7 moths baby girl and it's been a great pressure for me to try to get a
Childcare in place for her and to be able to get back to work. Nevertheless I put her name
down (although I didn't know how I would call her) when I did it she was 8 weeks in my
womb, and when I called the centres they already told me that they have a waiting list that
goes to 2015. How ridiculous is that! I have to organise Childcare before I even try conceive.
I registered my details and of my future baby in 5 different Childcare centres and it's been
already 16 months since I've done it but I'm still waiting to hear back and the day I have to
return to work is looming soon, so this is really frustrating. On one side I came to Australia
as a skilled immigrant to contribute with the productivity which I've don for three years
before I got pregnant and now I'm in the limbo as to whether stay at home or continue
working but only part-time which I cannot afford due to having a mortgage.
Please create better and efficient systems to find good quality of Childcare availability to
keep men and women in the workforce which will contribute with country's wealth.
448. I have worked in the ECEC field for over 15 years, gaining my qualifications as a Four year
teacher (and post grad) and a TAFE teacher. I committed myself to study, cost and time
away from my family because of my belief that young children deserve the very best
education they can receive, and I wished to help mentor young students entering the field. I
have had endless support from colleagues and friends and worked in high quality services
where it is not the final dollar that impacts on choices. However this is not the norm these
days... our field, and thus the children and families who need us, is highly dependent on the
whims and decisions of governments who rarely have an insight into the day to day work of
a highly skilled EC teacher. Unfortunately due to costs, more and more centres are having to
sometimes chose lower wages over quality staff - NO one benefits when this occurs. EC
teachers are leaving the sector in droves and who can blame them when an EC who chooses
to specialise in Birth to 8 cannot even get teacher registration, despite 4/5 years at
university!!! Our wages remain lower than those in DEC funded preschools and how does it
make me feel do you think when it is these teachers being bought to my centre to "see how
it's being done so well.." - seriously, the government needs to contemplate what our society
may look like in a few years when all the experienced educators have left the field in disgust
at the uncertainty and disparity of funding (dependent on service type and location!) and we
have generations of children who have not had access to the physical, emotional and
educational learning currently provided by high quality services and staff - see what that
crystal ball shows you Mr Abbott! Productivity - good luck with that
449. I first accessed the child care rebate in 2007; with 2 children in child care it was the only way
I could return to work. While at the time I described my child care fees as the equivalent to a
2nd mortgage, I found the 50% rebate provided by government as making my return to work
viable.
I recently had a 3rd child and accessed child care again. While I was very grateful to find the
50% rebate remained in place I have been dismayed that the cap has remained unchanged
since I first starting accessing child care. In that time my daily rat has risen from $70 a day
to $105 a day, yet the cap remains at around $7,500. This has meant that although I am part
time, I reached the threshold very early in 2014 - meaning I no longer receive any benefit. I
have been seriously considering returning to full time employment next year - however given
I will reach the threshold much earlier in the period if the benefit is not adjusted, this means
it is much less economically viable.
Even without children in care, I passionately believe in the fundamental requirement to
provide quality, affordable early education. It is critical to paving a way for women to
access paid employment. I am surprised that I didn't realise there had been this degradation
in the benefit being provided - particularly in this era of debate around other forms of
parental benefits, and given how crucial this support is to family with children.
In considering the issue of child care and early learning, I hope the central importance of this
benefit is considered - in terms of the support it provides to women returning to work, its
overall productive dividend to the economy, as well as the requirement to ensure it is
adequately maintained to offset inevitable rises in child care fees.
Thank you
450. I’ve just read in the news the outcomes of the draft report related to this inquiry, and I was
quite shocked by the “mean-tested rebate”.
My wife and I, as a family, we would be the lucky one to be considered as “high income”
family and we may therefore not receive the 50% rebate anymore, as suggested.
Although I fully understand and accept that high income families may have to pay more to
cover for lower income ones, I’m struggling to understand the situation of those high income
families where the father is the one receiving most of this income, and where the mother is
on a low wage, which unfortunately seems to be a common case since the previous policies
have never promoted or assisted mothers in going back to the workforce, and therefore in
having the opportunity of a successful and well paid career.
For those families, and without the rebate, the cost of childcare could be close or higher than
the mother’s income, making it not worth for her to continue working. Or even more unreal,
in the case of mother wanting to work (as we will all agree that working benefits the
individual psychologically & socially), the family would basically have to pay to unable her
to work. In other world, those mothers would then work for a negative income !!
When you are assuming high income family would return to the workforce anyway, I think
this is only true when both parents have a fairly good income. If it is only one of them, your
draft recommendations are now pushing the second one to leave the workforce.
is “on developing a system that supports workforce participation”, but it seems so far that
you have gone the exact opposite in the case of my family.
451. I currently have a child who is in family daycare. I was informed yesterday that the
government is planning to cease family daycare from next year. With limited daycare
options and the price of daycare rising, this seems to be a ridiculous and costly decision. My
child loves going to family daycare and he gets great care (and his carer loves her job).
Seems like the logical decision would be to keep family daycare.
452. My husband and I both work full time paying off a mortgage which would be
considered a median amount in the ACT. 22% of our take home pay goes to the
Mortgage. We have two children in care. A son in Daycare with daily rate of $103
per day. Our daughter is in both before and after-school care costing $40 a day.
The tax rebate has not moved from the $7500 mark since my daughter started
daycare in 2009 although Daycare fees have almost doubled since that time. I
actually run out of rebate for my son midway through the year. We do not qualify
for any other rebates as we 'earn too much' which I find ridiculous as we rarely take
holidays, and often run out of money by the end of the month. It would cost me less
to send both my children to Canberra Grammar than what I pay in fees at the
moment. If the Tax rebate was to be removed, or if we didn't qualify, we would pay
$36,265 in care. That equates to almost 60% of my take home pay. We would have
to sell our house, we could not make the mortgage repayments. It is disheartening
to work such long hours and never get ahead. I would hope that during this process
the loss of tax from those who decide it is not worthwhile to work and the skills you
would lose from the workforce would be taken into account. We would actually
probably qualify for other government payments if I stayed at home - this should be
added to the calculations also. I have paid taxes all my working life from the age
of 18. I feel that I working hard to further my career not benefited me at all other
than putting us out of reach for childcare assistance. Thank you for giving me the
opportunity to comment.
ACT
453. I am a parent with 3 children. All of them current use education and care services. I
am opposed strongly to means testing child care rebates. My husband & I are
supposedly 'wealthy'. Between us, we do earn 6 figures which means we have
rapidly lost all forms of govt assistance. The child care rebate is the last form of
assistance we receive and it is a lifesaver to us. We currently pay $105 per day for
our 3 year old. This is over $2000 per month. We pay $1600 per month for our other
children to be in care. Our day care bill in total is $3600+. The rebate allows me to
keep working at the level I do. It allows my husband to keep working. It allows us
to keep paying taxes. It keeps us afloat. If we lose this, my husband WILL give up
work losing his tax to the system.
NSW
454. I am a young professional with two small children (1 and 3 years old). I am degree
qualified and have worked since the age of 14 (two jobs through uni) and like many
young families we are in the initial phases of paying off our mortgage.
QLD
I am grateful that childcare has enabled me to return to work after having my
children. However it is at great expense to our family budget. We are not in receipt
of CCB only CCR and currently pay close to $15,000 per child in fees per year over half my wage.
While I am "lucky" (or hard working) enough to be in a job where it is "worth my
while" returning to work we are most certainly sensitive to childcare costs and any
significant reduction in out of pocket expenses would most likely result in me
reducing my hours from full time to part time until my children are in school.
My main issue with childcare is the hours.
I live in Ipswich and like many 'satellite cities' a large proportion of workers travel
to work. I work about 20 minutes from my home while my husband travels to
Brisbane (60 minutes).
I have chosen a childcare centre that is close to my workplace in order to be able to
pick up by close (6:30pm) as no centres close to my home are open past 6pm.
While this works at the moment my daughter is due to start school within the next
18 months and all outside of school hours programs finish at 6pm. I finish at 5:30
(as most jobs do). Picking my son up from childcare (10 minutes away) then my
daughter up from school (20-30 minutes away) is not going to be possible and it is
likely that I will have to reduce hours (and income) to solve this issue.
I have also chosen to turn down promotions and employment opportunities with
higher incomes as I could not have been available for childcare pick up and am
aware that in 12 months time I need to be able to do a school pick up. Increasing
hours to 6:30 or allowing CCR to be paid for at home care such as a nanny would
offer more flexibility and therefore more opportunity to maintain or increase
workforce participation.
However in saying this I think it is very important not to offer this at the expense of
centre based care.
I have witnessed first hand many families turning away from centre based care in
favour of cheaper family day care options. The difference a quality and certified
educational childcare facility can provide to a child is in my opinion amazing - my
children have flourished under their educators which is a credit to their childcare
centre. In contrast many family day care programs whilst offering flexibility and
cheaper fees are more like a baby sitting or supervised play service.
Based on my experience with extended family, I fear that children who are not
exposed to the more structured and educational offer a quality centre provides may
not be as well prepared for school as a child who has had the benefit of this.
455. Re: Vacation Care cut-off age:
NSW
I currently use Vacation Care services via Goodstart Early learning services for my
10 and 11 year old children during school holidays.
Because I started my children late at primary school, they will turn 12 before they
finish primary school. I am told that there is no vacation care available once they
turn 12 years of age.
This means, that for this Christmas holidays, my year-5,-going-into-year-6 son will
have to stay at home by himself, or with his 10-year-old-sister, unsupervised, while
my husband and I work, as our annual leave is insufficient to cover the school
holidays. Already I know colleagues who are doing the hourly telephone calls to
their 12+ year old children left at home during the school holidays.
This is a very stressful and potentially dangerous situation which is not good for our
children. The care providers (Goodstart) are happy to provide for 12-14 year old
children during the school holidays, however, believe that regulations prevent them
from doing this.
I'm told that other countries (e.g. France) offer child care up to 16 years of age, and
yet our children are ignored at 12!
If you could address this in your review many families would be extremely relieved
and grateful!
456. We have found that it is almost impossible for my wife to return to a working
career, living in Griffith NSW, a medium size country town we can only get two
days child care per week 9am to 3pm, which makes it hard to find a employer that
will accommodate our needs, the centre that our daughter attends is far from what I
call a early learning centre, she attends pre-school and has a speech problem, she
attends speech therapy and we have tried to get the centre to help correct her speech
whilst at school only to be told if they get time, which they have not found, we
really thought pre school was to prepare children for the next step in life, only to
realise that it is only a child care centre, we only send her because she is a only child
and has made a good circle of friends at the school, it is very difficult to survive
living on a single income and paying very expensive child care and getting a very
second rate service, I really think the government should look at starting a public
child care service that is run by properly trained staff and is affordable to low
income families
NSW
457. Children who are not deemed ready for school (either by teacher or parent) are
currently unable to continue with Kindy once their hours have been completed.
There must be an option for children to repeat their allocated Kindy hours or a
portion of them until the child is ready to 'graduate' to school. The ability to repeat
reception is possible, but the child should not be in reception in the first place when
identified as not ready to start school. For example, with the National reform of one
intake per year for Kindy (this year being the first year), it has been evident that
some children will not be ready for school purely based on being up to almost 12
SA
months younger than their peers by the time they start school. The decision to start a
child at school must be a holistic one and not just based on 1. age of the child and 2.
just because they have completed the 'allowable' allocated kindy hours. There needs
to be an ability to repeat kindy, similarly as it currently occurs at school. Thankyou
458. I do not agree with allowing less qualified people to care and teach children under 3.
Qualified, compassionate educators are at the heart of quality early learning.
NT
459. I have my younger child in a wonderful long day care centre and my older child a
wonderful OOSHC (both inner west Sydney). They are wonderful because:
- Both are community run and not operated by a corporate for-profit provider;
and
- this ensures the fees are affordable, and the centres are not tempted to cut costs
by reducing ratios, hiring underqualifed or inexperienced staff.
- Here are my recommendations:
- The amazing staff need to be paid more to do their very demanding work. I can't
believe that a early childhood educator who is a nurse, teacher, nutritionist and
psychologist to a small child is only paid $60K (or less!) a year. That's very sad,
and will not encourage quality people to become educators.
- Raising wages will involve raising fees, and as such the CCR cap needs to be
abolished. While introducing a sliding scale is a good idea (lower earning people
need more coverage), it should end at the current rate of 50% for the highest
income category (after all, higher earners also pay more tax, and high earning
women will return to work more often if their child care is guaranteed).
CHILDCARE IS AN INPUT TO PRODUCTION. Basic economics tells you
that you need to support it.
- More COMMUNITY OR PUBLIC CENTRES need to be supported by the
government, so that affordable, quality care is more widely available. My child
was on the waiting list for 12 months before getting a place at an LDC, and that
was only because he was in a priority category (my workplace has an agreement
with a centre).
- Centres with a profit motive should not be invovled in education.
- REQUIRE SCHOOLS TO OFFER OOSCH. DoE needs to issue a directive to
Principals to make space available for OOSCH.
NSW
460. My comments are regarding to the potential CCR reduction for the middle income
families in the proposal. My annual income is 120k and I am the bread winner in my
family. My husband is getting about half of my figure. I think we are typical middle
income family. I have a 18mon son in childcare 5 days a week. The rebate ran out in
Apr. we paid 3 months full fees last FY, it's about $1000 fortnightly. I have to say,
even with our income level, the past few months have been very very difficult for us
financially. $1000 fortnightly cash after mortgage and food and bills are very hard
to afford.
ACT
I believe everyone can work should work, and I have been working hard for all my
life to not to create more burden to the society, and to be able to contribute and help.
However, I found the policies and systems now are very discouraging foe hard
working people, especially discouraging for working mums. We have the same
pressure, we have to look after kids, do housework, take care of elders and maintain
our career. As middle income earner, we contribute most to the country and society,
we get very little to nothing back. We paid most of tax, we pay private health funds
as almost mandatory. We pay full fee for all the health services. Now, the
government even planning to cut the childcare rebate from us.
Low income earners already paying very little to childcare after CCR and CCB,
which pay off up to 75% of fees now, and we, can't even think about to have the
second child as that'll be completely not affordable for us since government's
strategy to middle class is endless take, give nothing back.
To resolve the root cause of the problem, government should invest in providing
more childcare workers, centres, e.g. Provide scholarship or bonus to encourage
more people join this industry. Fund public childcare centres, import overseas
labours and provide trainings etc.
For the welfare payments, the principle should be: help people who really incapable
to work and really in necessity rather than encourage women to stay at home by
paying more welfare payments to people because their life style choice. I know
there are many families really need help, I've also seen many people choose to not
to work even their children all grown up. And those people, are receiving most of
benefits from the government, because those payments are enough for them to live,
they don't need to work.
I just hope the government make some fair and encouraging decisions, and not take
all the flesh and blood from middle income families, and left us bare bones.
461. Really pleased to see the PC has noted the disincentives for sole parents looking to
work full-time. I experienced these disincentives on at least 2 occasions as sole
parent & provider; not only was it really difficult to calculate the net financial
impacts of increasing work hours (even with experience in complexity; policy / law)
I was in fact financially worse off from doing so. Whilst I only have one child, I
was also studying law part-time and my HELP repayments were an additional (and
inflexible) strain on my financial circus and it was the first time I felt / understood
the 'welfare trap'. I was fortunate to have family support that enabled me to
continue - however I have been keen to seek to change this policy setting ever since
and really applaud the PC's recognition. I am unsure how many individuals would
be affected by HELP repayments, but respectfully suggest the Commission have
regard to this as an additional tax component that impacts on this area.
VIC
462. I am afraid that if the funding is reduced for high income earners it will no longer be
practicable for myself to work. I currently have only returned to work 4 days per
week and pay $396 for those 4 days in care. I at least get 50% of this back each
quarter but this is capped and i already exceed the cap! If there are changes to my
funding not only will i have to stop working but it was also crush my dream of some
day having another child. 2 children in care is out of the question! Although i do
earn a great wage i still have a lot of bills and day care will then be doubled.
NSW
463. As a single parent I rely on child care, despite the fact I am a stay at home mum. I
use occasional care for appointments, exercise and anything I cannot take a baby to.
As I have no family to help this is my only option. I will soon be using family day
care regularly also. As the parenting payment is my sole income I could not afford
any child care if the subsidy was removed for stay at home Mums. This would mean
I could not look to better my circumstances by looking for a job as I could not
attend interviews, could not study, and could not attend important appointments,
VIC
stay healthy by exercising and would never have any respite through having time to
myself. Single stay at home mothers can LEAST afford to lose the rebate.
464. I am a parent to a toddler and use childcare.
Like all parents, the arrival of our child presented us with many new situations and a
strong desire to create the best environment for our child and make the right choices
for his development. As I understand the goal of this inquiry is to create the best
outcome for our children I believe we need to strongly consider the range of support
and training also available for new mothers to care for their children, as well as
increasing childcare availability and quality.
More research indicates that 0-4 years are such a critical age for social, emotional
and physical development and can set a child up for life.
I have felt compelled by my family and community to return to work, which means
I had to place my child in childcare. I also didn't feel I had the skills and knowledge
to ensure I was giving my child everything he needed to develop optimally.
