Productivity Commission
Inquiry into Childcare and Early Childhood Learning
Comments from people who neither use nor work in 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. The very first issue with childcare services is the availability of places. We have a 2y/o son
that is currently on an endless number of waiting lists (public and private centers) and the only
two options that were not suitable because of the long distance we had to drive to reach them.
The centers should give priority to parents that don't have any extended family around to help
them out. The second issue is the affordability of childcare services.
2. I will soon have no choice but to use early learning childcare centres for my 2 youngest
children. Thanks to the ridiculous school intake changes my 3.5 year old cannot start school
for another year. This will naturally drive the cost up of childcare with me being a shift
worker. I want my kids in there for some social interaction as playgroup attendance can be
erratic due to work commitments. I honestly don't know how I am going to afford the costs
though with mortgage, living expenses, bills, car payments and a shift working husband
working 260km away.
3. I have recently returned to full-time work and have a 7 month old child. I can only do this
because my partner has taken leave without pay from his job for 5 months in the hope that we
can find a childcare place soon. We are on waiting lists for about 15 childcare centres and have
been told that our chances of getting a place anywhere before January 2015 are slim. This is
going to have a significant impact on our family as it means that my partner and I will have to
either take more leave without pay or change to part-time work in order to care for our child. It
will impact on both of our career advancement opportunities as well as our combined family
income.
All of the friends that I have spoken to with young children in Melbourne have had similar
difficulty in finding childcare places. I don't know if it is a simple matter of not enough child
care places to meet the demand, but it seems to be a widespread issue that has significant
impacts on families as well as businesses. I know that the childcare rebates were introduced to
increase the affordability of childcare so that more people would return to work, but this was
done without ensuring there were sufficient childcare centres to support the increasing demand
for places as a result of the rebate. More government investment / subsidies are urgently
needed to encourage more child care centres to open / more people to get the appropriate
training to address the shortage in childcare places.
I am lucky enough that I can afford to consider getting a private nanny to look after my child
in the short-term if required, however I am concerned about the lack of regulation /
information on these services, eg regarding contracts, insurance, education standards etc.
Overall, I think that something needs to be done urgently to address the lack of adequate
childcare places and I hope that this inquiry is able to make some sensible recommendations
about how best to do this.
4. I am considering a job that involves shift work and potentially working away from home for
short periods. because my children are 12 and 14 they are technically invisible for this
commission. I will still need to access care for evening and o/night when they are alone but
will be forced to pay for a nanny (which will cost excessive amounts of money). My children
are independent before and after school (quite responsibly) but I do not plan on leaving them
alone once dark falls at night. I would love to see childcare in any form to be tax deductable or
a set amount paid per child (after providing receipts to ATO). Regardless of how much
income you earn, a minimum amount should be available to families to make their own
decisions. I can choose to take a job earning twice as much and pay more tax to the Gov, or
elect to remain in the job I am in and pay less tax......
I love the idea of an au pair or nanny from o/seas who can provide some care - maybe an
overseas student who comes with a working arrangement that benefits both myself, the Gov
and them???
5. My wife works full time in child care in Brisbane. She had 10 years experience in ESF
kindergartens in Hong Kong and after 2 years here she has Cert 3 and is currently doing her
diploma. Her C&K centre has just promoted her to a Group Leader position due to her very
good performance in her work. My wife is 45 years old and her hourly rate is around $21 per
hour. And by the way she is fluent in English, Cantonese, Mandarin and speaks a little
Japanese, these language skills are very helpful in her job. Our 18 year old daughter has just
finished Year 12 and does some casual work at KFC and her rate is around $15 per hour! This
comparison of rates is really an insult to the experience, qualifications and dedicated hard work
that my wife brings to her work at the C&K Centre. Child care won't be able to attract and
retain enough high quality staff with these appalling rates of pay!
6. I would like to discuss current HOME DAY CARE System. This HOME DAY CARE system
is very easy to corrupt and exploit by Care workers and child owner (family).
Childcare Certificate III is available to buy without study a single word or sentence for some
caregiver who doesn't read or write or speak English. Parents just bought this Childcare
Certificate III and exchange or swap their children each other. While some parents I know
have a job other than childcare, they still can claim tax payer money as home daycare worker
every two weeks. This is the fact that going on with this home daycare system. I have witness
who fraudulently exploit public money. This liberal government must have away to find a
solution to this. Some childcare agencies and enterprises give them a tips when the council
inspector will inspect them at their home so they can ready and pretend like childcare worker.
When some parents know other parents are making a lot of money with their children, they
take away their children from caregiver to exchange with other parent who got similar number
of children and will to swap with their children. When the caregivers don't want to transfer the
children , some parent (children owner) get angry, and had badly argument with them. This
Home Daycare system is causing problem, corruption and exploitation and fraudulent dealing
with childcare agency and Childcare Training provider without proper oversight system in
place by former Labor government.
This problem is very common in Somalia, Sudan and other small ethnic communities
Northern and Eastern , Western Melbourne.
in
This is a serious problem the government must find a way to solve this wasteful and corrupted
spend of tax payer money.
I even want police would investigate this corruption and fraudulents.