The journey to find a suitable placing saw a whole range of options. Some good
some bad, the most off putting environment I came across was where the carers all
smelt strongly of cigarette smoke. I think this is unacceptable given what we know
about passive smoking. We found a suitable care placement that we are happy with.
Due to our society's increasing isolation and disconnection from community and
family (as many families don't live near grandparents and siblings) the opportunity
for skills to transfer is reduced. I would like to emphasise the need for training and
support opportunities for new parents. Let's support and respect our mothers and
fathers who choose to stay at home to provide the very best for their children. First
Aid training should be available, along with healthy cooking classes, opportunities
to learn about brain development and discipline and teaching as I believe this is the
way that we will see a healthier (and more productive) generation of young people.
Parents are all doing the best they can, but, the best they can in such a stressful
environment still creates much frustration in new families as they have to resort to
fast food due to working arrangements, television as a babysitter so they can get
things done, and aggressive discipline due to not accepting or understanding the
cognitive abilities of the young child. If new parents had more opportunities to
learn about brain development and approaches for optimal physical, emotional and
social development I believe there would be better outcomes for our new
generation. This would ultimately have an impact on our health system and mental
health system in the future and could help to turn around increasing obesity levels in
children.
In regards to the proposed Paid Parental Scheme to pay wage rates up to $75,000 for
6mths, I do not believe this will have the desired effect of encouraging women to
return to work. My observation is that many women want to stay at home with their
children, but find it too hard to cope with the isolation and feelings of inadequacy of
not knowing what to do. It's easier to return to work. Increased income for those
who are already financially independent will not increase their ability to locate
childcare or produce any greater outcomes in their children as higher socioeconomic background is already an indicator of good outcomes for children. The
money will be best spent on getting the best return in terms of outcomes for our
VIC
children. Parents who are least advantaged financially would benefit from having
greater opportunities to learn and support their children with reduced pressure and
stress. The community will see the greatest benefit from this approach I believe.
465. As a part-time working professional and mother of a toddler in child care services, I
support the current PPL scheme from an equity and fairness perspective. I believe it
is adequate and appropriate.
VIC
I also believe that if the government really wants to increase workforce
participation, particularly by women, it should make a much greater investment in
child care. There needs to be an increase in the quantity and quality of services
provided.
In my mother's day, you stayed at home with your kids until they went to school.
This is unrealistic for most people today. In general terms, women need formal,
structured and regular help with child care within a year of having a baby. There is
a long period between this point in time and the start of school. If families are
unable to access and/or afford appropriate and proximate child care services in that
time period then those who are forced to stay home become de-skilled and lose
confidence.
466. After reading the draft report (or parts of), I have concerns regarding the proposal to
fund the use of nannies. How will the government be able to regulate that? There
are already issues with services (predominantly family day care) abusing the system
and fruading the government with claims, wouldn't opening these claims up to
nannies pose a greater risk of fraud and non-compliance? The government is
concerned about the cost and we are concerned about cuts to rebates etc, and from
reading reports in the media, there is a lot of money that could be saved getting rid
of these 'dodgy services' and making it more difficult for them to rort the system.
Should this not be a higher priority?
ACT
467. I have a 9 month old daughter, my first, and I have recently returned to work for two
days a week and thus far I have not been able to get my daughter into any formal
childcare. I have had her down on multiple waiting lists since I was 4 months
pregnant. I have no family living nearby to rely on and so have had to use informal
care in the interim, which I am not overly thrilled about. I am increasing my days in
a few months working close to full-time and from all reports of the multiple
childcare centres I have our names down with none of these will have a spot until
next year. And even that isn't guaranteed. I have found this whole experience
incredibly stressful, particularly when I was prepared and looked into care options
so early on. I believe there needs to be more spots made available - and prioritised
(not just by who you know!). And it needs to be done in a way that does not
comprimise the care of our children. I also think that it would be incredibly
beneficial for large businesses and government organisations to consider attaching a
childcare service to their organisation. It is a bit disconcerting that the federal
government department responsible for childcare has no childcare facility - it does
not send the best example to other organisations.
ACT
468. I do not believe that children will have a smooth transition from kinder to school if
the 4 year old kinder program is reduced to 10 hours per week. This is too little time
for significant learning to take place and it is too little time relative to the school
VIC
week. Parents such as myself will likely choose child care services that offer a
kinder program instead if kinder hours are reduced to only 10 hours per week.
469. Regarding submission number DR475;
NSW
Our son goes to a family day care. We chose the family day care because it was
reasonably priced than larger day care centres. After the teacher to child ratio
changed to 1:4, the fee increased dramatically by 25% (In total $632 per week
now!). Even though both my husband and I work fill time, we struggle with
payments and used up all our savings, and ended up having to sell our unit as we
couldn't pay for both mortgage and child care fees. We would love to have another
child, but we are not sure how we can afford two children in a day care.
Child care should be there to help working parents, not to make the parents struggle.
We are desperate for an affordable child care.
470. I know from my own experience, the educators at Goodstart Early Learning
genuinely really care for the children and tell me all the time that you wouldn’t
choose the career if you worked for money. I think that it is disappointing as I know
their roles are far more strenuous than say clerical work and you are paid higher in
clerical and EC requires a very high responsibility (4 kids to 1 educator). I think the
government needs to recognise their importance and hard work, and value the
education efforts that goes also with this profession. If they are encouraging women
to return to the workforce, they must in return encourage the Early Childhood career
by offering them more salary and support so that there is more childcare available
for children
NSW
471. I would like the government to make a decision on whether they are decreasing pre
school hours in Victoria to 10 hours a week as opposed to the 15 hours a week that
has been in place for the past few years.
VIC
Of course the preference would be to stay at the current 15 hours per week until an
evaluation into it's effectiveness can be established via multiple years of
comparative data. However for now us parents just want to know what is happening
so we can plan for 2015.
472. Please do not flush away the need to having carer with professional qualification to
look after the children (please make sure this also applies to children under 3 yrs
old).
VIC
Without proper childcare qualification, there are no uniform knowledge in looking
after the children. This will impose high risk for the babies and toddlers.
Finally, please do not make the 50% rebate to be income tested. This will force
some woman to be a stay home mum as if her income is only enough to cover the
childcare fees, the man will tell her to just stay at home and look after the children.
473. Please do not take away or reduce the 50% rebate for higher income families. Our
tax is already a lot higher which means after tax our income are similar to those
middle class family. Reducing the 50% rebate will impact our financial situation
and may force my wife to give up on her career to look after our children.
VIC
474. Childcare within the maribyrnong area is difficult to access with a young child. The
waiting lists are very long and difficult for a number of families to obtain places
within the childcare centres.
VIC
In some centres, the waiting lists often have more than 100 children on them and
could take up to two years to obtain a place.
Lack of childcare impedes the ability for the primary carer to return to work and
reduces flexibility for that parent.
I have been fortunate to obtain a place for my child in a not for profit childcare
centre. I am concerned about the proposal to reduce the ratio of carer to child within
the pc report. Currently our childcare centre runs at 4 children to one carer for
babies and this is only just manageable for the carers. If the ratio is decreased, it will
impact the children that are cared for in addition to the carers.
475. I live in a suburb with only two council-run child care centres and no private
centres, so after almost 2 years on the council waiting list I am still number 63 on
the waiting list. I have applied for care for 1 day per week on any week day so a
lack of flexibility on my part is not the issue. I have been extremely fortunate to find
a family day care provider after a long search, allowing me to go back to my job
after 16 months. I am now extremely worried about the threats to family day care
services that will no longer make providing the service viable for family day care
educators. Family day care fills an absolutely essential role in many underresourced suburbs, especially for those of us who do not earn enough to even
consider a nanny.
VIC
476. The biggest problem where I live in Yarraville, Victoria is the long waiting lists to
get into the council ran child care services. >2yrs. Even with a 2yr mat position I
had to resign due to no care. Also, the only way to get a place for the second sibling
is to keep the older sibling in care when it us often not needed. Such a system tends
to also take up places that could be used by working mums.
VIC
477. Greater flexibility,access and quality is required across the system. It is accepted
that Primary and Secondary education should be available free or at little cost yet to
keep women in the workforce we have to pay $90-120 per day/per child for the
"privilege" of going to work. Imagine the current workforce if childcare wasn't
readily available(as it is heading)? I work shift work and suitable services such as in
home care are extremely limited.
VIC
I placed my child on 6 waitlists at childcare centres and just managed to gain a
position at 1. I was almost unable to return to work. I earn a slightly above average
wage,I can't see how anyone on a less then average wage could afford care for their
children.
478. I am a mother of a 3 year old and 3 month old twins.
My concern is when I am required to return to work next year I will not have care
for my twins. I only work part time 3 days a week (one bring acsaturday so my
husband can look after the children and we don't have to pay for daycare)
There is a serious lack of available positions for kids under 2 years old in my area.
My day care facility can't guarantee they when I need to return to work that I will
have spots. With no family able to look after my children in the interim while we
wait for 2 spots in the same day I an forced to look at paying someone to come to
NSW
my house and look after my children which will not be claimable.
I always hear about wanting to get mothers back into the workplace but the lack of
available spots for children under 2 years is what is hindering women going so.
Not to mention the fact that when I do go back to work even with entitlements more
than 75% of my wage will go towards daycare fees for my three children.
479. It is critical that we keep the national quality standards which provide a minimum
standard of education and care for our children. I have an 8 month old and find the
Commission's recommendation to downgrade qualifications for children ages 0-3 as
archaic. As parents we witness every day how important the first years of life are as
building blocks for the future. Each day at my centre I witness firsthand the
difference having a Diploma qualified staff member in the room makes to my child's
learning and development as well as to the communication they have with us as his
parents. They can talk to us about his developmental milestones, how we can better
support his development, things to look out for, games, interactions and activities
that will help him build all the skills he will need to be ready for Kindy and school. I
am also fearful of the recommendations around 'averaging out' ratios across centres,
especially in nursery rooms. While every parent knows one-on-one interactions and
face to face time is so critical in the early stages, it is also so important to have
enough staff to ensure our children are safe. I would be disgusted if my child's
safety and development were compromised in a misguided attempt to reduce child
care costs. Quality is critical and whatever changes are made need to hold this as the
most important thing.
QLD
480. The lack of childcare places in the Sydney inner west is unbelievable. My wife and I
have two children under the age of 4 and we pay $160/day per child for daycare in
the Sydney CBD as we're unable to find childcare closer to home in the inner west.
Its not from a lack of trying - we had both children down at multiple day care
centres in the inner west from birth. We can only put each child in for 2 days a week
given the cost (my wife's wage is entirely consumed by the fees and that's even
after the govt rebate). If we were to annualise the cost of 5 days per week per child
it would amount to $41,000 per year after tax and that includes the $7,500 govt
rebate per child. $82,000 a year for child care for our family is ridiculous and hence
why we can only afford 2 days per week for each child.
NSW
We have investigated nannies but found again that its difficult to get continuity as
many nannies are only in Australia for 6 months on working visas. Australian
society places so much pressure on women to return to the workforce yet there is a
glaring lack of adequate child care services to make this ambition a reality.
481. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have 1 child aged 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Goodstart
Logan village.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
QLD
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
482. I am a working mother of three beautiful, rambunctious boys. All three of my boys
are currently in a wonderful long daycare centre. Even at this point when I work
three days a week it is barely worth me working. Once daycare and fuel costs are
extracted from my wage there is a pittance left behind. I mainly work to keep my
face in the game and my brain active. I also think it is important for my children to
see another facet of my life. If daycare becomes less affordable or less accessible I
would, without a doubt, be pulling my kids out of daycare due to the increased
costs. Childcare workers work hard and are an integral part of a child's learning
platform.
QD
483. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
NSW
I have 2 children, 9 months and 3 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre
at good start bondi junction
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs
at
a
price
I
can
afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
484. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have two children, 2 years old and four months old, in a not for profit long day
NSW
care centre at Bondi Junction.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years. I expect, if I choose to entrust my
children to a formal care environment that I leave them with educators who are
qualified to support their individual learning and care needs at a price I can afford.
I am also concerned by the proposal to means test the child care rebate. I was under
the impression that the CCR was to assist women to get back into the work place.
By means testing the family income, it would make little sense for a mother to go
back to work when there is no rebate because of a high income earning father. My
income does not cover the cost of childcare even with the rebate. I am already out of
pocket by choosing to go back to work. Removing the rebate will make it pointless
for me and for many women to go back to work. This proposal puts women back in
the kitchen and compounds the inequality that already exists between men and
women in the work place. If you really have to means test the CCR, why not means
test the primary carer similar to the paid parental leave?
485. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return
to
work.
I have 1 child, 3 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Goodstart Early
Learning Centre Oakhurst.
NSW
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
486. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have 2 children, 4 & 7 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
Goodstart Logan Village.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
QLD
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
487. We have one child who is 19 months old in a not for profit long day care centre at
Plympton in South Australia.
 I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
 Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome
the recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be
increased.
 I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I
leave them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning
and care needs at a price I can afford.
 My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early
years before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children
with educators who know and understand the development of my child.
 The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is
important to me.
SA
I think assistance with child care fees should be based on the actual fee charged not
an arbitrary rate set by the government.
488. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have 2 children, 3 and 4 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
Woongarrah.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
NSW
489. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
WA
I have 2 children, aged 3 and 5 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
Huntingdale WA.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years. this is a very important time in a 0 -3
years as this is when they are developing at such a rapid pace. To dumb down the
importance of having qualified carers is at a detriment to our future leaders of
Australia.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I am a full time
working mother whom relies on the provision of quality education of my children
while I work to provide for them.
490. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
VIC
I have 2 children, 1 and 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
GoodStart Box Hill - Canterburry Rd
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
491. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have 1 child who is 2 years of age, in a not for profit long day care centre at
Ashgrove in Brisbane. My husband and I plan to have a second child next year.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualification requirements for educators
of children aged zero to three years. I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a
formal care environment that I leave them with educators who are qualified to
support their individual learning and care needs at a price I can afford.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
QLD
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
I am also particularly concerned about the proposed means testing of the childcare
rebate. We currently receive this rebate. Applying a household income threshold
would reduce or completely remove our subsidy. Incurring the full fee of two
children in care would not be financially viable for our household. This would mean
that I (as the lower wage earner) would have to reduce my work or stop work
completely. Currently I work 4 days a week. I have a PhD and a Masters degree. A
policy change that would force people such as myself out of the workforce – people
who have benefited from the support of our education system through many years of
tertiary study and have potential to contribute back to society –seems crazy.
Australia has invested in me, and by forcing me out of the workforce would then
fail to see any return on that investment. I know there are many others like me, in
fact, most of my female peers!
492. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
NSW
I have one child, one year old, in a not for profit long day care centre at berry street,
north sydney.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
Some points you may like to include:
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
493. I am a parent of two children in a not-for-profit long daycare facility. I need to keep
my children in daycare so that I can earn a living to help support our family.
Increases in the childcare fees and decreases in the assistance for families would
greatly affect my ability to do that. I also feel strongly that disadvantaged children
need to be supported in having easy and affordable access to daycare. Finally, it is
essential that the standard of care is maintained, which I believe will be significantly
compromised with a reduction in qualification requirements for educators. We need
quality care for our children at affordable prices for all. This must be the number
one concern for any changes to early childhood learning and care.
QLD
494. I have 1 child, 2.5 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at GoodStart
Chadstone Victoria.
VIC
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
495. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the care provided to
my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to return to work.
QLD
I have two children who have been in long day care from 6mnths each. Being a
family of 2 working parents with and income over $100k, I beleive access to
childcare places and benefits should be prioritised to working families. I believe the
system is currently reversed and should be refocused so that those who need care to
return to the workforce should recieve greater benefit, not those who do not work.
Whilst I appreciate that accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many
families and it would be a backward step if access to early learning for
disadvantaged children became harder, I think greater balance needs to be achieved
for 'middle class' families who work hard to achieve their goals but have to bear the
brunt of high childcare fees with no additional benefits or assistance.
I am also concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
I would not feel comfortable and would in fact not have returned to the workplace if
I was not able to leave my children in the care of qualified and accredited childcare
providers.
496. The cost of childcare has influenced my life significantly. There is a 5 year age gap
between my children because I could not afford to have 2 children in childcare
simultaneously. I have noticed that the large age gap seems to be a trend among
working women today.
This large gap resulted in me being older and health complications when I was
pregnant with my second child. I will not have any more children because of this.
I am concerned that the measures identified to control the cost of day-care are to
decrease the quality through lesser qualified staff or higher ratios. I honestly think
that the staff at day-care are undervalued and finding ways to pay them less is not a
solution.
The frustrating thing is that many childcare centres are run for a profit. Any
increase in funding will be simply absorbed into the profit margins of most centres
VIC
and working mothers will not be any better off.
A better solution would be to open government funded child care centres – where
there is no profit- removing rebates and challenging the profitable centres to reduce
their margins. This would need to be gradual but could be a better use of the money
that was earmarked for the paid maternity leave scheme.