When parents can buy their Childcare Certificate III and exchange their children with other,
they tell Centrelink, buy some safety gear for their plugs at their home , this system become
Open season for this parents. I can identify more than 50 families are doing this Home
Daycare business, just to get public money without proper qualification for children.
The way public money spend on this way is absurd, where is accountability , who oversight
this system, Are they actually working? How can they buy Certificate III in childcare and First
Aid Certificate? This Childcare Agencies I know are run by African Australian. There must be
away to solve this problem.
7. Accessibility and affordability seem to be the biggest issues for the clients I work with. Even
with subsidies child care can be a burden on people living on limited incomes. In the regional
area that I work within there are limited options for childcare in some of the towns and what is
available is only between 9 - 5 which is not useful for clients working outside of these times.
8. I work two days and would like to work an extra day per week but am finding it hard to find a
spot in a child care centre or find a nanny to look after my child 1 or 2 days per week. I rely
on family help on the days that I work but that’s not always very flexible. Both family
members are seniors with health issues and have other activities which sometimes fall on the
days that I work, financial assistance for seniors would also help greatly. Because I live in an
area close to the city centre there are very few childcare spots as most people that work in the
city take up any places that are available. Priority should be given to people who live in the
local area. It would also help if employers accommodated child minding facilities into their
planning. I would also like to see better community links to families in the local area willing to
assist with child care.
9. Childcare and after school care are just not affordable for us and i have heard many other
professional women complain about how much of their salaries are spent on expensive
childcare and after school care. I dont believe the current costs encourage professionals to
return to work however when i was a single parent it was affordable. This isnt right. I think it
should be affordable for all families so that every parent can afford to return to work, either
full time or part time. Stop penalising parents for being professionals as we worked very hard
to get our qualifications and its a shame to not be able to afford to use them!
10. my daughter recently turned 1 & I was due to return to work. we moved states when baby was
5 mths old & I put her name down on waiting lists in our new area. Was advised that the wait
was 18 mths - that's right - would have had to get on a waiting list when I was 3 mths pregnant.
ridiculous! in the end we had to use a nanny 2 days a week & hubby has one day off a week.
there are no rebates for us, and we pay more than a day we would in a childcare centre! this
should be a tax deduction for us as there are no other options apart from not returning to work.
also - I hope the enquiry looks into who makes up the bulk of kids at childcare centre - as use
of them is cheapest (in an out of pocket sense) for those in the community who do not work.
priority for places should be for working mothers or students.
11. I am writing to the Productivity Commission into Childcare and Early Learning on behalf of an
integrated financial and farm consultancy business based in Swan Hill, Victoria. While the
business has been established for more than a half century in Swan Hill, we also operate from
a number of regional locations across Victoria and South Australia.
We feel it is important to express to the Commission our concerns regarding the shortage of
available childcare services within the Swan Hill area.
We have a strong regional connection and dedication towards growing thriving communities.
We are currently in an expansion phase to double our business size over the next year, and to
do this we need to attract over fifty professionals to relocate to the area.
As a business, we are continually challenged by the fact that potential professionals cannot
access childcare services and are required to wait a minimum of 3 to 6 months for a place
within one of the few facilities located in Swan Hill. This fact alone is a huge deterrent for
working parents who wish to relocate to the area.
For regional towns to continue to thrive and grow we need to ensure our region can provide
high quality, flexible childcare services for the working community. Without these essential
services, our ability, and the region’s ability to attract and retain talented employees will never
be fulfilled.
12. Should be mandatory that every child from birth be visited (in home or at a clinic) . At present
this is only if and when child goes to preschool or ???
In N Z if one refused the Plunket Nurse, the public Health Nurse would call and could not be
refused.
There needs to be this check.
13. There has been a 23% increase in babies born in the ACT from 2012. All services, including
childcare, has not caught up with this demand. Securing a spot for my son, even though I put
his name down on waiting lists when I was 5 months pregnant, was near impossible. I didnt
even want a place until he was 12 months, so I was on waiting lists 1.5 years in advance of
needing a place. I was offered only 1 place (out of a possible 10 I put his name down at) and
forced to accept it (even though it was not my preferred childcare). Yes it is also an expensive
option - 2 days a week costs us $285 a fortnight, after the CCB. The centre is providing good
care, but they don’t have much time for their administration.
14. It seems to me that the problems in childcare nowadays are the same as those when I was using
long day care and before and after school care when my children were young (eldest is now
27): not enough of it and very expensive.
Childcare should not be de-regulated. Childcare workers should be paid more.
Lack of affordable, accessible childcare is the biggest single barrier to women returning to the
workforce.
You want to boost workplace participation and productivity by women? Affordable,
professional, accessible and properly regulated childcare services are the key.
15. I know of a childcare worker who recently left the industry to work in retail, as she was able to
earn more to support her family. This woman is both educated and skilled in her field, with
nearly 20 years experience, yet the recognition of the work that she does is not present in
society, nor is it propagated by the Government. I do not have statistics to back me up, but I
believe that prevention is always cheaper than fixing the problems that occur later. Our
children need the best start in life, and our society and the country need us to be doing as much
as we can to support their growth and development. Rarely is childcare actually just care any
more - it really is early learning.