497. I have a child, 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Glenelg, SA
SA
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome
the recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
Some points you may like to include:
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I
leave them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and
care needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early
years before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
498. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work. I have one child, 3.5 years old, in a not for profit long day care
centre at Lake Munmorah Good Start Early Learning Centre. Our family is
expecting another child who will join his sibling at the same centre. I am concerned
with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for educators of children
aged zero to three years. Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many
families. I welcome the recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance
needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.I am in full support of the level of care and brilliant care at my current centre
NSW
and would not want to be forced to choose a lower standard due to affordability.
499. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work. I have one child who is 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care
centre at Sinnamon Park. I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications
requirements for educators of children aged zero to three years. Accessing
affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I expect, if I choose to
entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave them with educators
who are qualified to support their individual learning and care needs at a price I can
afford. My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early
years before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child. The first three
years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having educators who
understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to me.
QLD
500. I have one child, three years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Tannum
Sands. I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years. Accessing affordable childcare is a
big challenge for many families. I welcome the recognition that the overall level of
childcare assistance needs to be increased. Children from disadvantaged
backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing quality early learning and care.
It would be a backward step if access to early learning for disadvantaged children
became harder. Some points you may like to include: I expect, if I choose to entrust
my children to a formal care environment that I leave them with educators who are
qualified to support their individual learning and care needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child. The first three
years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having educators who
understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to me. On a
further point, we relocated from Port Hedland, where we would never have got daycare (long waiting lists) and the cost was prohibitive, so I could NEVER return to
work - in a town that desperately needs people working in the shops and service
industries - which are closing because no one works at them....
QLD
501. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my child and the price I have to pay whilst I have to attend
work.
NSW
I have 1 child who is 3 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Oakhurst.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My husband and I both work two jobs to be able to support our family and to
provide our family with a solid future. To place our child into childcare was a
massive decision we had to make and we want to feel comfortable leaving him with
educators who know and understand his development. If the costs were to increase
dramatically we would not be able to afford to send him and therefor I could not
work and we would not be able to afford to pay the mortgage. We live day by day,
week to week as it is.
502. The government spends 100's of 1000's of dollars on projects that are a waste of tax
payers money, and yet the government is now looking at cutting funding to provide
care for one of the most important citizens - children. it is a known fact that
children are able to learn so much in the first 5 years of life, and these years are the
most important.
NSW
Another fact, in this day and age most families need both parents to work, while one
usually works part time, still the cost of housing, electricity, food, fuel makes it
necessary. Which means it is vital that when we leave our children in care we
expect it to be the best care possible, My centre is fantastic, however I am very
concerned that these changes will affect the quality of care the children receive,
especially if the qualifications required for zero to three are reduced.
I also strongly believe that every child / family is entitled to the same level of child
care, and that as children centre school there should be no disadvantage, because
some families could afford it and others can't. it is a concern that these changes will
make it harder for disadvantaged families to afford child care.
503. We choose to use a community managed not for profit outside school hours care
service for our son. The reassurance that my child is receiving high quality care and
education makes me feel more comfortable to use the service and as a result I am
able to participate in the workforce, confident in the knowledge that I have not
compromised his health, safety, well being or learning and development.
VIC
Quality matters to me! I implore you, do not diminish educator to child ratios, keep
OSHC as part of the NQF, maintain the current requirements for qualified
educators. Uphold the NQS!
504. I have 1 child, 3 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at redbank plains
QLD
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
505. As a grandparent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my grandchild and the price I have to pay when choosing to
work.
I have one two year old grandchild years old, in a not for profit long day care centre
at Carlisle Good Start Early Learning Centre, WA.I am concerned with the proposal
to reduce qualifications requirements for educators of children aged zero to three
years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
WA
I expect, if I choose to entrust my grandchild to a formal care environment that I
leave them her educators who are qualified to support her individual learning and
care needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. I need to feel comfortable leaving my grandchild with
educators who know and understand her developmental needs.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my grandchild’s development is
important to me. The Centre my granddaughter attends is staffed by caring, highly
qualified people wjh understand her particular needs and, therefore, I feel confident
to leave her in their care. I would not feel confident if the standard of the centre or
carers was lowered.
506. I am concerned about the proposed restrictions on eligibility for the child care rebate
with regards to having to have both parents at work for at least 24 hours a fortnight.
In our area we had to be on a waiting list for 12 months to achieve child care and
then when it was available we were not able to get a position at work for a period of
6 months, but my wife could not commit to time and days at work until we had a
child care place. Ie there is a catch 22 scenario. Perhaps the eligibility could include
a grace period or look at annual hours worked. Also we are concerned about
lowering the standard of qualification for staff supervising children under 3.
NSW
507. I have a 3 1/2 year old and new baby on the way. I am a full time shift worker and
predominantly single patent with my husband overseas. My child goes to a day care
outside of our suburb due to availability of a place and long hours. Most nights I
finish at 9pm. Because childcare ends at 6pm I then pay another child carer to bring
by child home in order to endure I can work to make ends meet. The change in staff
numbers had meant my son can no longer doing the extra activities at day care
which I paid for in addition. Large numbers of children in the day care room means
less attention for the other children. If I am paying a large sum for childcare I do not
want an untrained childcare worker managing the development of my child
QLD
508. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my child and the price I have to pay when choosing to return
to work.I definitely feel that the governments financial contribution to child care
should be increased.
SA
509. Agree that children under 2 qualifications can be limited to Cert III, however we
believe our 3 & 5 year olds have benefited from the higher qualified carers after the
age of 2.
SA
We agree that the work/study test should apply, unless there are extenuating
circumstances. People out of work have time to look after their own children.
Paying benefits to a deemed amount is probably the fairest way to manage the
system, as long as the deemed amount is a true reflection of childcare fees, and does
not result in gaps for normal; centre costs.
We think the staffing ratio should be maintained, averaging ratios could lead to a
situation where centres are running with an unsafe number.
We don't think childcare subsidy should be extended to the employment of nannies,
this seems like a luxury for those who can afford it, and the public shouldn't bear the
cost.
510. I am a midwife and work nightshift. I choose to work nights as it enables me to
spend more time with my children. My youngest is 2 years old and goes to day care
9-3. Affordable quality care for all my children is very important to me, especially
the youngest as the people that care for my children when I am not there help shape
who they become and their future enjoyment of school.
WA
511. As a mum, my main concerns regarding childcare is the safety of my son.
VIC
I have a 2.5 year, in a not for profit long day care centre in Bendigo. They do a
wonderful job and I know my son is cared for in a safe and clean environment.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged up to three years.
I expect, the educators of my son to be qualified and able to support his individual
learning and care needs at a price I can afford.
I want to feel comfortable leaving my son with educators who know and understand
the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my son’s development is important to
me.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families, including my
family. I welcome the recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs
to be increased.
512. My partner and I both work and have a 3.5 yr old and 1.5 yr old in Goodstart in
Portland.
VIC
If the government goes ahead with calling the income threshold @ $160k this will
effectively mean that the cost of daycare will be more than what I earn in a week. I
am an individual that contributes to my community that is working as well as
studying. Without daycare being affordable what options do I have to continue
bettering myself so I can contribute to my families future??.
I saw an interview on TV where a politician that was promoting this threshold stated
himself that the money paid to daycare centers doesn't go to the workers, couldn't
the answer be in balancing where the fees are being distributed rather than
punishing those of us that are trying to do our best for our families???
A scary thought is that if people can't keep up with the cost of daycare in registered
centers or with registered carers, then people may resort to using facilities an people
without relevant checks or training. And who gets the blame for this, I can't see
government accepting any reaponsibility for it!
513. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have three children, eight, five and three years old, in a not for profit long day care
centre at Tannum Sands, QLD.
QLD
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome
the recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early
years before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
In our society today it is an expectation for both parents to work to keep up with the
cost of living. For many this is not an easy choice but the one thing that makes it
easier for parents to make this decision is the quality of child care available, to trust
that our children are being genuinely cared for and educated and are being offered
many stimulating learning opportunities by skilled, caring professionals. This is
more than just a baby sitting service. The children need to get a high quality of care
that represents a similar level that they would get in their own loving homes by
recognising individuality and personal needs.
Another point to consider in our modern working society is the inflexibility of long
work hours and shift work becoming more and more common. Early learning
centres desperately need assistance in being able to offer longer hours of opening to
accommodate the needs of working parents in our working society.
With more parents being forced to work longer hours to pay rent, mortgage and
increasing food, electricity bills (the basics) more early learning centres are
desperately required. Many parents are going through the process of job interviews
and then being accepted for the position only to find they cannot get their children
into care in the near future, or not on the days or the times they require, missing out
on work opportunities and continuing to be dependent on benefits that are not
enough to provide their children with a quality early childhood and costing the
government money. Most parents want to provide for their own children and
contribute to their local community by being a productive, earning person in
society. Many parents are skilled and educated and could offer skills such as
nursing, teaching, engineering etc but are unable to work due to restrictions put on
them by the lack of early learning centres in our community and the lack of trust
they are able to put into child care centres who cannot afford to employ highly
skilled and experienced staff that also can afford to provide a safe learning
environment with quality resources. The whole country would benefit from the
government putting more consideration into funding early learning centres to
provide the care and education our children require.
514. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay, more over in my
situation as a casual high school teacher where I must place my child in care 2 days
a week in order to access work, yet there is no guarantee that this will eventuate.
NSW
I have a 2 year old in a not for profit long day care centre at Woy Woy, as well as 2
children in the local public school.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years. Research tells us that this is a critical
time in the life of our children and that investment in high quality early childhood
care pays off.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome
the recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder. Australia's aim is well known to
be to work on closing the educational gap and shorten that long tail. Changes to the
quality, as well as the affordability of high quality child care will not contribute to
close the gap.
515. As a parent and user of early learning services, my key concerns with childcare are
the quality of the carers and educators who care for my children, the ratios of
teachers to children and the price I have to pay when I choose to return to work to
give the government tax dollars.
QLD
I have 3 children, 6, 4 and 1 years of age. My children are in a not for profit long
day care centre in Brisbane. I am concerned with the proposal to reduce
qualifications requirements for educators of children aged zero to three years. my
child in the nursery already has terrible ratios (1:4) and while staff are required to
hold a cert III, a higher lever qualification would ensure they understand the
development my child goes to through each and ebery day. This is a profession
after all.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased. To
encourage more mums to return to work, there needs to be an incentive. Currently,
there is no incentive to return to work other than trying ot maintain your career and
earning capacity.
I expect, when I make the decision to entrust my children to a formal care
environment that I leave them with educators who are qualified to support their
individual learning and care needs at a price I can afford.
I do hope the increased investment gets through and that you change your mind on
qualifications and ratios as they matter. They matter to me, they matter to my
children and they matter to our society as a whole.
516. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work. Additionally, I have serious concerns with recommendations to
reduce/eliminate financial assistance to families needing childcare.
I have 2 children, 2yrs & 8mnths old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
Goodstart Gateshead. (8mnth old not yet in care - but on waiting lists)
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
I welcome the recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be
NSW
increased.
It would be a backward step if access to early learning became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
Critically, educators who are qualified will be better able to handle the high safety
requirements of children so young.
I am also concerned with the recommendations of reducing assistance to families
where there is a stay at home parent. There are so many variables where childcare is
still needed, (even on a part-time basis) to allow those families to function.
For example, attendance in a child care environment is currently critically important
to my very shy and speech delayed 2.5yo son. His confidence and speech has
improved greatly since he began 6mths ago. But I am currently a stay at home
mother with my 8mnth old. I was also made redundant from my job of 9yrs between
both children and whilst pregnant with my 2nd child. Under the pc
recommendations, I would not be able to send my 2.5yo to daycare (without the
current financial assistance).
This would also affect my own capability of managing my household as my
husband now works increased hours to bridge the gap of now only being a 1 income
family. He also has to travel a lot for his job and cannot be home much to help. We
also do not have family support in the local area. The pc recommendations could
send a family like ours to the precipice of unthought of stress.
And how under these circumstances would I be able to start looking for work and
attending interviews when I don't have affordable/assisted childcare?? It is a
viscious circle. I fear that I would become a young family isolated at home on my
own with no support until all children are at school. Once at school, these same
children, would not have had the benefit of a formal childcare experience compared
to many of their peers. Thus the start of schooling becomes a disadvantage.
If at the very least, the status quo of financial assistance be kept for a family such as
mine, I would be able to consider re-entering study and then the paid workforce (on
a part-time basis) before my children are school age. With the pc recommendations,
I will be forced to stay out even longer. I have tertiary qualifications and 12yrs
corporate and management experience, yet this would all be going to waste under
the pc recommendations.
517. Access to quality and affordable child care is critical to my ability to work. We live
in a city with no family, and it is my husband and i alone. Without our access to
good start early learning centre in East Perth we would be unable to continue living
in this city, as we both need to work and we would need to relocate to a location
either closer to family, or that had access to quality and affordable day care, or quite
simply I would no longer work. Quality daycare is a critical component to our
daycare selection, a big yard, qualified carers are essential and the early learning
opportunities that are provided to our precious daughter. It is critical and essential
that her being away from me is a positive, learning and loving experience and it is at
WA
the moment.
518. I am disheartened to say the least regarding cutbacks to early learning. I am also
sceptical that these comments will have relevence to the decision of whether or not
to implement these changes. The present Govt I am sure do not care about the
importance of early learning, otherwise this would not be an issue..This govt has
failed to listen to the people, as it has renagged on other policies.
NSW
519. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
VIC
For the last 18 months we have had our now 4 year old daughter in a not-for- profit
long day childcare facility. I am concerned with the proposal to lower qualification
requirements for children under the age of the 3. As parents returning to work and
leaving our two year old daughter in care for the first time, which was not an easy
thing to do, we felt so comfortable leaving our child with educators who knew and
understood the development of our child. They made her feel safe, cared for and the
number of staff in her room meant that she was able to have one-on-one time with
the educators. It was so much easier for us as parents, knowing that our daughter
was well cared for and happy to be there. I hope this will be the same when the
time comes for my one year old son to be enrolled in care.
I am also concerned about the possible changes to the affordability of childcare.
Childcare fees already put a strain on our household budget and further increases
would most likely mean that I would either have to reduce my hours of work or give
up wort altogether.
520. I have two children, 5 months and 2.5 years old, in a not for profit long day care
centre in Cairns.
QLD
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
521. I have one 3 year old in a not for profit long day care centre at Goodstart
Kincumber. I also have a 6 year old who is now at school in year 1 but progressed
through the same daycare centre where he started at 15 months of age. Our family is
one of the lucky ones who have been able to find a good childcare centre that,
despite going into receivership on a national level, at a local level they managed to
retain the same loyal, dedicated, caring and professional educators throughout.
NSW
As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years. The first three years of life are a vital
part of a child’s development, and having educators who understand and contribute
to my child’s development is extremely important.
Like most parents, I would expect that I leave my child with educators who are
qualified to support his individual learning and care needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. If anything, these educators are not getting paid nearly enough
for the skills, patience and caring support they provide to our children, and the focus
should be on increasing their remuneration so that they stay in childcare where they
will benefit future children and families, rather than be pushed out by less-qualified
staff who will resume these crucial roles in the formation of our children and their
earliest education.
I have not been able to return to work more than sporadic casual jobs, since I am
home with the 3 year old when he is not at daycare. But I consider myself one of the
fortunate ones, who has access to the best childcare in my area, and the knowledge
that my children are getting the benefit of all the positive interaction and social
learning that takes place when they are there.
522. I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years. It is a difficult decision to entrust my
children to a formal care environment but it's the only option in order to continue
my employment. It is imperative that I leave them in an environment that is caring,
safe and hygienic with educators who are qualified to support their individual
learning and care needs. The educators and carers are performing the most
important role there is and should be shown the respect and provided the training,
acknowledgement and resources they deserve and require.
VIC
523. My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
qualified and skilled educators who know and understand the development of my
child.
QLD
524. My little daughter who is 2.5 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
good early start childcare
VIC
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years. Accessing affordable childcare is a
big challenge for many families. I welcome the recognition that the overall level of
childcare assistance needs to be increased. My son is in grade 2 now and we'll need
before/after school care. Because I'm a full time mum and otherwise we can manage
this.
525. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare is the availability of places in
registered childcare centres for children under 2, the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work. I welcome the recognition that the overall level of childcare
NSW
assistance needs to be increased.
I have 1 child, 15 months old, in a not for profit long day care centre at North
Sydney.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. My husband and I want to feel comfortable leaving our child
with educators who know, understand and care about the development him both
personally and educationally.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
I also support learning and development in the workplace and I would be very
disappointed to see this removed as an opportunity for childcare workers at my sons
centre.
526. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
VIC
I have 2 children, 3.5 and 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
Seymour VIC.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with educators who know and
understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
527. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have 1 child, 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at South Nowra,
NSW
• I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
• I expect, if I choose to entrust my child to a formal care environment that I leave
NSW
her with educators who are qualified to support her individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
• My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our child with educators
who know and understand the development of my child.
• The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
• Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
• Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
528. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
SA
I have 2 children, 3 and 9 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre and
OSHC at Mount Gambier.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
529.
As a working parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers
and educators who care for my children and the price our community pays for this
valuable service.
I have one children who is a year old, in a not for profit long day care center at
Goodstart Moonee Ponds.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years. These are vital years for our children,
and with women choosing to return to their paid jobs once they have given up work
for a period of time to be at home with them, it is extremely important to my family
that we leave them in quality child care with quality educators.
VIC
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome
the recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early
years before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
530. I have one child aged 1 and a half years, in a not for profit long day care centre at
Goodstart Bondi Junction. I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications
requirements for educators of children aged zero to three years. Its a difficult
decision to leave your child in the care of others and the reason I was comfortable
with Goodstart was the level of qualification of staff. A drop in the level of
expertise in the carers would not be acceptable for my family and I. I expect, if I
choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave them with
educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care needs at a
price I can afford. The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s
development, having educators who understand and contribute to my child’s
development is important to me.
NSW
531. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
532. I have two children,2-4 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Kyneton
VIC
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
I have seen my children benefit from childcare, but now my circumstances have
changed and I want to work but its actually not worth me working just to pay the
fees.
533. I have ONE child aged 2.5 years old who attends a not for profit long day care
centre at Gaven.
QLD
I am a single parent and wanted to get back into the work force and be independent,
therefore I have relied on a Long Day Care Centre to take care of my son whilst i
work 4 days per week.
I expect if i choose this formal care environment to look after my son, all the
educators are qualified yet this still be in affordable reach for me to access, and
provide my son with the same values i had when i was growing up.
Studies have shown the first three years of life are a vital part of a childs
development, and have educators who understand and contribute to my child's
development is very important to me.
I don't want my son to be disadvantaged in anyway for me wanting to be responsible
and independent. I want to ensure i provide the best for him where i can, but i also
feel his day care educators assist me greatly with that whilst i am at work
534. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
SA
I have one child, 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Goodstart
early learning Magill.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
535. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have one child, 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Goodstart
early learning Magill.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
SA
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
536. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
QLD
I have a two year old child in a not for profit long day care centre three days a week
in Brinsmead, Cairns.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome
the recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment, that I
leave them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and
care needs at a price I can afford.
I can make a valuable contribution to Australian society by working, but if it comes
at too high a personal cost to my family, because of untenable childcare costs, I will
have to quit.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early
years before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, and having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
537. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my child and the price I have to pay when choosing to return
to work.
I have 1 child, 1 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Good Start
Early Learning Joondalup Western Australia.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years. This should be an area we should be
WA
spending more time and putting more money into never mind cutting back.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased never
mind being decreased with less qualifications.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
if I choose to entrust my child to a formal care environment that I leave them with
educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care needs at a
price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. I want to feel comfortable and happy leaving my child with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
SAFETY is also a key factor into this. How can you expect as a parent to feel
comfortable knowing my child is not in a safe environment reducing the ratios and
knowing that he isn’t being looked to the best he could be due to cuts!!.
I want the best for my child in the future and believe quality early learning will
assist him when going in to primary school and having a head start in his education.
I believe in looking after those that look after you.
Also adequate staff remuneration to assist with reducing staff turnover.
538. I am concern that familly with good salary will suffer a cut in the childcare rebate.
VIC
We are working hard to get a good salary but if the rebate is decreasing (50%back).
It will be hard to use the service and as a result it might lead to loosing 1 of our jobs.
I know it's important to help familly with issues but we have good salary from hard
work so it will be important not to loose the only gov help we get. Thanks
539. I am really concerned by the 160000 limit to get the childcare rebate (50%) 80,000
each is not a millionaire salary. It is a good salary earned with hard work and a lot
of study.
VIC
Not being entitle to the rebate means that full time childcare for 2 kids will cost
52,000 per years.
It then doesn't make it worth working as salary after tax on a 80,000 is 60,000. And
AUSTRALIA will lose a lot of hard working mum if childcare need to be paid in
full
The 160,000 limit needs to be push to 250,000 combined salary at least.
This is a really important concerned for working parents who want to continue
contributing to the country and not only use the system.
540. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have one child, 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Prospect,
SA
South Australia.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
In addition accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families,
including mine and I welcome the recognition that the overall level of childcare
assistance needs to be increased.
541. I have a child in a community managed not for profit service. I value highly the
education and care my child receives. Knowing that my child is in a high quality
environment supports me to participate in the workforce. I am not prepared to
compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and development of my child.
VIC
I am disappointed to see the proposed changes that water down the standards of
education and care for children under 3 years. Keep the current requirements for
50% of educators working with children under 3 to hold a Diploma level or higher
qualification. Qualifications of educators are a vital element of high quality
education and care.
Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases and may affect the viability of our service
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week) Do not introduce funding arrangements
that result in reduced access and financial support for vulnerable families and
children and for families in crisis.
542. I have two children under 3 1/2 years of age, in at not for profit daycare centre. If
the proposed changes were to come through I would have serious concerns about
the quality of the educators and the standards of care.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
If the changes were to come through it would mean we would have to re-evaluate
my employment due to costs and concerns over the quality of care my children
would receive.
NSW
543. Our family has a child in a community managed not for profit service in Melbourne.
Knowing that my child is in a high quality, smaller family-like environment
supports myself and my partner to participate in the workforce. We are not prepared
to compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and development of our
child.
VIC
Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3 years.
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3
to hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a
vital element of high quality education and care.
Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases and may affect the viability of our service
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week)
Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis.
544. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children.
NSW
I have one child, who is 21 months old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
Macquarie - North Ryde.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, as I am forced to work due to our family's financial situation to entrust my
child to a formal care environment that I can leave her with educators who are
qualified to support my daughters individual learning and care needs at a price I can
afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, as we are both teachers,
particularly in the early years before the third birthday. We want to feel comfortable
leaving our child with educators who know and understand the development of my
child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
545. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
My daughter, who is two years old attends a not for profit long day care centre at
Good Start Early Learning Brinsmead Cairns. I am concerned with the proposal to
reduce qualifications requirements for educators of children aged zero to three years
and accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families.
QLD
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
546. Day care within the A.C.T is very expensive and hard to get into, making returning
to work a luxury for some. The level of care provided to my children is great and
although you cannot put a price on care for children when you are working and 90%
of your pay is used to pay the fees it is no wonder more women do not re-enter the
workforce. The CCR doesn’t go very far when you are paying $110 a day. It
becomes a money in VS money out equation and not necessarily about what you
would prefer to do, some of my friends just cannot afford day care.
ACT
Like many women, I have worked very hard in my chosen career prior to having
children and learning that I may be able to work full days at present, once my
children start school I will be left without support forcing me to ask for half days at
work or to cease work all together. Your probably thinking why you don’t get your
family to help?, I would if I could but my family live all over the world and no-one
is within driving distance, the closest being in W.A. This is not unusual.
I would like to have it all, be a great mum and continue my career part-time. I want
to show my children that you can do anything you want to do and that education,
employment and your contribution to the community is valuable and should not be
taken for granted.
In addition,
Flexibility within the workplace is a façade and the stigma of working part-time
doesn’t help.
Being left to do work that is undesirable to others just because you are part-time
makes work unsatisfactory. Also taking leave to care for sick children is also
frowned upon by co-workers and managers without children. Although this is a
company issue it is not isolated and many women face these challenges every day.
547. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have 2 children, 4yrs & 15mths old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
Goodstart Townsville.
I am EXTREMELY CONCERNED & DISGUSTED with the proposal to reduce
qualifications requirements for educators.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased. It is
extremely hard to return to work when childcare is so expensive, in some instances,
families such as mine, are losing money by returning to work & paying such high
childcare fees.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
QLD
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
548. For me it's really simply. I need to be back in the workforce for my mental health. If
it is made unaffordable (as it is, my wage only covers the cost) then I wont be able
to work and the government will need to pick up the tab for my healthcare.
VIC
The benefits for my children are immeasurable. They learn so much and the
socialization is something that I cannot provide as a stay at home mum.
Forget PPL, just put more money into childcare as it will help the entire economy
549. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
QLD
I have 1 child,4 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Brighton
(4017).
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I
leave them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and
care needs at a price I can afford.
I am concerned about the accessibility of child care for working families, I do not
feel that families who do not have 2 working parents should receive child care
benefits and any child care rebates/benefits should be activity tested (barring
families with a parent with a disability or where parents are studying).
The cost of child care, when balanced with any loss of family tax benefits and
reduction in child care benefit with increased wages are what stops many women reentering the work force. This is not good for productivity, it is not good for women
having adequate retirement savings. The benefit to returning to work needs to be
greater than that of staying home, to do this, child care needs to be affordable for
working parents.
550. I value my son being taught by qualified educators as it is already-if children under
3 are being just 'minded' they will not have the sufficient knowledge of the world
and what's in it. They need to be taught through educated play to develop important
growth of the brain and social aspects in life.
VIC
For any low income family including myself it would be beneficial if the fee would
be reduced.
As a single mother, I have him in for two days a week and I use those days as my
appointment/get things done/part time work/'me time'.
551. As a mother of two (who are both currently enrolled in full-time care so I can work).
The idea of changing the education and care service by reducing the quality of the
carer just doesn't make sense to me. With the fees that I pay each week to send my
children I feel as though I'm working to pay for childcare and then to reduce the
NSW
quality of service?? Why would I continue to work ? How do I show my daughter
that an educated woman has the ability to have a family and a career, when it's not
true. This makes me sad for everyone involved, the parents that struggle each week
to do the best for their family morally and financially, the educated carer who has
worked hard to get their certificate and provided that care to each child. Which I
know myself helps easy my mind when dropping my children off everyday, just
knowing they are in an environment which will help nurture and development there
little minds. Please carefully read everyone's comments and listen to what we want.
Educated Carers! and a fee System which is fair on everyone !
552. Our 4 year old son is in long day care. It costs $125 per day. I can't afford to work
more than 3 days a week. Not only does the rebate already run out, but if i work any
more days, it pushes my income up so that we don't receive any CCB, making the
days he does go, more expensive. I would like to work more, but can't afford to.
How does that make sense?
NSW
553. I have one child and work full time. Childcare options for us are severely limited
and very expensive. We were on waiting lists from when I was three months
pregnant and still only got offer two places in Family Day Care and one day a week
in two different centres! This is just not manageable.
ACT
If I reduce my hours or stop working to care for my child my career will stall and I
will lose superannuation input. It is a catch 22 for our family. I have to work
fulltime so we have a chance at a manageable future but it is very expensive and our
family day carer doesn't appear to actually get paid very much, where does the huge
amount we pay go?
I agree that there needs to be regulation for the safety of all children but it doesn't
appear to be working well at the moment. Things have to change. It actually impacts
whether we can have more children. One is very expensive, two will be twice that!
554. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have 1 child who is 3 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
Langwarrin.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
If I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave them
with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care needs
at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
VIC
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
555. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
556. I have 1 child, 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Goodstart.
NSW
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
557. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have a 1 year old child, in a not for profit long day care centre.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
Some points you may like to include: I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to
a formal care environment that I leave them with educators who are qualified to
support their individual learning and care needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
SA
558. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
SA
I have one child, 3.5 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Goodstart
Magill, SA.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
Some points you may like to include:
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
559. I will shortly have 2 children in full time care and as a family have a combined
income in excess of $160k. The current level of CCR is not sufficent for full time
care, it suits and accomodates children in part time care only. 2 children in full time
care less the rebate leaves my family with approx $38k out of pocket CCF's per
year. This is $730 per week. Not many families can afford that even with a family
income of $160k +. The $7,500 CCR has not increased for over 4 years. It was
$7,500 when my eldest daughter was in day care 4/5 years ago. Back then full time
day care fees were $330, today they are $510!
VIC
560. I currently have one child in childcare at Goodstart in Bathurst. In 12 months time
that will climb to two children in long day care as I will return back to work.
NSW
As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
I might as well not work if I can't get affordable childcare and I am sure alot of
families are in the same category.
The government want people in work and this is not the way about it...
561. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
NSW
I have 2 children, 9 months and 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre
at Bondi Junction, NSW.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome
the recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I
leave them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and
care needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early
years before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
562. Our family has a child in a community managed not for profit service in Melbourne.
Knowing that my child is in a high quality, smaller family-like environment
supports myself and my partner to participate in the workforce. We are not prepared
to compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and development of our
child. Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3
years. Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children
under 3 to hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators
are a vital element of high quality education and care. Do not remove eligibility of
not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to significant fee increases and
may affect the viability of our service. Do not allow services to temporarily operate
with staffing levels below required ratios (by averaging over a day or a week) Do
not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis. The first three
years of a person's life have the biggest impact on their entire lives - it is crucial that
all time spent in childcare is valuable, with educated carers. None of these changes
are in the interests of children and ensuring that as a society we foster a childcare
system that produces healthy, balanced, educated individuals.
VIC
563. I have a child aged 18months at the good start early learning centre in langwarrin.
As a trained early childhood teacher myself I feel that it is important for my own
child to have the best start with qualified educators. Reducing qualifications in
educators would cause great concern for me as would increasing fees as I am a
single parent. More money needs to be put into childcare to help families cover the
cost of good quality child care.
VIC
564. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
WA
I have child who is 1 1/2 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
aGoodstart Early leaning centre.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome
the recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I
leave them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and
care needs at a price I can afford.
I'm also an educator/teacher and I see every day that the first three years of life are
a such a vital part of a child’s development. A good start is crucial to building
strong, resilient, intelligent students and learners to enable them to achieve at school
and later in life. Having educators who understand and contribute to my child’s
development and other childrens development is important to me and should be a
priority for everyone who wants to help create a bright future for everyone.
565. When I started to look for childcare for my at the time 4.5 month old baby, I
attended 3 different centres. Good Start Narangba being my last one because it was
by far the Cleanest, Biggest and had the friendliest most qualified staff. These were
all a vital part of my choice as I was returning to work and needed that peace of
mind that Harrison was being cared for on the highest level. It was also vital that the
care was close to the care he would receive at home or in a home day care
environment so he felt as comfortable as possible.. Good Start Narangba ticked all
those boxes for me. Harrison is now 10 months old and has loved every day he has
attended 'school' and absolutely adores his teaches/carers.
QLD
I am extremely concerned about the proposed watering down of qualifications in the
0-3 year bracket. These are just babies but still need the qualified care / play to
develop skills and their brains to move up to the next level in their lives. If your
proposal goes ahead, they will be attending Prep / Primary school, without these
vital skills... Than what is the point of day care?
By cutting our benefits or rebates it will not be visible for Harrison to attend day
care. His fees would be $86 a day in which would be my whole pay for the 3 days
he attends... In this instance it is not going to be an option for us other than to pull
him out of day care and for me to quit my job... Than the government will be paying
me to be a stay at home mum! Where's the sense in that.
I trust now that parent's can spread their views that the proposal will be sqashed and
that we can carry on with the beautiful carers and at the price we currently pay.
Please keep in mind that the first 3 years are a vital part of a child's development.
Stop thinking about the government and the budget and put yourself in our shoes.
566. I have two children, 2 and 4 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
goodstart isaac.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
ACT
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
567. I currently have 1 child (4yo), in a not for profit long day care centre at Morningside
and our older daughter also attended the same centre prior to starting school in
2012.
QLD
I am very concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years which are vital development years for
our children.
Accessing affordable and good quality childcare is a big challenge for many
families (whether they are disadvanatged or working). I welcome the recognition
that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is very
important to me.
568. I have two children (3 & 1) and live in Canberra. My husband & I work full-time &
manage care for our children through 3 days at DayCare, 1 day with a Nanny & 1
day of my husband & I shuffling hours. We are on above average income (family
income $180k gross), but unfortunately this means we do not get CCB. After all
rebates, we pay $30k a year for childcare. Without CCR, this is $45k. At an
average center in Canberra, but also the only place we could get our children into.
This so far has been the cheapest combination, as anymore than 3 days in daycare
we exhaust the 50% rebate.
My husband works from 6:30am - 4:30am four days a week so he can take one day
off as flex on Monday. This hasn't been an issue at all until last week.
Unfortunately the Canberra government department he works for told him that
9.5hrs (excl lunch) he works is too much for one day and therefore an OH&S risk.
Not that I agree with this, but the push from HR for him to even his hours over the
week leaves us with no option. We need to re-think our care for the 1 day.
Childcare is already a struggle financially. The last three months of the financial
year we are paying $810 a week as the rebate cap is reached. For a family on
above average income I suffer in silence about the struggles we are facing
financially due to care. No one wants to hear about issues from someone on our
level of income. But the issues are real. We do not holiday, we do not live a life of
luxury. We live on staples & live week to week.
Should the CCR be income tested & therefore not accessible to us, my husband will
be forced to stop work (or significantly reduce) in order to care for our children. I
have done the calculations & know that with the reduction in tax he would pay &
Act
the access to government benefits that we would be entitled to, we go from being a
contributing family to society to being a burden.
569. As a parent of a 4 year old with another on the way, the news that you are
considering reducing the education standards for 0-3 to simply a child-minding type
service are very concerning. It is a massive decision to send your child into care but
you do so in the hope that all the money spent will be going towards educating the
child in the way that I as a single parent am unable to do due to the financial
pressures to return to work.
qld
Also, the cost of child care can be crippling and makes the decision to return to
work a tough one. However, where there is no choice it would be extremely tough
to see those costs escalate further. Mothers want and need to return to work and we
have to be able to justify it financially.