16. Childcare centers are limited and so are the availability for spots. I live and work in Randwick
and didn’t get a childcare place in this suburb even though i put their name down when they
were few weeks old. My older son is starting school next week and all his time in childcare
was a one in Matraville.
Randwick has four childcare places given priority for UNSW student and staff. One centre in
the hospital priority for their staff .two preschools. both of them take children in from 3 years
of age. Few more small centres which around.
KU in Randwick is a community preschool open from 9-3 and long days are 8 to 4. Compare
to the other centres their fees are reasonable but the time and the days are given either 3 days
or 2 days slots no kid can go full 5 days. This arrangement does not work for a working
parent.
I believe the daily childcare fees are over the top. The availability and amount of the centers
run are not enough. As a working mum this is very hard on my family. Childcare is the only
option of care for the kids as a migrant here and those a lot like me.
I wish the government will include preschool (from age 3) as a part of primary school and
parent who wish for before care and aftercare pay as normal for that service. This will avoid a
lot of hardship parents trying to find a care for their kids while they continue with working.
And also when the kids are ready for kindergarten they are already familiar with the school
and the teachers. As kindergarten is when they start learning and they don't have to have the
anxiety of going to a new environment.
17. My partner and I are expecting our first child in April and I plan on returning to work four
days a week in April 2015. We have been surprised to find that waiting lists for child care
centres in our area are generally two years and that to even get on a waiting list we are often
expected to pay a $50 fee and tour the centre all before our child is even born. The tour times
are also often during work hours and as we both work full time it is difficult to get the time to
even get on the two year waiting lists. We have also been told we need to call the centres every
few months to continue to register our interest. This all seems like a lot of effort for both
parents and childcare centres over very long lead times.
18. My Wife and I are about to have our first child in the ACT. In order to potentially have a spot
in a child care facility we have to put our child (still 4 months away) down on waitlist. Some
of these waitlist change a $100 fee just to get your childs name on the list. But this 'fee' does
not give have any service attached or guarantee a position for you child. We are still required
to ‘contact the centre monthly, to tell them we are still interested in a spot, or our names will
be dropped off the list’.
Additionally, due to the limited positions in ACT child care the price is extensively highly on
average then the rest of the country. This means that when factoring in the government rebate,
our wages and the price of child care, both my wife and i will be working a one day a week
each where we earn $30 dollar. For both of us, we would prefer to stay at home with our child
rather then put them in day care for this amount.
However, we both also fear that taking this time off to spend with our child would
significantly limit our career opportunities at work. This is largely because of the stigma that
still exists around having children.
19. childcare, like the education system, should be free and available to all. early childhood
learning should be built and encouraged to directing the child into learning to learn, giving the
child the yearning for learning. showing a child what can happen with learning and how to
start going about it.
20. Needs to be more affordable and accessible. Why don't we look at options of having more
facilities located in areas where people work as oppose to just locally. That would reduced the
hours children remain in childcare and improve productivity as parents would not have to rush
to get home before the centre closes.
For major corporations there should be an incentive for them to include a childcare centre
service to staff in the building.
It seems ridiculous that after registering my child at 12 weeks - I am unable to find a full time
place in my local area. The places available in the CDB are too expensive.
We could also look at including schools in the initiative. Older children could be cared for at
school facilities - reducing the need for older children to be in child care facilities improving
access to places.
21. Working parents should be entitled to free or heavily subsidised daycare services the same way
those on welfare payments are for working or studying. It is unfair to disadvantage those
intending to return to the workforce by forcing them to use large portions of their earnings for
daycare. I am due in June and my biggest concern returning to work next year is whether or
not there really is any benefit in me returning to work after daycare is taken out of my pay. It is
almost more beneficial for me to cease work, go on a parenting payment then to continue to
develop my career. The government is encouraging second and third generations of parents
who do not work and in doing so is showing children this is an acceptable way of living which
it really is not. Its disappointing.
22. My husband and I provide regular unpaid weekly childcare and occasional/emergency
childcare for two grandchildren, sons of our daughters who are both students - one a widow
and one a single mother. Your issues paper does not take account of this provision of
childcare, yet without it neither of our daughters could either or study or work. They cannot
access sufficient childcare to cover their needs, and if a child is sick they need a backup.
Many of our friends also provide regular childcare support for their grandchildren. It is an
imposition on our busy lives but without us our children [and our grandchildren] could not
reach their potential.
23. I have a 6 month old daughter and am facing return to work in the next 6 weeks. As a
permanent firefighter I am a shift worker. My roster is an 8 day rolling roster so though I can
tell which days and nights I am working for the next 10 years they are different days and
nights every week.
Therefore, regular childcare where I have to nominate a day each week is not an option. After
months of research into what sort of care is available for our family I have decided a nanny is
the only way to go forward.
The only childcare reimbursement I am aware of that I can claim is 66 cents per hour for a
nanny who must be registered with centrelink. At an average pay rate of $25/hour, I will be
paying my nanny around $400/week for an average of 16hrs work. My ‘assistance’ from the
government toward this weekly childcare expenditure will be $10.56. Hmmm, maybe enough
to pay for half a tin of formula for the bub?
Shift workers like me NEED flexible childcare arrangements and assistance in order to feel
comfortable and able returning to work. Barring this Australia faces the loss of a lot of women
from the workforce, which can only be detrimental to society as a whole.
24. I live in regional Victoria- Kyneton- but a mere 1 hour from Melbourne's CBD.
There is one convenient childcare centre in Kyneton that I could take my 18 month old son to,
however, I wasn't happy with the overall approach to my husband and I, or our our son, to be
satisfied in leaving him there. Rather, my husband resigned from his job, and is now a full-
time father.
Great news for my son, not so great for the economy, and lucky for us that we can afford this
course of action (just). As well as the loss of tax input from my husband's wage, we are now
also drawing parenting payments and family tax benefits for which we weren't previously
eligible.
Care near my workplace in Melbourne has an 18 month plus waiting list. This is simply not
acceptable. While I added my unborn baby to such a list, it blew-out to 2 years as I waited. I
forgot to return a letter advising I wished to remain on the list and have now lost my place.
Adequate, accessible and good quality child care is a much, much bigger issue to the
productivity of women and families than parental and maternity leave.
25. I am on the Committee of Dowerin Community Childcare and we are in the process of opening
a new centre. We have raised over $60000 (over 2yrs of hard work by a small
committee/community) but still find that there is too much red tape to try and get through.
As much assistance for small communities would be greatly appreciated.
Major issues include;
- funding (endless fundraising)
- lack of support to get set up
- flexibility with hours of operation
26. My daughter is a primary school teacher. She has two boys 10 and 7. She pays $600 per
fortnight for before and after school care - so she can keep her job. And this stops her from
being able to afford to put a deposit on a home. She is 35 and husband 37. Both work and
cannot afford to purchase a home. Rent is $550 per week and the property does not even have
a decent kitchen. I find this situation outrageous to be frank.
27. I am currently going through the process of securing child care for my child, who isn't even
born yet! (due May 2014).
Despite over 12 months notice I am consistently being told that my request for care from
March/April 2105 is unlikely to be successful and I will either need to have my child in care
from January 2015, or pay from January until my child commences in care to hold the place.
I have no intention of my child going into care from January as I have enough parental leave
to cover me until March, and I think 6 months is too young to put my child in care. Sadly it
looks like I will either have to do so, or take longer leave from my workpace which I do not
want to, nor can afford to do.
If this government is really committed to helping working mothers they need to allow more
flexibility in child care, particularly in when places are available outside of the start of the
calendar year. This is really only suitable to parents of child returning to care, not parents of
children starting care for the first time after the mother/father has finished their parental leave.
28. Please consider my comments for the current enquiry into Childcare and Early Childhood
Learning. As a mother of 5, I would first like to say that I find the scope of the enquiry
somewhat demeaning to stay-at-home mothers with its explicit focus on ‘increased
participation in the workforce, particularly for women’. This sentiment clearly does not
appreciate the extra value that stay-at-home mothers provide to their children and the
consequent long-term advantages to our economy. I have worked full time (night shifts) and
part time for most of my time as a mother and know well the stress this can cause for mother,
father and child.
In order to offer real choice to mothers, the benefits from choosing to stay-at-home or enter or
remain in the paid workforce should be matched. But this will not be the case if the
government introduces its ‘paid parental leave scheme’. This will financially favour paid-work
so much more than caring for one’s own children that it will effectively remove this choice
from very many mothers.
In the interests of enhancing choice, please recommend to not progress with this scheme or
introduce comparative increases to Family Tax Benefit Part B to match the value of each.
29. I am writing regarding the enquiry’s remit to make recommendations on the current and future
need for childcare in Australia with regard to the rebates and subsidies available for each type
of care.
I believe there is a need to remove or match the government subsidies which favour mothers in
the paid workforce rather than unpaid mothers who look after their own children. Their work
in nurturing their children has far more benefit to our society in the long-term but is not valued
and even actively discouraged by the current government’s policies.
The most distorting of these government policies is the proposed ‘paid parental leave scheme’.
I hope that you will recommend that it be scrapped.
30. I have 15 month old twins and live in Sydney's Inner West. Accessing two places in a nursery
has been IMPOSSIBLE. We've waited for 20 months (from 12-16 weeks pregnant) to hear
back from many, many Child Care Centre waitlists, sent emails, phonecalls, letters, forms, paid
expensive non-refundable waitlist fees (without even a courtesy update on progress), centre
visits. There is no preference given to parents of multiple births to access care - in fact we are
absolutely discriminated against as centres will open a spot and fill it with a singleton. The
current system of lists, begging and cost is shameful and disrespectful to hardworking parents
eager to balance child rearing with productive work. The concept of correctly managed and
fair waitlists seems to be a concept only. Only once a year is there even a hope of higher
numbers of nursery places opening - heaven help those of us who's pregnancies and the periods
of time we could afford to be on Parental Leave were not timed to coincide with the school
year! So many countries manage to deliver affordable care in a timely manner to their citizens
so their men and women can return to the workforce and children are cared for in wonderful
paedagogical environments, surely Australians deserve this too.