Please don't lower standards - you should be pushing to improve them.
570. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
WA
I have 2 children, aged 20months and 3 1/2 years old, in a not for profit long day
care centre at Good Start early learning in madeley, WA.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
571. My one year old is curently attending a long day care centre 4 days a week. He is
only attending child care because I work those 4 days per week. As child care is so
well utilised and currently experiencing a shortage of places, preference needs to be
given to parents who satisfy the work / study test. I struggled to find a place yet
others I know who do not work have enrolled their children for 2 or more days a
week. The child care rebate should not be paid if you do not satisfy the work / study
test.
I am in favour of lowering the educational qualifications for employees caring for 03 year olds. Personally I want the carers to create a happy and fun environment for
my child, I am less concerned about education at this young age.
I do not agree in means testing the child care rebate at $160k which then makes it
SA
unaffordable for some working parents. I appreciate the current 50% rebate and
without this would struggle to meet our child care costs, we are going to reach the
$7500 threshold before the end of the financial year as we pay $94 a day. Without
the child care rebate our weekly bill would be $376 a week.
We have an 8 year old who went to child care from 6 months of age and loved it.
Our 1 year old has only just started but I am so happy with the centre and the carers
that are looking after him. He is happy and smiling, cuddled when he is upset and
looked after very well while I am at work. This group of ladies love their jobs and it
is wonderful to see. Shame their wages are so low as many of us are very grateful
and appreciative of the job that they do.
572. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
NSW
I have 1 child, who is 2.5 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
Goodstart Early Learning Centre.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Being able to afford to put my daughter in quality day care, as a single parent,
enables me to continue to study and work to put myself in a better position to care
for her, both financially and personally.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
I value quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years before they
are three. I want to feel comfortable leaving my child with educators who know and
understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
573. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have one child, 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Calamvale
Goodstart.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
QLD
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
574. I have two children, 1year and 4 year old at a not for profit long day care in
Richmond Melbourne. I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications
requirements for educators of children aged zero to three years.
VIC
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased. I
have worked out that by sending my children to daycare 4 days per week after the
rebate I am paying out of pocket the equivalent of a high end private school tuition
bu they are not receiving an education! If we are to pay these fees and be away from
our children in order to work then the standard of care has to be high. to pay these
fees over the long term is just not manageable and I still have 18 months until my
youngest starts school. I have had to call on family to help in order to reduce the
number of days in care. My family values quality early learning for children,
particularly in the early years before they are three. We want to feel comfortable
leaving our children with educators who know and understand the development of
my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
575. As a mother, making the decision to return to work and putting my children in care
was very difficult. This decision was only made easier when I could put trust in my
children's carers, knowing they are qualified and they understand the children’s
developmental needs. I believe if the qualification requirements are reduced my
younger children will be disadvantaged, potentially introducing younger, less
experienced, less educated people replacing the educators currently caring for my
children. At 10, 3 and 10 months my children, all attend a not for profit long day
care centre (Before and After School Care, Preschool Room and Nursery). I
enrolled my youngest two children whilst I was still pregnant to ensure a nursery
placement. My son was only offered a place at before and after school care after a
staff member's children required this service, prior to that point in time this service
was not available for his school at the centre. I believe if the government reduces
day care subsidies, the number of families able to afford care (including ours) will
reduce and the centre will potentially close. This is not only a threat to my ability to
go to work, but my children will be separated from the educators who treat them
like family. The ladies who care for my children have been a part of their lives
from about 4 months of age. My children spend days with them each week and love
them like family, it would be devastating to lose these relationships. I hope future
government polices and guidelines don't force negative change upon my children's
lives.
QLD
576. The first three years are vital in a persons development. This time sets our children
up for later life. I expect to feel comfortable & reassured I am leaving my most
precious assets with people who are skilled to understand their needs & develop
their skills as they blossom into young members of our community.
NSW
577. I work as a teacher in primary schools and I have a Bachelor of Education
(Honours) and a PhD in Education. I would like to commend carers at Lady Gowrie,
Campbell Street, for the teaching and learning program that my 2 year old and other
children are engaged in. As an experienced educator, I can see that a lot of thought
and care goes into the program delivered and my children are flourishing as a result.
If these changes to ratios and minimum qualifications go ahead, this will have a
direct financial impact on my family. We will not feel confident sending our
children to day care anymore and this will mean that my husband and I will need to
reduce the hours that we work. More importantly, we feel that our children would
miss out on the educational opportunities provided. These are so important in the
pre-school years, including the development of early literacy, language and social
skills. They do such a fantastic job at the centre and their high level of
professionalism should not be compromised under any circumstances.
TAS
578. My three year old son is currently in the Goodstart day care facility in Bondi
Junction and has benefited enormously from the high quality of degree and diploma
level qualified carers. His learning ability continues to be developed and this will
assist him when he moves into school in 2016.
NSW
His seven year old sister also attended the same daycare centre and received the
same high level of education which has put her in the upper tier of her peers in year
1.
Without doubt, the education of children must be a priority for the government to
protect the future economic and social well being of the nation. Early investment is
crucial to ensure children have the best start in the education system with
enthusiasm and basic skills.
Lowering of standards now to reduce costs in this critical function of government
has an overall negative outcome with future implications for delayed development.
579. I've recently bought a house with my husband and moved to Coburg North where I
thought childcare would be available.
VIC
However the 4 centres in proximity to my house have a 18 month waiting list. The
result of this is I can't take public transport to work because I have to drive my child
in order to drop him off in his existing daycare (he also hates the commute) it is also
preventing us from having another child as his existing childcare is in proximity to
my work and we couldn't get him there whilst I'm on maternity leave.
580. My youngest child is at Lady Gowrie in Hobart - a community managed not for
profit service. My eldest son is in Prep and was also enrolled at Lady Gowrie from
the age of one until he went to kindergarten. I highly value the education and care
that my youngest is receiving and that my oldest child received. As a working
mother, it is reassuring and an enormous support to me that my child is in a high
quality environment. I am not prepared to compromise the health, safety, well-being
or learning and development of my child.
I feel very strongly about the following:
• Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3 years.
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3
to hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a
vital element of high quality education and care.
TAS
• Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases and may affect the viability of our service
• Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week)
• Do not simplify the National Quality Standards – quality matters for our child
• Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis.
581. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
VIC
I have have 1 child (was 2) currently 5 years old, in a not for profit long day care
centre ar Goodstart in Richmond vic.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
When if entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave them with
educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care needs at a
price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is
EXTREMELY important to me.
PLEASE RECONSIDER CHANGING MIN EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS.
582. Our family has a child in a community managed not for profit service. I highly
value the education and care my child receives. Knowing that my child is in a high
quality environment supports me to participate in the workforce. I am not prepared
to compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and development of my
child.
• Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3 years.
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3
to hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a
vital element of high quality education and care.
• Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases and may affect the viability of our service
• Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week)
TAS
• Do not simplify the National Quality Standards – quality matters for our child
• Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis.
In total I have had three children in care from the age of 3 months until 5. I strongly
believe it was the high quality education and supportive environment that assisted in
the autism diagnosis of my second child. The support my centre was able to provide
and the lengths they undertook to train staff to meet the special needs for my child
was invaluable in her early intervention.
583. I do not support lowering the education requirements of early childhood carers. My
daughter is in the baby aged room at our not for profit childcare centre and I believe
her early education is best placed in the hands of well trained individuals. Her
learning is well structured and she is always coming home with new ideas, songs,
games and words. I value a learning environment for my child and would not leave
her anywhere there were lower qualified staff in charge of her early educational and
care.
VIC
Additionally I am concerned by the idea of a higher child to staff member ratio. I
personally feel that at the primary level of education we can see the negative effects
on children's education for higher class numbers and think that we would see a
similar negative effect on early childcare environments. Children at younger ages
need more attention and supervision and I would also worry about my child's safety
in a lower staffed classroom.
I worked in childcare as a first job two decades ago and it was before staff needed to
be qualified in childcare. It was like the wild west, I tell people of things the
childcare workers did back then and they can't believe their ears. It was all a bit wild
west. These small people deserve the best start in life and I think things are perfect
the way they are. If a move must be made, it should be to help people gain more
knowledge for their occupation. Not less.
584. I applaud some of the recommendations of the draft report. I believe increased
investment in childcare and increased support for children with disabilities is
crucial.
NSW
There needs to be a focus on increasing the availability of after and before school
care for children who start to attend preschool and school. We have to jump through
hoops just to make our home arrangements work, and this is only possible because
both my partner and I have flexible workplaces.
Although my childcare organisation is concerned about the reduced qualification
requirements for carers for children aged 0-3, I personally don't have an issue with
this. Care of children 0-3 should consider early learning opportunities, but I
wouldn't expect onerous qualification requirements.
585. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have 1 child, 19 months old, in a not for profit long day care centre in Tasmania.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
TAS
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
586. Clearly this review is based solely on what is the most cost effective solution, not
what is the best for the children. I would be horrified as a parent of 2 young children
in daycare if these proposals were implemented. I cannot understand why we would
have a horrendously expensive paid parental leave scheme and then leave parents to
flounder with inadequate care options for their babies until they go to school! Also,
as one of a couple with a combined income of more than $160000 per year, we will
not be able to sustain childcare for anymore than 3 days per week for the 2 children
as when the rebate cuts out we will be paying $800 a week in fees, and we are in
one of the cheaper, community run centres! And the solution to this is not to reduce
the experience of the carers! This will simply result in less mothers returning to
work. If the idea is to get more mothers returning to paid work sooner, then keep the
current ppl scheme and divert the other money to childcare!
NSW
587. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
QLD
I have one child, 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Goodstart
Early Learning and another child planned sometime in the next year who will
eventually attend the same centre.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years. I expect, if I choose to entrust my
children to a formal care environment that I leave them with educators who are
qualified to support their individual learning and care needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child, particularly in
these crucial years when so much cognitive and emotional development is
occurring.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased. As
a family, my husband and I earn a high enough amount to have our child care
benefit and rebate significantly decreased, however we don't earn a high enough
amount to always make ends meet and my husband certainly doesn't earn enough
for us to make the decision to have me stay at home to avoid the excessively high
child care fees. Consideration needs to be given to these lower-middle income
families who struggle to make ends meet on one wage but then continue to
struggle only slightly less on two wages due to the high costs of child care.
588. Our family has a child in a community managed not for profit service. I value
highly the education and care my child receives. Knowing that my child is in a high
quality environment supports me to participate in the workforce. I am not prepared
to compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and development of my
child.
VIC
589. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my child whether it is to return to work or to enhance my
child introduction to socialisation with their peers and other career.
QLD
I have one child, 3 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Pullenvale,
QLD. I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
I have found accessing quality, stable childcare a big challenge. I would likely
work longer hours if I felt that the quality and stability of care was available.
I think it would be wise to introduce some level of means testing to the Child Care
Rebate but I do not support complete removal of this support for those
working/studying less than the required 15 hours per week as per the current
arrangement. With society structure as it is today it would remove affordable access
to quality childcare for those who choose to care for younger children/parents and
have partners who travel or leave away from home for extended periods. I also
believe it gives children a chance to socialise.
I welcome recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be
increased. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from
accessing quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to
early learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price that I can afford.
The early years are a vital part of a child’s development, having educators who
understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to me.
590. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work. I have 1 child, 4 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
Goodstart Haberfield. I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications
requirements for educators of children aged zero to three years. Accessing
affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the recognition
that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased. Children from
disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing quality early
learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early learning for
disadvantaged children became harder. Some points you may like to include: I
expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
NSW
needs at a price I can afford. My family values quality early learning for children,
particularly in the early years before they are three. We want to feel comfortable
leaving our children with educators who know and understand the development of
my child. The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development,
having educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is
important to me.
591. Our family has a child in a community managed not for profit service. I highly
value the education and care my child receives. Knowing that my child is in a high
quality environment supports me to participate in the workforce. I am not prepared
to compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and development of my
child.
TAS
• Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3 years.
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3
to hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a
vital element of high quality education and care.
• Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases and may affect the viability of our service
• Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week)
• Do not simplify the National Quality Standards – quality matters for our child
592. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work. I have 1 child who is 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care
centre at Haberfield, NSW.
NSW
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
593. It sounds as though these changes undermine this profession (particularly for
children aged under 3) and potentially expose the child to risk - re ratios. I do not
support these changes.
TAS
594. I have one child, 3 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Goodstart
Berry Street, North Sydney.
595. I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
NSW
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
Children are the future of Australia so it is important to invest in their education
even at this early age.
596. I have 2 children, 2 and 4 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at a
Good Start Early Learning Centre.
VIC
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for my family. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford. Most mothers i know that return to work spend the
majority of their pay check on childcare and therfore end up leaving work and
staying at home. We need to empower women in the workforce to help support and
provide for their families rather than encourage dole bludgers. What will this turn
our society into? My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in
the early years before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our
children with educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
597. If the government really wants to make it easier for parents to be in the workforce,
and truly cares about quality early education for children, it should fully fund
childcare like public education. That way parents wouldn't have to worry about the
cost and childcare workers might actually get a decent salary.
ACT
598. I have two children, both have been in childcare since a young age, 4 months being
the youngest.
TAS
The carers should require at least a Diploma level qualification to work with
children under 5 years of age.
How and what they learn at this age is so important and shouldn't be entrustred to
staff without qualification.
They need to be paid accordingly. Of course I see the problem with the whole
situation. When both my children where in care the cost of care outweighed the
inome I produced.
However I still want to know that they are being looked after by appropriately
qualified staff and it is my choice to work and pay for that.
599. Our family has 4 children, all of whom have been in a community managed not for
profit service. I value highly the education and care my child receives. I am not
prepared to compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and development
of my child.
VIC
Do not compromise the standard of education and care for children under 3 years.
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3
to hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a
vital element of high quality education and care.
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week). Adequate staffing is of vital importance
for the safety and wellbeing of our children. Families need to feel confident that
their child is safe and being cared for in every aspect.
Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis. As a family
who have made the difficult decision to entrust our children to a child care setting
we do not want the quality of care compromised for our children
600. I am a parent at Merri Creek Primary school and the convenor of the OSHC
committee of school council, which runs the OSHC program. I think there are
several benefits to schools running OSCH services in-house:
Parents are often unaware of who is actually providing the OSHC service and
assume that it is the school anyway if it is located on school grounds (at Merri
Creek, this also extends to vacation care programs which are run at the school by
the local council). Parents also presume that the Principal maintains responsibility
for children over the whole day, including after school if they are in the program.
Running the program in-house fulfils these expectations. The Principal/school's
involvement mean that the values of the school flow through to the OSHC program
as well.
By having the school involved and responsible for the provision of OSHC there is a
feeling that it is better integrated with the school, and parents are able to be involved
in the running of the program through the school council committee. The school is
also able to provide secure employment for the co-ordinator and assistant and
potential career pathways for staff who might otherwise only have casual
employment. As a result we have had a very stable team of staff for the 6 years my
children have been at the school.
Resources and spaces can be shared without conflicts over 'ownership' and fees
raised by the OSCH program can contribute to maintenance costs at the school. Fees
are also held at a reasonable level.
At Merri Creek Primary, the formal link with the school has helped meet the
requirements of the NQS by drawing on the expertise of teachers and parents in
VIC
designing activities that are stimulating and engaging and build on skills developed
at school. OSHC is not just about care and recreation!! My children learn a lot
during the time they spend in after-care and have built enduring relationships with
the stable team of staff that a service run by a school is able to foster.
601. My children currently attend the Out of School Hours program 3 days a week at our
primary school. I believe the benefits of having a school-based OSH program are as
follows:
VIC
• Communication between teaching and OSH staff is open and informative
• There is continuity of OSH staff
• There is consistent behaviour standard expected of students between school and
OSH
• Sharing of important documentation such as allergies, medication etc. is easily
maintained.
• By far the most important aspect of a school-based OSH has been gained from a
recent experience. I am both a parent and a teacher at our school. I worked very
closely with OSH staff last year to assist a student in my grade. We had regular
meetings (also meetings with parents of the child) to discuss progress and share
ideas. This was a most rewarding experience as OSH was able to concentrate on
structuring activities that encouraged positive social behaviours that were particular
to that student’s needs.
602. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have 2 children, 18 months & 4 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
Griffith NSW. I also have a school aged child who attends before & after school and
school holiday care.
Our weekly bill after we have received all the assistance (CCB & CCR) is still
nearly $300, which is more than our mortgage payments. And they only attend 3
days per week.
People who don't work or study should not get any fee relief or assistance off the
government for childcare. If they want to put their children in daycare so they have
a &quot;day off&quot;, then I shouldn't be subsidising them with the tax I pay.
And the paid parental leave scheme should not be available to anyone who also gets
paid parental leave under their award ie. government employees such as teachers. If
they already get, for example, 12 weeks paid leave under their award, then they
should only get the balance of the paid parental leave scheme to make up the 6
months ie. 14 weeks. This is blatent double dipping into the public purse, and I am
paying for their paid parental leave with my taxes, yet I never received it when I had
my three kids and I work in the private sector so wasn't entitled to any paid parental
leave under my award. I can't believe this subject hasn't come up in all the
discussions about the paid parental leave scheme. This alone would save millions
that could be diverted into childcare.