31. Thought I'd make a submission to share alternative points of view
* I am unable to secure a placement for my child despite being on a waiting list since I found
out I was expecting (21 months and counting), and I cannot get any form of guidance on
how much longer I will be waiting, which means I will most likely need to quit my job
because I can't give my employer any concrete commitment as to when I will be available
to return
* Centres are inconsistent in their advice and waitlist updates. Some people say to call, some
say to email as they review placements weekly, others suggest visiting often. If the
squeaky wheel gets the oil, why bother with a waitlist at all. Waitlisting needs to be more
formalised (eg. with transparency over numbers, and considerable application fees only
refundable if the child is enrolled) to stop everyone applying at every centre and creating
artificial demand
* There is nowhere near enough capacity in my local area (eg. 180 applicants for 8 places) at
one centre. Due to the demand in my local area, I will need to take whatever care becomes
available to me (if ever), regardless of the quality or price. So ratings of the service have
no bearing in my selection process - it is driven solely by availability
* I have wanted a placement on a part time basis since my daughter was 6 weeks old due to
post-natal depression. She is now almost a year old and I still hold no hope of getting a
placement any time within the next year, so I feel like I'm trapped and my life has no
purpose as I'm not enjoying raising my daughter but can't return to work or get regular time
away from her
* The majority of places at my local centre go to disadvantaged groups, with the balance
taken up by children with siblings already at the centre
* Even if I could afford childcare without the need for government rebates, I still couldn't get
a placement if I wanted one
* I hire a private baby sitter on a semi-regular basis, but it is at least double the cost of the
most expensive childcare. I believe that the lack of availability in my area is fuelling a
cash economy and leaves me liable to a number of risks, not limited to theft and injury
claims, and puts my daughter at risk of not being cared for by someone qualified
* Many of the nannies that apply to assist me place their children in day care, receive rebates
and welfare payments and want to work for me for cash in hand so it doesn't affect their
government benefits.
* Any childcare rebates should be supplied through the parent's payroll, like the paid parental
leave scheme, although I believe that rebates only inflate the demand for the services from
those who wouldn't normally be able to afford them and should be scrapped altogether
32. After 35 years of working in the ECEC industry I am saddened to see costs rise, training
decrease and these factors exclude many disadvantaged children. My views on how to reduce
costs and maintain quality are in no particular order:
# Provide more practical pre-service training on how to be inclusive for disadvantaged
children
# Decrease the admin requirements for Directors which have become excessive and
unnecessary and allow them more time to teach
# Encourage staff to reduce enormous cost of resources when so many can be simply made
in the service
# Provide more choice for parents eg Nannies have a role to play for some families
# Reduce the excessive management structures of some peak providers that then make their
services unaffordable without any increase in standard
# Ensure that Govt money that is allocated for specific use eg disadvantaged children, be
then used for that purpose
# Review the compliance focus ACEQUA has to a fairer system which does not
disadvantage different cultural groups with different cultural values
# Consider making Cultural Awareness training compulsory in pre-service study not the
elective choice it is.
# Provide training in how to run a budget as many Directors have no idea of how to organise
the finances.
33. I am the grandfather of 3 pre-school grandchildren and thus have their future interests at heart.
My daughter is a stay at home mom and I am against any prejudice which will be detrimental to
the benefits she may or may not receive from the Federal or State governments.
34. Availability of childcare services
I have not used long day care child care services since 2003. I experienced a number of
frustrations at that time which I wrote to several ministers and academics about. Some
improvements have been made regarding my concerns since then but after a quick search of the
internet and a scan of the issues paper, some issues still appear to be outstanding. I had two major
issues with the operation of long day care:
* the reluctance of not for profit centres to re sell additional casual days to children already
attending the centre
I was the treasurer at my son’s non profit centre and had a huge issue with the unwillingness of
the staff to make unused days available on a casual basis. They would resell the days for a cash
price (no rebate applicable) but the permanent child was still charged the full fee. Consequently,
parents were not motivated to notify the centre when they knew they would not be using the
place – during holidays or when the child was ill for a period. Therefore, days were rarely
available to resell as the absence would not be notified until the day of absence itself. I think the
way the government benefit was paid at the time contributed to the inflexibility here, although
my son attended some profit making centres that seemed to have no problem re selling unused
days (due to child's illness or the family being on holidays).
Personally, I think that the non profit centres don't like reselling, because it gives the staff an
'easy day' every now and then. The profit making centres are more motivated to resell because
the admin staff (usually the owners) have an interest in the income earned by the centre.
I am not sure whether the vacancies listed on the my child website cover casual vacancies or only
existing permanent place – I found I could only look at the current week and not weeks into the
future. However, when people are trying to cover a day for a period of time (say your informal
carer is going on holiday etc) being able to see vacancies several months ahead would be helpful
In addition to people being able to fill gaps in their regular care, the nature of work is changing
and people work in more flexible ways – the centres need to be able to match this in order by not
requiring that people pay for care that they don’t need or want, and this will free up days to resell
to people who do want them (see further below). For example, you might need to go on a trip for
work and work more hours than you usually would one week, and then the following week you
will have time off in lieu.
An internet booking system similar to the accommodation websites could work well to fill both
single days and blocks of days. The centres would advise vacancies to an onseller who manages
a website and matches the demand to the vacant places. The centre would charge the parent
removing the child a small fee if the day was resold (but not charge them the normal daily fee –
giving the parent an incentive to notify the absence as far ahead as possible) and use some of the
removal fee to pay the onselling service if they onsold the day.
* the operation of waiting lists and the lack of ability to ‘hold’ permanent places
Centres seem to operate on the basis that if you have a permanent place, you must continually
pay for that place in order to keep it, and your child must attend regularly (the funding rules at
that time would mean the funding would stop if the child did not attend).
This policy results in people leaving their children in long day care etc, when they don't actually
want or need them to be there, merely to maintain the place. While on maternity leave with
subsequent children, people are forced to pay to keep the older child in care so that the place will
be available when they want to return to work and also, so that they will maintain sibling priority
access for their newborn.
This is not a fun thing for parents to have to do. Surely no-one wants to have to keep taking (and
paying for!) a 4 year old and a 2 year old to childcare for 9 months for 3 days a week from
February to September, just so that their places will be there when the mother returns to work in
October. It would be far more efficient for the 4 year old to be in preschool some of this time,
but because of this inflexibility they are taking up a long day care place.
Parents ought to be able to reserve existing places for their children during periods when their
children don’t need to be in care. They could pay a nominal fee to do this – say $10 per week
(something needs to be paid so people won't choose this option unless they are certain they will
be returning their child to the centre). The centre could then offer a fixed term place to another
parent during this period. This may be what someone needs to enable them to return to work mid
year while they are waiting for their own permanent place to become available in the new year.
If parents thought that they could demand that their place be reserved (for say, periods of absence
of 3 months or more), I would think this would free up thousands of places TOMORROW. For
periods up to 3 months, the parent could try and resell these days. The 3 month threshold would
give the centre a usable amount of time to sell and would mean their income would not be
constantly fluctuating every time a child was going to be absent for a month etc.
35. The cost of before/after school fees have influenced me to take my child out of care early in
primary school when I was working full-time.
Every year, my before/after school centre would increase their prices but as an employee in the
workplace, I did not get an increase in my wage. If I got a tax break, the before/after school took
that money. So the tax break did not do anything for me!
Now I have a second child who is 1.5 yrs old, and work part-time. I am trying to take as long as I
can before I have no choice but to put my baby in childcare. (This would mean that I have to live
poor for a while.) One of my sisters who is available, currently assists me while I work part time,
but this arrangement is not forever!
My local childcare centre currently charges $98 per day full price. With the CCR it is $49 per
day. A local family day care place charges $70 per day. With the CCR it is $35 per day. The
difference in these two types of childcare places is obviously price, the operating hours and when
an educator is sick or the centre is closed for the family day care.
I recommend that all child care centre's be the same price across the board, as well as family day
care places. Also when children are sick or on holidays, I think parents should be entitled to no
charge and get credits for sick and holidays taken. As a parent I would send my sick child to
childcare even if my child was sick because I have to pay for the day, sick or not. Also not a lot
of parents have the luxury of staying at home just because their child is sick. Some can't afford
time off, or don't have family support or be able to take time off due to work commitments.
My husband has to work two jobs so that we could afford our mortgage, living expenses and
other liabilities. My family is only now entitled to a little bit of CCB since about 10 yrs ago, but
only because I am working part-time. Even at this, things are not cheap. I watch where every
dollar goes.
My question also is why does things need to be based on gross income? People don't get gross
income in their banks. Everyone pays tax unless they are on really low income. For example; a
person who earns $100 k per year would be paying between $20-30 k in tax, so that person
would get to spend say $75 k during a year not $100 k.
Do nannies provide CCB & CCR to parents? Their prices should be fixed also across the board. I
have not considered nannies as I have heard they are more expensive than childcare centres.
In summary, the childcare system needs a definite review and to have a realistic approach to how
to better the system. I believe the government is out of touch with the everyday Australians.
Government of Australia pull your head out of the sand and don't assume how things are or work
For most of us Aussie's times are getting hard NOT EASIER!
36. Having formerly lived in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, I moved to Melbourne because it was
extremely difficult to find affordable child care for a child under 2 years of age. I would have had
to put my child's name down at many centres a 12 months prior to conceiving in order to get my
daughter a place. The fact that I have had to move interstate has also affected my employment
prospects, and I do not want to become a burden on the welfare system. With such poor
availability and excessive child care costs, there just isn't enough of an incentive for working
mothers to return to work.
37. Hi There, Just wanted to comment on the shortage of childcare in the Hobsons Bay Area. Will
have had bubs on 4 wait lists for a year when we need care & have already been told we haven't
got a place for next year. I would love to stay home with bubs but can't afford too. What am I
supposed to do????
38. I'm a single mother.
I have a four year old. As much as I receive CCB for my son's childcare, I still struggle to pay
$550 per month.
I'm a nurse, and it's difficult to comply within the pick-up Times of my child too. If I work from
1-9:30pm, I would have to ask friends to retrieve him for me. Otherwise if friends are not
available, I would have to decline the shift.