NSW
603. As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children, the safety of children through child to educator
ratio and the price I have to pay when choosing to return to work.
SA
I have one (1) child, 1.5 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
Pooraka, SA.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years. I feel this is a critical age for
children and expect carers other than parents to have substantial qualification in
early education and development and the ability to guide parents in how to follow
on with this at home.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of our child and who have
relevant work load (child/carer ratio) to deliver the highest of care and education.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, it is critical to
creating well function adults who can contribute beneficially to society. Having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is extremely
important to me.
I also want to see the new Paid Parental Leave scheme introduced. I see it as an
invaluable resource to allow primary carers more time to invest in the security and
development of children. I encourage the Federal Government to combine this with
fortnightly workshops on early development, secure attachment and parenting skills
(such as the introduction to parenting workshops run by Community and Family
Health SA) as a requirement to receiving these payments.
604. 15 hours of funded kindergarten has been a godsend to our family. We are unable to
afford day care and other activities which my child is able to access as part of his
kindergarten program. I appreciate very much the professionals who run the service
we attend and am grateful for the early intervention we have received and been
advised about because of the service. If this was something which we had to pay
considerably for, we would be unlikely use the service. Please keep 15 funded hours
of 4 year old kindergarten.
VIC
605. Our family has a child in a community managed not for profit service. I highly
value the education and care my child receives. Knowing that my child is in a high
quality environment supports me to participate in the workforce. I am not prepared
to compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and development of my
child.
TAS
Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3 years.
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3
to hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a
vital element of high quality education and care.
Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases and may affect the viability of our service
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week)
Do not simplify the National Quality Standards – quality matters for our child
Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis.
606. More places for before/after school care are needed - provided for AT the school. At
the moment my child needs to be bused or taxi to 2x different schools for this care,
as this is not available at the school. Spaces are not available every day of the week
which affects employment (negotiating with employer to leave work to pick child
up from school and take child to a provider as they cannot pick up on some days).
TAS
607. I value highly the education and care my child receives at my not for profit
childcare centre. Knowing that my child is in a high quality environment means I
can confidently return to work. the proposed changes threaten to compromise the
well-being and learning and development of my child.
VIC
Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3 years.
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3
to hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a
vital element of high quality education and care.
Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead
to significant fee increases and may affect our ability to continue using the service.
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week).
608. Childcare needs to be more affordable for working families and stop stay at home
mums getting cheap Childcare if you don't work look after your own child that's
what play group is for. Also there should be no fee payable when your child is sick
and a dr note is provided as at daycare kids catch everything and I feel the first
2years the child is hardly there. Lastly there needs to be more flexibility as with
rosters you need to be able to have alternate days etc instead of set days as if this
was the case I could save over $100 a week when myself or my husband aren't
working and get to spend time with our child. Let's just say you don't make it very
appealing to return to work even cutting out family tax A & B payments I still don't
see the point in working sometimes.
WA
609. Our fee's are killing us!! Full fees for 5 day's a week is $400 so after the 50% rebate
we pay $200 each week so $800 per month which equates to over $9000 per year
out of pocket. Why should we pay more just because we work hard and fulltime and
often away from home doing fifo work. It is hard seeing parents that barley work
and abuse the daycare system dropping kids off in their pjs and paying next to
nothing for care! While we slug our guts out just to pay our daycare bill. I have
often thought it might just be easier to quit work as mum and stay at home but I
worked hard in my career so why should I be forced out of work because their is no
QLD
affordable daycare. As soon as Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard came to power daycare
fees skyrocketed!!! The fees need to be more affordable for not only the lower
income but also higher income workers. We may be classed as higher income
workers but we have no grandparents to help us with care so we have no options in
terms of care...daucare is our only option..
610. As a professional mother of two children, one aged under two years of age, the
review of childcare standards and funding is of concern to me.
QLD
My son attends a not-for-profit centre in Townsville.
As we learn more about child development, it is obvious the impact of early
childhood education has on the lifetime learning as children grow. Long daycare
services are not just babysitting services. The professionals in the field are tasked
with creating opportunities for reaching development milestones and recording
children's progress. Their work is much more than changing nappies and wiping
noses. They are educators.
We must respect their work and maintain the professional standards that apply.
Second, the current funding subsidies must be maintained or improved. My wage as
a part-time veterinarian is as much as my full-time nurses, and leaves very little
once school and daycare fees are paid. If subsidies are cut, the financial feasibility
of returning to work for me and women in less well-paid positions becomes
untenable.
611. If the government wishes to advance women in the workforce, clearly quality,
flexible, available, and affordable childcare must be prioritized.
612. Dear members of the Productivity Commission, Many thanks for taking the time to
come and take a look at Goodstart Jerrabomberra. It is a great centre and we are
thrilled to have just obtained a place here.
I am a working Mum with 2 children, and the parent of one of the children here
(Joe, aged 4). I am writing this, to highlight to you exactly how difficult it is for
families all over Australia, in particular, Defence families to obtain a place for
childcare or before/after school care.
With most waitlists at centres being 2-3years long, it is often impossible to obtain
a spot when you consider that defence families move every 2 years on average.
As a result, we are on waitlists for childcare in every location we’ve lived in case
we get posted back there. This is extremely inefficient and frustrating for centres
and I’m sure means that their waitlists are next to useless for them.
The before/after school care centre (Our place) here in Jerrabomberra is excellent
but booked out, as is the YMCA before/afterschool care. Both have long waitlists.
We are on this waitlist for my daughter but until then are relying on friends and
favours as well as my employer’s generosity to enable me to work.
I know of many defence families who have recently moved here and the nonposted parent just isn’t able to go back to work. Some are employing au pairs or
looking into nannies but this is expensive, or in the case of an au pair, has a big
impact on the family’s home set-up (with them living in).
I am wondering if any of these measures could be considered, or at least raised for
discussion within your group?
- Reinstate Defence Priority positions on wait-lists (I think many centres used to
Nsw
do this, but now hardly any do)
- Look into having a dedicated defence childcare resource at/near all major bases.
The US army works like this and the difference is astounding. You simply post in,
enroll for childcare and you’re in and are able to start working straight away.
We will raise this with the defence liaison team at the local school here and see
what we can do on a local level. (This is a brilliant resource for the defence kids
transitioning in to the school).
It would be wonderful if you could raise these issues in any relevant forums and
keep defence families’ needs in consideration.
613. I live in a rural area 3559 and have limited access to child care and social activities
for my young children therefore funded kinder is very important to us.
Vic
614. My grandchild (1 year old) attends a long day care centre. He is educated and care
for by highly qualified, experienced and caring, nuturing professionals.
Tas
The program provided to him is first class - we receive written information on his
development ...not just the sleeping, feeding, nappy changing information!
He was 2 months premature and the reassurance provided to us through their
experience, together with their collaborating with support personal and health
professionals to support his development could not be done by someone with
Certificate qualification.
Just on Friday we received a video of his first crawling and a follow up phone call.
This has been a milestone they have been supporting in liaison with his parents and
his specialist doctor for his motor development.
615. Don't tell me we dont need lesser qualified educators!!!!!!!!!!
616. Our family has a child in a community managed not for profit service. I value
highly the education and care my child receives. Knowing that my child is in a high
quality environment supports me to participate in the workforce. I am not prepared
to compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and development of my
child.
My husband and I strongly believe that the current requirements for 50% of
educators working with children under 3 to hold a Diploma level or higher
qualification should remain. Qualifications of educators are a vital element of high
quality education and care.
We also agree that removing the eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax
- this will lead to significant fee increases and may affect the viability of service.
We also believe that it should not be possible to allow services to temporarily
operate with staffing levels below required ratios (by averaging over a day or a
week)
Finally, we don't believe that changes should be made to introduce funding
arrangements that result in reduced access and financial support for vulnerable
families and children and for families in crisis.
VIC
617. I have a nearly-4yr old and twins 2.5 yrs old... The cost of childcare is astronomical,
and can only afford to work 2 days a week. More than that I actually PAY to go to
work.
NSW
I don't need long day care, I would much prefer my kids to be in shorter care, but
financially I have no choice. As the cost per day is fixed, regardless of hours. I
really wish the government would invest in new DET preschools. Would much
prefer care 9-3pm M-F. Next year I'll have 3 preschoolers and I still cannot go back
to work!
I'd be happy to have less-skilled workers care for my kids, but don't drop the ratios.
Especially in the under 3s, I've seen first hand child care centres where one staff
member is changing a nappy, another is in the office/toilet, and the third is juggling
24 kids. And kids walking around in poo nappies and crying. You can't reduce the
ratios.
618. As full time parents without family support around Darwin, we rely heavily on the
local childcare to provide a safe, nurturing and stimulating environment for our
toddler.
NT
We work long hours and expect that during that time, our little girl will be well
taken care of by people we can trust to provide the best outcomes for her wellbeing
and development.
Knowing that carers are fully qualified and trained brings us peace of mind. We
would not feel comfortable leaving our daughter in the hands of people who do not
have satisfying qualifications in early childhood education nor first aid.
Affordability of childcare is also a major issue for us as the cost of childcare is
constantly rising and currently taking 70% of my income. This contributes to a very
high cost of living in the NT and does not really support women at work. It
sometimes feel like caring for our children at home would be a better option for me
in terms of costs....
619. I have 1, 13 months old, in a not for profit long day care centre In Nightcliff,
Darwin.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for
educators of children aged zero to three years. Accessing affordable childcare is a
big challenge for many families.
I welcome the recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be
increased.
I choose to entrust my child to a formal care environment and that I leave them with
educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care needs at a
price I can afford.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having
educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to
me.
NT
620.
VIC
A Background
I work part-time (three days a week). I am married and my husband works full time.
We have one child, aged 21 months, in long day care three days a week. Our child
attends a local centre in Kensington that is community-managed and not-for-profit
(the Kensington Community Children’s Co-operative or KCCC). Our son is in his
second year of care.
When I was only three weeks pregnant with my son, we put him down on around 10
waiting lists for childcare. We were offered a position at KCCC when my son was 6
months. He commenced care one day a week. This increased to two days of care
when he was 10 months. When he was around 12 months, it increased to three days
so I could return to work on a part-time basis. Initially, care was split across KCCC
and Goodstart Early Learning in Flemington. At the start of 2014, our son was able
to secure three days at KCCC.
Only after my return to work did we hear back from council-run centres, including
Flemington Street and Hopetoun. We are yet to hear back from several other private
centres for which he is still technically on the waiting list for.
We consider that we were fortunate to be able to take up one day and then two days
of care prior to my return to work. Other working families that are on lower incomes
are unlikely to be able to do this.
Upon returning to work, we received the childcare rebate which essentially covers
half the daily fee (which is $110/day). We do not receive the childcare benefit or any
other related benefits (Family Tax Benefit B, for example).
B Concerns with draft recommendations in draft report
We have a number of concerns about the draft findings and recommendations in the
Productivity Commission’s (PC) draft report. In particular, we are concerned about
the impact of the draft findings and recommendations in chapter 7 that allow for a
relaxation or reduction in the existing requirements.
We consider that the PC’s draft recommendations to:
identify elements and standards that can be removed to simplify the National Quality
Standard (draft recommendation 7.1);
change the existing requirement (which is that 50% of educators in centre-based
services must have a diploma level or higher qualification) to a lesser standard (“all
educators working with children aged birth to 36 months are only required to hold at
least a certificate III, or equivalent”) (draft recommendation 7.2); and
relax the existing ratios (such as 1:4) so that services can temporarily operate with
staffing levels below required ratios, such as by maintaining staffing levels on
average (over a day or week), rather than at all times (draft recommendation 7.5);
would severely impact on the quality of early learning.
We currently highly value the early learning that my son receives. While our son has
been cared for at KCCC, the rooms have been run such that there is a 1:4 ratio at all
times and at least one of the three educators holds either a diploma or bachelor
degree in education. KCCC is also fully compliant with the National Quality
Standard and the National Quality Framework (or working towards being fully
compliant).
We consider that these measures are the absolute minimum required to ensure that
our son is receiving quality early learning that is developmentally appropriate for his
age, ensures that he is safe and secure and promotes his development and learning.
We note that a large amount of evidence supports these views. A large amount of
empirical and anecdotal evidence is summarised in the Goodstart Early Learning
submission (Goodstart).
Goodstart also notes that quality in early learning is delivered through structure and
through process. The PC’s proposed changes to the structure (through draft
recommendations 7.1, 7.4 and 7.5 which propose changes to the standards,
requirements and ratios in place) would undermine one of the two key platforms
through which quality in early learning is delivered.
More generally, we are concerned that the PC is proposing that there be analysis as to
whether certain elements and standard in the National Quality Framework and the
National Quality Standards could be removed or altered. We note that these
measures were introduced only a year ago in 2013. As Goodstart notes, the National
Quality Framework and the National Quality Standards were developed based on
extensive consultation with the childcare sector and informed by a comprehensive
evidence base. To propose changes so soon after its introduction, particularly ones
that relax standards and requirements that were put in place after significant
consultation and evidence-based research, would not only be unwarranted but would
be a flawed policy response.
Another significant concern is the PC’s draft recommendation to abolish payroll tax
exemptions for not-for-profit centres (draft recommendation 10.1). While we
understand the economic arguments that a subsidy should be better-targeted at the
problem that it is seeking to address as that is the most efficient allocation, in these
circumstances, this indirect measure should be retained. This is because many notfor-profit centres are largely or primarily reliant on these exemptions to ensure that
fees do not increase significantly. Indeed, we consider that such a change would
impact on the financial viability of our son’s centre, KCCC, as well as many other
small, community-managed, not-for-profit centres across Australia.
In an
environment where there is significant excess demand for childcare places at long
day care centres, such a change would have both a far-reaching and damaging affect.
C Information to assist the PC
We are a high income family. We consider that a means-test should be adopted for
the Childcare rebate. We consider that the means-test should be applied based on the
family’s income as a whole (and not one of the parent’s incomes) and should be set
such that the Childcare rebate tapers out, the more a family earns and eventually
reach zero if the family income exceeds $200,000.
While we cannot provide information on how to measure the ‘deemed cost’ of early
childcare services, we note that younger children’s care is likely to be subsidised by
older children’s care (see, for example, Goodstart’s analysis on this). We therefore
consider that any measurement of ‘deemed cost’ should be an average cost such that
the older children continue to subsidise younger children.
621.
After school care is boring. Its better when my friends are there too but they're only ACT
there one of the two days I go. I would rather play computer games. It would be good
if I could play tennis at afters.
622.
As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
At present, I have one child who is 12 months old, in a not for profit long day care
centre at Belmont Goodstart Eearly Learning Centre. However, I plan on having one
QLD
to two more children in the near future and will return to work after they're born.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for educators
of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a BIG challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child. As a psychologist,
I know how important understanding the developmental stage of a child is. I would
not leave my child with someone who was not qualified and who did not know how
best to care for my child (children), as they grow and develop at different stages. The
changes that occur in development between 0-3 are enormous and I want my child's
development to be maximised through an informed and caring manner.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having educators
who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to me.
Childcare is becoming prohibitively expensive. I fall into the middle income area. I
don't get any benefits. Yet I pay a mortgage, full doctors fees and medication costs,
etc. I understand that low income families need support. But please stop increasing
my daily living costs. I'm a professional woman who will have to give up my 9 years
of education and the employment I'm in because I won't be able to afford day care.
That isn't fair. I have so much to contribute, but I'll be discriminated against
BECAUSE I'm educated and have a decent job. The system needs much more
consideration.
623.
As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and VIC
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have two children, aged 2 and 4 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
Goodstart Brighton Cochrane St, Melbourne.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for educators
of children aged zero to three years.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having educators
who understand and contribute to my child’s development is extremely important to
me.
I believe that as well as enabling parents to work, attending quality day care is vital
in providing early education for childen under 3. I strongly believe that as a result of
the education my children have received pre age 3 at Goodstart, they have developed
significantly more than if they had not attended long day care.
624.
As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and VIC
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have 1 child, 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre and another child
on the way who both will attend long day care at Sth East Melbourne suburb from
next year.
I do not think reducing the rebate for families earning $160,000 plus is well thought
out. Currently with the rebate we pay over $10,000 per year for 1 child and soon to
have 2 children this will grow to $21,000 out of pocket expenses for child care at this
years rate. Every year child care prices increase, so this amount will only continue to
grow.
If government cuts the rebate for these families prices could hit $30,000 for one child
and double for 2 children and so on. What would be the point of returning to work.
This is more than a primary grammar school costs with no choice for cheaper or
alternative care.
Cutting the rebate will only increase these out of pocket expenses and is not
encouraging women to return to the workforce or contribute paying tax to the greater
community. Why childcare isn't seen as an early pre-extension to primary education
is beyond me.
If families are earning a large amounts in excess of $250,000 than the rebate should
be cut or reduced. Currently it stands at $150,000 per the primary carer this change is
DRASTIC to these families. I don't know where the government get the figure of
$160,000 as being well off when there are mortgages to be paid.
It should not matter how many days a parent studies or work, if they require child
care they should have access to it and the rebates regardless of the number of days
required. Changing this will only have a negative impact. Further, priority should be
given to families who actually use child care for studying and work purposes.