I have been declined Jet program, but even so, how could I complete a course when my son
needs me to pick him up?
I receive $9.35 per week from my sons father through Child Support.
I feel really left and abandoned by the entire system.
I'm sure I'm not the only single mother feeling this pain.
Its very stressful and difficult to
39. Kids are the future Pillars for the Nation. I don’t understand why Australian Government is
MEANS tested for Parents and calculate CCB. I don’t thing it is FAIR process. It is government
responsibly to provide job for Every citizen. It don’t mean HARD person /family gets more hits
or penalised in terms Financially and Emotionally. I strongly recommend Government should
think about this matter.
40. I have applied for child care in 3 nearby child care centres in Phillip suburb of Canberra for my
daughter 1 year ago. I have been waiting for more than 1 year now, still did not get a position.
This pathetic situation needs to improve ASAP.
41. I have been struggling to find child care for my son who is 18mths with multiple foods allergies
and intolerances. The positions in long day care centres continue to be full although we have had
his name down for up to 15mths. Twice he has been offered a position in a family day care
Centre. The first time he was there for 2 days and the second time he didn't get past the initial
introduction before the educators said they didn't feel comfortable talking him.
I am desperate to return to work for financial and career reasons and although my work is
flexible, with the lack of available childcare options for children with allergies, my capacity to
work has been extremely limited. This has put immense pressure on our family.
42. We have a 15 month old baby who we intend to put into child car in a couple of months however
there are three major barriers
- Cost of care is outrageously high even after rebate. At our level of income we still be out of
pocket by $ 10 000 per annum
Finding a spot for a baby under age 2 is very very difficult and we are left at the mercy of the
day care centres to update us when they have a spot available. I got a response from a very
prestigious child care centre in Nedlands where I work and was advised that I was waitlisted at
no 52 in the general category and prior to that there are already 90 waiting on the staff /students
category ? How ridiculous is that because I would prefer to have my child located at a day care
centre nearby to my workplace so that I can attend to her if required.
- I don't think that the significant costs and quality of day care make sense for us to invest in
that aspect at this stage however this greatly impacts our quality of life as my wife can only
evaluate self employment options from home.
I would recommend that the government undertake the following steps to make care more
affordable
- Address the need for more day care centres and spots especially under the age of 2
- Permit the migration of overseas nannies under a specific visa similar to the 457 to alleviate
the needs of mothers and provide them the right support. Note that these visas should only be
renewable based on an agreement by the sponsors/parents to support the nanny
- Not sure what's pushing up the costs of day care but this needs a significant investigation and
remedial measures. I do not agree with media hype that salaries are only low , there are
probably a number of other reasons which need to be addressed.
Also I think the number of spots for parent migration should be increased as grandparents
(especially of migrant families) play a very important role in grandchildren’s lives and that itself
could alleviate the need for more day care centres. These visas can be visitor visas with some
benefits around being able to obtain cheaper insurance and do not need to be permanent however
they should be long stay visas upto years similar to the US of A
43. Hello. I have a one year old and was looking at putting her into care one day a week so I can
work but very where I have been in the area of Altona, Altona nth or Altona meadows has a
waiting list of up to 2 years. We really need more centres opening up to cater For the amount of
children in the area
44. I have an 11 month old boy & I have been back at work for 6 months now, and I still have not got
Jack into child care. I live in Darlinghurst and the waiting list for all the centres around here are
12 to 18 months, with no guarantee of placement. It is crazy that I can not find a placement for
my son! I have to share a nanny w a neighbour who luckily was in he same predicament I was in.
But is is extremely costly & we do not get any tax benefits. My partner works in far nth QLD &
only returns every 2nd weekend, so the stress I am under is enormous. Having to worry about
child are on top is really very upsetting.
45. I would like to return to work and study and will be doing so next year when both of my children
are in primary school. I don't know how I'm going to manage paying for before and after school
care for the times I need to, as I will have more expenses than ever, and no additional money
coming in. I can't find a job until I secure childcare. But I can't afford to pay for childcare
without a job. I don't get any assistance for studying as a mature aged student who's been out of
the workforce since I was made redundant while on maternity leave, so I've been confronted with
barriers all the way to being able to get back into the workforce. We've been barely keeping
afloat as luckily my husband has a job. However, I am unable to find any work that fits around
picking up and dropping off children to school and kindergarten. Childcare would make this
much easier, but I simply cannot afford to pay for childcare unless I secure a good, well paying
job with flexibility for when my children can't attend. It is very difficult to be a parent when you
have no friends or family to share the care nearby and childcare is financially out of reach.
46. My daughter is 19 months old, I applied for child care when I was pregnant with her & still
waiting a placement. I am limited as to what centre I could apply for as I work in health care so
need to be able to drop my daughter off @ 630am. As a result I am only able to work casual
when my husband or my mother can baby sit.
47. I am a mother of 3 children living in West Ryde. NSW. My husband and I earn $120k together
and find the affordability a major factor with the child cares services. The cap rebate of $7500 has
not risen yet my fees have increased and we are provided the same service - no additional
opening/closing hours, meals are not fine dining quality and there has been a large number of
staff leaving the centre. The fees without the rebate for 0-2 are $118.00, once I reach the CCR
cap I will have to pay the full fee for a few months and we can not afford it. Paying more fees
does not mean a better service or premises.