Afterall it's these families who require the care the most whilst they are contributing
to the Australian economy and taxes.
By choosing to return to work I am contributing to the public purse by paying tax. If
the rebate it cut for families earning over $160,000 more women will have to stop
work altogether or drastically reduce their hours to have anything left over in wages
to take home after paying for childcare, this is absurd. This also means less dollars
going towards the government via tax.
What is the point of giving women 6 months of paid maternity leave to encourage
them to have children when they wont be able to afford returning to work due to
child care fees. The money for materinty leave should be put into childcare and
rebate families that way as children require childcare until they begin school.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for educators
of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having educators
who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to me.
625.
As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
WA
I have 1 child, 2.5 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Goodstart
Early Learning Jandakot.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for educators
of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having educators
who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to me.
626.
As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and WA
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have 3 children of ages 3.5yr, 2yr and 12 weeks old of which the older 2 are
attending a not for profit long day care centre at Goodstart Early Learning in
Thornlie full time with our youngest about to start.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for educators
of children aged zero to three years. My children have benefitted greatly from the
education they have received from the staff at our daycare and without it, I believe
their communication skills would have been far less developed. My wife and I
believe that the first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development and
having educators who understand and contribute to my child’s development is
important to us.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge myself and my wife. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased. With
two kids in full time daycare and one about to start, my wife and I, although and a
decent combined salary and government contributions struggle to keep on top of our
daycare bills.
In summary its extremely important for my wife and I to continue to receive the
quality early learning education that our daycare centre currently provides at an
affordable cost.
627.
"As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
QLD
I have one child who is two years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
Calamvale, Queensland.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for educators
of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having educators
who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to me."
628.
As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and WA
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have one child, 1 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Good Start
Learning Madora Bay
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for educators
of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my child to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having educators
who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to me.
629.
As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and QLD
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have one child, 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Goodstart.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for educators
of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having educators
who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to me.
630.
As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have one child, 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Green Point,
NSW.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for educators
of children aged zero to three years.
Accessing affordable childcare is a big challenge for many families. I welcome the
recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds get the biggest benefit from accessing
quality early learning and care. It would be a backward step if access to early
learning for disadvantaged children became harder.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
My family values quality early learning for children, particularly in the early years
before they are three. We want to feel comfortable leaving our children with
educators who know and understand the development of my child.
NSW
The first three years of life are a vital part of a child’s development, having educators
who understand and contribute to my child’s development is important to me.
631.
As a parent, my key concerns with childcare are the quality of the carers and VIC
educators who care for my children and the price I have to pay when choosing to
return to work.
I have one child, nearly 2 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at
Goodstart Chelsea Heights.
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for educators
of children aged zero to three years. I value quality early learning for children,
particularly in the early years before they are three. I want to feel comfortable leaving
my child with educators who understand and contribute to his development and are
qualified to support his individual learning and care needs.
As balancing work and care of my children is a big challenge for me, I also welcome
the recognition that the overall level of childcare assistance needs to be increased. If
I am to choose to work and send my child to care, it needs to be affordable and I need
to make a reasonable amount of money after taking out costs for child care to make it
worthwhile.
632.
Based on my experience with Child care, qualification is quite important in handling QLD
child needs, educating them to enhance their skills. I had a child who attended an
overseas childcare and another who attended a qualified child care in Australia. The
difference was quite clear where my younger son was able to enhance his speech
skills, learning and coordinating skills in a much faster way. This by itself speaks
volume of how important is child care. I entrust the day care with my kids and I
expect in return there should enhancement in their knowledge by qualified teachers.
It is well known by scientists how the early age of kids impressions and learning
impacts their life and without qualified teachers, they are at risk of not being in a safe
environment, not be able to enhance their skills to prepare them to further challenges
as they grow
633.
Child care costs are almost prohibitively expensive. This doesn't seem to make since NSW
in an industry where the carers typically are not highly paid. I can only assume all the
payments go to regulation costs or similar as people I have spoken to who run day
care centres claim it is not all that profitable. It therefore doesn't make sense why the
cost is so high. This only serves to make life harder for parents and motivates the day
care centres to try and profit in other ways such as charging for public holidays or
forcing parents to pay over Xmas breaks etc.
The government assistance, although beneficial does not factor in that in one location
daycare costs $70 per day and in another (mine) it costs $170. Obviously real estate
costs are higher in certain areas but there is a huge imbalance.
Anyway, as a citizen I appreciate that you are investigating this. Thank you.
634.
Currently my partner and I have 2 children in childcare and are out of pocket $32 QLD
000.00 Dollars per year after the rebate. In the government eyes due to the fact we
earn over a certain threshhold we are considred wealthy. What this sytem encourages
is people &quot;not&quot; to exceeed in life and rather stay at home and work part
time so that you dont go over the $85 000 bracket. This is economics gone wrong.
I cannot fathom how a child costs $92 per day at childcare. We all know that
childcare business are extrmeely pprofitable organisations as we only have to look
back at the ABC empire. The owners of these businesses have the best of both
worlds. They have the parents paying them and the government supporting them.
The people that are full time workers should be rewarded not penalised/ Its the full
time workers who contribute to the economy. If people are high income earners are
also paying a lot of taxes therefore assisting gov and again should not be penalised.
Just because you are high earner does not mean that we have high savings, we alos
have debt, mortgages etc sams as some one who is a low income earner. the battle is
the same.
cmon government lets get this right once and for all.
good luck
635.
Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3 years. VIC
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3 to
hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a vital
element of high quality education and care
Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases ($5 a day increase) and may affect the viability of the
service
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week) Do not simplify the National Quality
Standards – quality matters for our child
636.
Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3 years. TAS
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3 to
hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a vital
element of high quality education and care.
Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases and may affect the viability of our service
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week)
Do not simplify the National Quality Standards – quality matters for our child
Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis
637.
638.
Enrolment process for childcare centres should be standardised such that all centres VIC
can only accept applications from the same point in time e.g from the birth of the
child as per kindergarten enrolment. This would ensure more equitable wait list
based on age of child rather than application date which at present can be as early as
first pregnancy test.
I agree with flexibility for childcare and moving away from the traditional 9am - QLD
5pm service, however, I do not support the means testing for CRB/CCB. To means
test the rebate would create significant financial hardship for families who choose to
return to work- regardless of their income. I do not support the ability of nonworking parents to receive financial incentives/benefits for child care (eg. reduced
fees via CCB) - this takes away day care places for families who genuienly require
care for their child due to work/study commitments. Improved certification of
providers should also be a priority - it takes a long time to find a child care provider
where practices are consistent with the policies and procedures of the centre - often
the governance and policies/procedures are in place, but the staff, their attitudes and
their commitment to quality care and education is lacking. The department's
assessment of centres is also questionable - the centre I have my child enrolled at
recently achieved 'excedes' rating and from what I can see, there are areas where the
centre is lacking and I find it hard to believe that overall the rating was marked as
'exceeding'. From time to time there are incidents I witness that make me concerned
about leaving my child. These incidents are often a result of fatigued staff,
behavioural issues in children, lack of trained staff, unplanned leave for staff (due to
illnesses etc) and lack of availability of staff to backfill and relieve. The industry is a
low paying industry and often a low pay equals low calibre of trained professionals.
The staff deserve to be remunerated more appropriately than current arrangements.
Educators need to be assessed on the basics for spelling and maths - I'm horrified at
the inability of some of the educators to spell. It concerns me that my child is being
educated by people who are not necessarily educated themselves.
639.
I am a father of two young daughters and both my wife and I work full time in very VIC
demanding jobs (at managerial level). Therefore, we depend a lot on the highly
skilled staff at our child care and after school care. Our younger daughter goes to a
community managed not for profit service. I highly value the education and care my
child receives. Knowing that my child is in a high quality environment enables me to
participate in the workforce. I am not prepared to compromise the health, safety,
well-being or learning and development of my child.
Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3 years.
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3 to
hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a vital
element of high quality education and care
Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios. This will compromise the level of safety, care and well-being of our children
Do not simplify the National Quality Standards – quality matters for our children
Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families
640.
I am a mother of a 2.5-year-old who attends a not-for-profit community cooperative VIC
childcare centre in Melburne, Victoria. The high quality education and care provided
by the diploma- and higher level- trained educators caring for my son cannot be
praised highly enough. These staff members are extremely well educated, driven,
dedicated staff who provide wonderful care and exceptional education for the
children, and I see their education level as a significant resource for learning for my
own parenting. It concerns me greatly that diploma or higher level trained staff could
be considered unnecessary for under 3 year old child care provision. This is a
backward step and seriously undermines the provision of quality education and care
for our children. Our childcare cooperative is also dedicated to providing staffing
levels above the recommended ratios. Minimum ratios are essential to providing
quality care and ensuring children are safe from harm, and staff feel confident and
safe in their work environment. I have had experience with a childcare centre where
bare minimum ratios and poorly educated staff were responsible for the children - the
difference in quality of care was glaringly and sadly obvious. I was very concerned
for the children and staff I observed in this situation as both suffered from the stress
of under-staffing - children appeared neglected, despondent and unsafe and staff
appeared and reported being exhausted. Needless to say I could not continue my
child's attendance at that facility - though at the time it was the only option available
to me. This impacted on my employment situation, and my son took some significant
time to rebuild his confidence in other adults following this experience. I implore the
Commission to reconsider their recommendation to change the minimum staffing
ratios at any time, this is another significant backward step. I implore the
Commission not to recommend watering down of the standards of education for
under 3-year-olds, and to keep the current requirements for 50% of educators
working with children under 3 to hold a Diploma level or higher.
641.
I am a mother of two children, both currently in full time childcare. We only receive QLD
the CCR of $7,500 per child per year, so each year we have to pay more than
$30,000 out of our own pockets (after CCR) to childcare. This is extremely
financially crippling!
I am originally from Norway, where childcare costs are subsidised and capped at
appx. $550 a month per child. Why can't Australia also support working parents and
do something similar?
The government is actually encouraging me to rather stay at home or work part time,
as there are no incentive towards me contributing to the economy by working
fulltime.
Please please do something about this country's insanely high childcare costs!!!
642.
I am a mother of two daughters aged one and three, who currently attend childcare VIC
one day a week. We would like them to attend at least one more day a week but
cannot afford the costs. My husband takes care of the children on the days I work
because if he was to return to the workforce, he would earn just enough to send them
to care. Nevertheless, we are grateful for the service our centre provides as the staff
and facilities are excellent and the care they show our girls is second to none.
We have concerns with some of the recommendations in the Productivity
Commission report as we believe they will have a negative impact on the quality of
care at our centre and others.
The removal of the payroll tax exemption for not-for-profit providers. At 4.85% this
represents approximately $100K in our Centre’s present budget, or around $4 per day
per child, or $20 per week for a full-time child. This will lead to an increase in fees
and in general, less funds for the Centre. Our fundraising team already works
tirelessly to gather funds for the centre - extra items or services that the children
benefit from so the Centre’s need all the funds they currently have access to. Also,
our service supports students and other vulnerable people with low incomes so these
changes will impact on people in need.
Recommendation to require carers of children aged three and under to have only Cert
III qualifications. Many of our staff members have higher qualifications and it is
apparent in the care they provide our children. Our Centre cannot remain competitive
with others who will be able to hire less-qualified and cheaper staff.
Allowing rooms not to replace staff on breaks. Children need staff around. They
often cannot wait for assistance so when there are fewer staff to more children, the
quality of care will suffer.
Increased ratios of children:educators. As above.
Removing or reducing the National Quality Framework standards. Why does the
government spend money creating quality frameworks, only to remove them? Why
should the Centre’s invest in staff and resources to meet the frameworks when they
might change again? If they are quality and work, why shouldn’t they stay?
Please reconsider cost cutting measures that will have impacts on the sector and other
aspects of our community. Working parents are trying to do the right thing by their
children, family, community and country. Our government needs to support these
services which are the stepping stones for our youth. They must be recognised for the
important work they do and the excellent service they provide. As they say, if it ain’t
broke….
643.
I am a single mother and have been since before the birth of my 5 month old baby VIC
girl. If it was not for the high quality not for profit childcare centre available so close
to my workplace, I would not have had the opportunity to go back to work.
Importantly, it is the high quality care that enables me to feel comfortable leaving
[my daughter] at the Centre and confident that she receives the best care possible. I
am also able to access it several times a day to breastfeed her. I am concerned that
your reforms will negatively affect my confidence in the childcare system, increase
the high costs further thereby restricting my opportunities to work and raise my
daughter in the best way I can, to become an amazing person and valuable
contributor to the community.
I highly value the education and care my child receives. Knowing that my child is in
a high quality environment supports me to participate in the workforce. I am not
prepared to compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and development
of my child.
Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3 years.
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3 to
hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a vital
element of high quality education and care
Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases ($5 a day increase) and may affect the viability of our
service
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week)
Do not simplify the National Quality Standards – quality matters for our child
Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis.
644.
645.
I am a working mother and to be to able to afford the high cost of living my partner VIC
works full time and I work 4 days per week.We have our son in long day care 4 days
a week, with no family support to help mind him any days. I feel the childcare rebate
of $7500 per year, favours mothers who work part time, as for mothers who work 4-5
days per week, with the increasing price of childcare, the childcare benefit is
exhausted 6-8 months into the year, leaving you paying full fees of 460-575 per week
for the remainder of the year. I think the child care rebate should be increased to pay
50% of child care costs for the full year, this would encourage mothers to be able to
work 4-5 days per week without strugging financially and increase opportunities in
the work place.
I am dismayed as a user of long day care for two children over the years, that this VIC
report indicates that children under three do not require the care of diploma/degree
trained carers. I feel that the report does not acknowledge the importance of learning
in those very early years, and the role that carers play in this in a long day care
setting. I also think that combining the CCB and CCR payments and then paying
them on the basis of a standard rate instead of the actual cost of care disadvantages
families who use city based care, which costs more. Or even, as we do, suburban
based, community provided long day care - which costs the same as city based care.
We stay in this centre because the staff are well trained and the turnover is low. They
are paid above award wages being a council service, and my children benefit from
the many years of experience that these staff have.
646.
I believe the new system which was from April is bad as it does not help the new NSW
business operators. Without the community support program payment most new
business are suffering, the levy that we receive is not even enough to even pay our
rent and bills of the office. The government has really made it taught on all new
operators.
The government needs to come up with some kind of support system for all the new
operators that are struggling.
647.
I expect, if I choose to entrust my children to a formal care environment that I leave
them with educators who are qualified to support their individual learning and care
needs at a price I can afford.
VIC
648.
I feel secure and assured to know that the educators who take care of my 2 year old
son all have attained at least a Certificare III in Children's Services. This was an
important factor in my decision to send my child to day care.
NSW
649.
i have 1 child who is 3 years old in a not for profit early learning centre. The centre is WA
Goodstart Early Learning Jandakot.
I would concern me if less qualified staff were looking after my child but would
welcome an increase to benefits for childcare.
I expect as a parent to be able to leave my child in a place where the staff have the
qualifications to help them learn and be safe as well but i need it to still be affordable
for us a family
650.
I have 1 child, 3 years old, in a not for profit long day care centre at Goodstart QLD
Gladstone (with another child starting next year).
I am concerned with the proposal to reduce qualifications requirements for educators
of children aged zero to three years, as this is a very important time in a child's
development. Having educators who understand and contribute to my child’s
development is important to me.
I would be happy to pay more for quality care, though do appreciate the existing
financial support received. I also understand that childcare is a substantial cost to
families and would prefer the money set aside for the proposed PPL changes rather
be diverted to increase support of childcare.
651.
I have a child (<3) in a community managed not-for-profit service. The quality of VIC
care and education that my child receives is integral to my confidence and capacity
to participate in the workforce. My child is in a high quality environment in which
highly-skilled and trained staff support (sometimes lead)the development and
education of my child. The expertise of diploma (+) qualified staff is invaluable and
a vital component of a quality-environment for children in their formative years
(under 3). I am not prepared to compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning
and development of my child and do not want to see the current standards
diminished.
Retain the current requirement for 50% of educators working with children <3 to
hold a Diploma level qualification.
Retain eligibility of not-for-profit providers to payroll tax. Families using these
services will otherwise be subject to significant fee increases which can affect access
to service and participation in the workforce.
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week)
Do not simplify the National Quality Standards – quality matters!
Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families.
652.
I have two children at primary school and a toddler at home. My partner travels VIC
interstate for work. I am not working at the moment. I have found it extremely
difficult, time consuming and expensive to secure only 1 full day per week of
childcare. Warrnambool is lacking flexible hours. I need to pay a full days fee at
$92 per day when I really only require 4 hours per day of childcare. To secure a part
time job 4 hours of childcare across 2 or 3 days is all that I would require. I don't
know of a childcare centre in Warrnambool that provides this flexibility. (Please
advise if i am incorrect). I know a number of families who are also in this situation.
I am not interested in fulltime work whilst our children are young and returning
home from school at 3:30pm. Childcare arrangements do not cater for part time
work. Flexible childcare arrangements would also allow for more children to be
cared for. It is also very difficult to secure work when you only have 1 day of
childcare per week arranged. At the same time it is very expensive to pay for 3 days
of childcare ($276) per week whilst looking for work.
653.
654.
I have two young pre-school aged children. The cost of childcare fees forced me to VIC
resign from my job once my second child was born as the cost of having both in care
would have exceeded my earnings. I have only returned to the workforce 3 years
after the birth of my second child as I was fortunate enough to get a job that, at just
over $80k a year leaves me with 'pocket money' after paying childcare fees.
Removing the rebate would result in highly educated, valuable women such as
myself being forced to stay at home as it would literally send us broke to work.
Removing the rebate makes no financial sense to the economy, and is in fact highly
discriminatory towards women.
I refer to Draft Recommendation 7.5. The sector operates under a 'quality' TAS
framework, so how does a child care service meet high standard and best practice
care if allowed to on a temporary basis (not specified) have staffing levels below
required ratios. As a parent, how would we know which service is operating and
complying within ratio guidelines or not? The majority of child care services and
carers want to provide the best care possible hence meeting the required ratios, why
and how could a CCS provide best care on any lower ratio than what they already
have.
655.
I use a Daycare Centre, which by all means provides an excellent service, except for NSW
the cost!!! We live in the outskirts of Sydney and it cost $106 per day. The childcare
rebate just covers this for 3 days a week, which means I have had to go back to work
part time as we cannot afford any extra days, which has then put financial stress on
my family. There are no government run preschools in our area so this will never be
an option. The amount we pay in childcare fees is the equivalent fees for well
known private high school.
We were very lucky to get a place in a daycare centre close to home and it was only
because we “knew someone, who knew someone” who worked there. The other
daycare centres that we were on the waiting list for were unable to offer a position
for my then 11 month old daughter.
Daycare has been a very positive experience for my daughter and she engages in
activities that we don’t have the resources to do at home and she gets to socialise
with children her own age. Unfortunately though the system is not fair and other
children don’t always get this positive experience because of the cost daycare and
centres that don’t have that enriching environment due to high staff turnover and
burnout.
656.
I work freelance from home after being made redundant during my maternity leave, VIC
My 20 month olds attends day care for 2 days a week, I recently had another baby
but have kept my son in day care because his physical and mental development and
social skills have all come on in leaps and bounds. There's many things I can't do
with him now my 2nd has come along so I am so pleased he has the chance to do the
activities he does at day care, he's is learning so much through structured play, craft
activities and themed educational days. Even at 20 month it has a huge impact on
him and I can see how he is benefiting rather than just being 'baby sat'. I have great
concerns that if the educational focus is taken away from under 3's he will miss out
from what I believe is a fantastic start for him and potentially his sister (now 4
months). Also as I've not been able to return to regular work due to my circumstance
I have taken the initiative and started a business with my husband, we are still in the
early days so funding for my sons daycare is essential to allow us both the time to get
it off the ground and a bit of financial freedome while we still not earning enough
through the business to cover the fees completly. If the funding structure changes it
will be very difficult for us to keep him in day care and our business start up plan
will suffer. I intend to enrol my daughter for 2 days a week once she is 12 months for
the exposure socially and educationally I hope things don't change at my day care
center in the mean time.
657.
I would like to comment on the draft report of your inquiry into childcare and early
childhood learning.
VIC
My one year old son goes to a community managed, not for profit childcare service
and I am delighted with the quality of care he receives. I know the centre, and the
wonderful staff in his room, strive to provide the highest level of care and I would be
very concerned if changes were made which made it harder for them to do this.
In particular I would be concerned about changes which reduced the qualification
requirements for childcare staff, the ratio of staff to children or the quality standards
for care. There is overwhelming evidence about the importance of the early years for
children’s’ learning and development. There is no justification for reducing the
quality of care children receive, especially when Australia is slipping down
international school education rankings.
Childcare staff work extremely hard, and in my experience, are dedicated
professionals. They deserve to be paid decently. The proposal to remove the pay roll
tax and fringe benefits tax exemption for not-for-profit providers will make it harder
for our service to attract and pay staff and may affect its viability.
I know that access and affordability of care is a significant issue in the system. I have
experienced this first hand. However, reducing quality and the capacity for centres to
operate in a cost effective way will not solve this problem. Instead, more funding
should be directed to ensure low income and vulnerable families have access.
Being confident in the care my son receives has been essential to my returning to the
workforce. Quality childcare is so important – for children and to ensure parents can
keep contributing to our economy.
I make these comments as a parent, but I have always been a supporter of quality
early childhood education and care. I believe there is broad support for quality care in
the community, not just amongst parents, and that it is widely accepted as an
important social investment.
Please do not go down a path which compromises quality or makes it more difficult
or expensive for childcare centres to operate.
658.
If childcare service fee's were increased there would be of no financial benefit for me VIC
to return to work with 2 children under 5yrs of age as I would be working to only pay
for childcare. I also believe the staff should have pay increase. I feel working mums
are disadvantaged financially and there needs to be an incentive.
659.
My 2 year old son has been in daycare for 6 months. He LOVES going to 'school' as WA
it is a educational, safe, loving environment with qualified carers. Making the
decision to move from private nanny services to a daycare facility wasn’t made
lightly. I didn’t enrol my son so he could 'socialise' as I believed he sees plenty of
children his age during the week.
The women at Goodstart Dunsborough are amazing, educated, warm and most with
children of their own. This was a large factor in my decision to entrust his care to
them for 2 days a week.
Both my son and I enjoy the educational structure provided during the day in an age
and ability appropriate manner. This is something I believe that is only achieved by
those educated and qualified in the field of childcare.
I would hate to see the level of care and quality decreased just to ‘make childcare
move readily available & affordable’ for the masses. Perhaps there could be a
different kind of service provided for those just looking for glorified babysitters as
opposed to educational assistants. Or perhaps the government could make wages
more attractive to those that are bringing up our next generation of children.
I strongly support the need for qualified and educated childcare assistants and I can
only hope that our government doesn’t minimise the standard that we should really
be seeking to excel in.
660.
My child attends long daycare in a community managed not for profit service. I VIC
highly value the education, experiences and care my child receives. As they say, it
takes a village to raise a child and high quality childcare facilities is a critical
component of my "village".
Currently I earn only just enough to support the price of childcare but at the current
level of quality I know that this is a fantastic investment of my money and the current
government rebate. Equally important, the childcare facilities give me the confidence
to continue to invest in my own career as a minority woman in science.
I am not prepared to compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and
development of my child.
Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3 years.
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3 to
hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a vital
element of high quality education and care
Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases ($5 a day increase) and may affect the viability of our
service
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week)
Do not simplify the National Quality Standards – quality matters for our child
Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis.
661.
My children are 3 and 1.5 years old. They are in a not for profit long daycare centre
with extremely competent and high quality staff.
I am concerned about the current proposals to lower the training requirements and
staff to children ratios in the centres.
High quality daycare is hugely beneficial to the children and the parents who are able
to work knowing their children are well looked after and learning everyday.
I expect my children to be looked after by quality, qualified educators, not child
minders.
VIC
662.
My family has a child in a community managed not for profit service.
VIC
I highly value the education and care my daughter receives. Knowing that my child is
in a exceptional quality and affordable environment is essential for my wife and I to
participate in the workforce. I am not prepared to compromise the health, safety,
well-being or learning and development of my child.
Do not reduce the standards of education and care for children under 3 years. Keep
the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3 to hold
a Diploma level or higher qualification. This is critical - just think about the concept
of poorly educated educators! Qualifications of educators are a vital element of high
quality education and care.
Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases ($5 a day increase) and will affect the viability of our service
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week) - the result will simply be lesser quality
care.
Do not simplify or dilute the National Quality Standards – quality is essential.
Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis
663.
My family has two children in a community managed not for profit service. I highly VIC
value the education and care my child receives. Knowing that my child is in a high
quality environment supports me to participate in the workforce. I am not prepared to
compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and development of my child.
The costs of childcare are already difficult for my family to cover. Removing the
eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to significant fee
increases ($5 a day increase), which would make it even more difficult.
I value the education of the carers working at my childcare. They are knowledgeable
and passionate about early childhood education. Lowering the standard of
qualifications devalues these staff and will lead to the Keep the current requirements
for 50% of educators working with children under 3 to hold a Diploma level or
higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a vital element of high quality
education and care
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week). This undermines the entire point of
having staff ratios and can leave children in danger.
Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis.
It seems that this government just doesn't care about children or families. It is as
though it is making childcare access difficult on purpose to force mothers to stay at
home. I am absolutely outraged and will not be silenced.
664.
My three year old son attends Goodstart Early Learning Centre East Brighton. It is VIC
most important that the children receive educational and stimulating activities
throughout the day by qualified educators. The centres are not just mindless child
care rooms where the children have no structure and must not be! This is a most
important aspect of their early development.
665.
Our family has 2 children in a community managed not for profit service. I highly VIC
value the education and care my child receives. Knowing that my child is in a high
quality environment supports me to participate in the workforce. I am not prepared to
compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and development of my child.
Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3 years.
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3 to
hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a vital
element of high quality education and care
Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases ($5 a day increase) and may affect the viability of our
service
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week)
Do not simplify the National Quality Standards – quality matters for our child
Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis.
666.
Our family has a child in a community managed not for profit service. Being VIC
confident that I leave every day my child in a high quality environment, I can go to
my work and completely concentrate on my duties of the day without worrying on
what is happening at childcare. I can't believe this could happen if there would be
staff levels below the required ratios or if the qualifications of the educator would be
at lower standard then now. I highly evaluate the education and care my child
receives. Coming from overseas and establishing our family in Australia we
completely relied on childcare services for both our kids and our experience was
remarkable.
667.
Our family has a child in a community managed not for profit service. I highly value VIC
the education and care my child receives. Knowing that my child is in a high quality
environment supports me to participate in the workforce. I am not prepared to
compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and development of my child.
Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3 years.
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3 to
hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a vital
element of high quality education and care
Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases ($5 a day increase) and may affect the viability of our
service
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week)
Do not simplify the National Quality Standards – quality matters for our child·
Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis.
668.
Our family has a child in a community managed not for profit service. I highly value VIC
the education and care my child receives. Knowing that my child is in a high quality
environment supports me to participate in the workforce. I am not prepared to
compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and development of my child.
Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3 years.
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3 to
hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a vital
element of high quality education and care
Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases ($5 a day increase) and may affect the viability of our
service
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week)
Do not simplify the National Quality Standards – quality matters for our child
Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis.
669.
Our family has a child in a community managed not for profit service. I highly value VIC
the education and care my child receives. Knowing that my child is in a high quality
environment supports me to participate in the workforce. I am not prepared to
compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and development of my child.
Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3 years.
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3 to
hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a vital
element of high quality education and care
Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases ($5 a day increase)
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week)
Do not simplify the National Quality Standards – quality matters for our child
Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis.
670.
Our family has a child in a community managed not for profit service. I highly value TAS
the education and care my child receives. Knowing that my child is in a high quality
environment supports me to participate in the workforce. I am not prepared to
compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and development of my child.
Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3
years. Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children
under 3 to hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators
are a vital element of high quality education and care.
Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases and may affect the viability of our service
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week)
Do not simplify the National Quality Standards – quality matters for our child
Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis.
671.
Our family have had experience with both excellent and substandard services. The VIC
differences was definitely in the higher standard of qualified educators who actively
engage in my child from the time in the babies room. Educators in these areas are not
'just nappy changers'. To dismiss the importance of qualified staff is insulting to both
the staff members and the families whose have benefitted from the early learning.
672.
Our son is in a community managed not for profit service. He is almost 2 and has
been in care since he was 6 months old. I highly value the education and care my
child receives, and knowing that he is receiving a high level of care has supported me
in returning to work so soon after his birth. I am not prepared to compromise the
health, safety, well-being or learning and development of my child.
TAS
I have heard that the standards of education and care are proposed to be watered
down for children under 3 years. I would strongly encourage you to keep the current
requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3 to hold a Diploma
level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a vital element of high
quality education and care. They are not glorified babysitters. They actually TEACH
them things, believe it or not!!
Please do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will
lead to significant fee increases and may affect the viability of our service
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week)
Do not simplify the National Quality Standards – quality matters for our childDo not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis. I feel very
strongly about this.
673.
Our two daughters attend in a community managed not for profit childcare service.
VIC
As parents, we see the highly beneficial effects of the education and care my
daughters receive.
Also, knowing that my children are in a high quality environment supports both me
and my wife to participate in the workforce. We would not compromise the health,
safety, well being or learning and development of our children, so if the standards of
childcare/kindergarten are lowered one of us would have to quit the job and stay
home with them.
Please, do not water down the standards of education and care for children, especially
for under 3 years. Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with
children under 3 to hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of
educators are a vital element of high quality education and care.
Thank you.
674.
The Hawker Primary School P&C Association represents parents of children ACT
attending the K-6 primary school or attending a dedicated preschool on the school
grounds. This is true for most government preschools in the ACT. The Association
supports Draft Recommendation 7.9 to remove such preschools from the scope of the
National Quality Standards.
675.
676.
The NQF is vital in ensuring that our children have the opportunity to experience TAS
professional care undertaken by trained educators who are passionate and aware of
the significance of this period of development in out children's life. My husband and
I have witnessed the value of the implementation at our centre and believe that
through this process there has been great outcomes for all involved. This stage of
development is integral to both longer term outcomes for kids but also there
emerging sense of self as they embrace their world whilst feeling secure. Don't trash
a great system that guarantees appropriate standards for our children care.
The rebate for child care needs to cover a full financial year for working couples. QLD
Our rebate when working full time only covers till March within the financial year.
The cost of day care with out this assistance is financially unviable. However the
work, study test being applied for rebate and CBC eligibility is not enforced strictly
enough and often abused with many individuals receiving full assistance without
meeting the requirements of the test. To increase work force participation those who
are working should receive at minimum the rebate for a full financial year. I am
fortunate to get the rebate to applied till March some parents reach the rebate cap
much sooner. When productivity is a focus we limit those who really want to
contribute to an active work force. One suggestion that has been raised was a tax
deduction for child care fees, at least this way individuals prove they are legitimately
meeting the work test.
677.
The system has to change to reflect current working conditions of parents today. Fees NSW
keep increasing, yet the average amount of pay does not keep up with it.
I had to make a decision to work full time as when I stayed at home I was only
entitled to $30 per fortnight due to my partners wages - which according to the
government is 'high enough' - however we have a mortgage, living expenses, another
child, petrol, insurances etc - meant we were always stretched.
With my little one now in full time care - I am taking home less than half my pay per
fortnight after fees - but am seemingly better off with this as I was only getting $30
per fortnight previously.
There is something wrong here. Needs to be fixed.
678.
To whom it may Concern:
My name is [name] and I am writing primarily as a mother of children who currently
attend a childcare service [...] located in Notting Hill, Victoria.
My two children currently attend the Monash Community Family Cooperative, a
fabulous childcare centre, which is adjacent to where I work as senior research fellow
at Monash University. I have been drawn to presenting this submission as I do not
believe that a number of the recommendations made in the Productivity Inquiry into
Child Care and Early Childhood Learning are NOT in the best interests of children
and their families.
A foundational requirement for me in returning to work was identifying a suitable
child care facility for my daughters. I had high expectations that, if I could not
directly provide their child care needs, that the Centre I chose must have highly
VIC
skilled and trained educators and have excellent facilities. This was difficult to find.
However, our family then discovered the Monash Community Family Cooperative (a
no-for-profit service), which is a fantastic example of the benefits derived from
encouraging and supporting well trained educators and having wonderful grounds to
teach and play within. The Centre enjoys a stable staff (e.g. low turn over) which has
resulted in confident and engaged children. For example, my eldest who has been in
the Centre for four years has strong relationships with staff who have been engaging
with and caring for her since she began in 2011. I am very confident in their abilities
and capacities for looking after my two children. If I had not been provided a place in
a Centre such as this, I honestly would not have returned to the workforce.
Overall, I highly value the education and care my children receive at this not-forprofit centre. Knowing that my daughters are in a high quality environment allows
me to better engage and participate in the workforce. I am absolutely not prepared to
compromise the health, safety, well-being or learning and development of my
children. With that in mind I strongly urge the Productivity Commission:
Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3 years.
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3 to
hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a vital
element of high quality education and care
Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases ($5 a day increase) and may affect the viability of our
service.
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week)
Do not simplify the National Quality Standards – quality matters for our child
Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis.
I look forward to hearing the outcomes of the Inquiry.
679.
We are sending our child in a community managed not for profit service. I highly VIC
value the education and care my child receives. Mental peace of having child in
hyginic place and in hands of well trained staff allows us to concentrate and be
productive in our work life.
Do not water down the standards of education and care for children under 3 years.
Keep the current requirements for 50% of educators working with children under 3 to
hold a Diploma level or higher qualification. Qualifications of educators are a vital
element of high quality education and care
Do not remove eligibility of not for profit providers to payroll tax - this will lead to
significant fee increases ($5 a day increase) and may affect the viability of our
service
Do not allow services to temporarily operate with staffing levels below required
ratios (by averaging over a day or a week)
Do not simplify the National Quality Standards – quality matters for our child
Do not introduce funding arrangements that result in reduced access and financial
support for vulnerable families and children and for families in crisis.