48. The notion of parents bringing up their own children is certainly no world first!
Finally though it has gained government APPROVAL by acknowledging it and providing
parents with an option and ‘payment’ to do so.
I hope that it is widely accepted and that the family unit, ( both values and sense of belonging)
once again becomes the focus for parents rather than putting their child's name down for
childcare.
Surely community, neighbourhoods and local services will again become valuable as families
spend time within their local environment.
49. I would LOVE to say I am able to access Child Care Services! Even that would be wonderful!
My son is Severely Autistic and attends a special school in Southern Tasmania. Every holiday
period we wait to hear if COSMOS of CBS have received any funding to provide a ‘HIGH
NEEDS’ Vacation Care Program for our kids and most holiday periods we are left high and dry
with no Vacation Care Programs and no support so that we can continue working. So for some of
us we cannot plan for and we cannot work during holiday periods because we have NO options
other than staying at home to look after our child(ren). We would be HAPPY to pay CCB rates
and be able to access a service, ANYTHING, but everytime we get either NOTHING or limited
access due to no funding or only access to a limited program! We have the facility available to us
at Southern Support School, we have the organisations ready to run this service and have done so
on a ‘trial’ basis' in the past so we dont get our hopes up. We have written reports time and time
again through advocacy services and 40 families just in the south, who can actually get their
children to the School themselves, wait to see if we are going to have a program from term to
term. We just need you to step up and include HIGH NEEDS Vacation Care and appropriate
funding and to ensure this is a part of your considerations in regard to the support structures that
need to be in place for our kids. We only want what every other parent in Australia takes for
granted as their God given right! Total discrimination! We can't work or keep good jobs because
we cannot access care. We need to do this in order to support our child with a severe disability
ourselves and not rely on government handouts (that dont even cover the basics), in order to have
a good and complete life like every other child in Australia. We are happy to contribute and
work and pay taxes and CCB rates in order to do so, but we dont have this as even an option...
How does that even make sense to you? Time for Tasmania to have a HIGH NEEDS Vacation
Care Program like other children are able to access... Especially when all is in place to do so..
50. More childcare places/centres are needed to meet the demand especially in Canberra! I currently
will be only able to go back to work when my partners mother can look after our son as I have
not yet being offered a place (and doesn't appear that I am moving very far up the list at all)
51. I think the child care rebate amount should be available for stay-at-home parents, as these people
have made the greatest financial sacrifice to look after their children.
It really shouldn't be the case that support is received only if you ask another person to look after
your child. The government is sending the wrong message.
52. My grandson [name] is in regular child care and I am concerned about the quality of child care he
receives, in particular staff attention to his health and wellbeing, where he has had several falls
and minor injuries and staff have failed his mother or his grandmother when this occurred and
how this occurred. Quality standards for early childhood care need to enhanced and enforced to
ensure the wellbeing of all children. .
53. As a single & childless person I find the whole childcare debate to be yet another discriminatory
situation where many parents, yet again, have their hands out for another government cash splash.
Perspective parents really need to do their sums in relation to the financial burden having children
entails. If you can't afford to have them in a stand alone situation and are not well organised
enough financially or otherwise, then I believe you should not have them. This is the reason I
have not had children. Also I believe the qualification for support needs to be tightened up
drastically. People really need to accept more responsibility for their choices and not expect the
public purse to continually pick up the tab.
54. I am terrified for our future my grand daughter and I, we don’t have family or friends to support
us and so I am reliant on the welfare given by government. Its not that I oppose work, but in
many areas like [location] VIC and other rural and semi rural areas.. there is simply not enough
childcare available. My granddaughter for her own safety and b/c of her issues has to be driven
15mins to school out of town.. As it is a small school the local childcare that just opened up a
couple months ago that could do it wont as there are simply not enough to justify the morning
drive. They want to make me a cleaner, that wouldn’t be so bad but that means travelling out of
town by car + private childcare + the $50 I pay per week to drive my grand daughter to and from
school.. it will end up costing me to work. As my granddaughter has a host of issues, not
everyone can cope with her. Single parents in particular need help, we help from early childhood
services to assist us in diagnosing problems, to drive our kids to school and to be open late at a
lower cost depending on our wages.. The rural areas often suck at catering to single parents and
carers of small children and if sole parents and carers of small children are not given a break of
some sort.. especially in rural areas, I think it would be safe to expect an influx of other related
issues.
55. If you cut off or don't water the roots, the whole plant/tree dies……no use giving paid parental
leave if there is no excellent child-care available…my Uni lecturer daughter had to forgo working
after starting a family for these reasons, as did my early-childhood educator daughter after she
started HER family…you must be out of touch not to realise this :) ..so your priorities MUST be
to support the return to work of already qualified people unable to work because of inadequate
child-care availability BEFORE you support more people to earn money while they take leave
from a job they will never be able to return to for the same reasons. It is not rocket science :)
56. I am a retired early childhood teacher lucky enough to have been part of the implementation of
the recommendations of the results of the AEDI conducted in WA over years. The 15 hours of
Kindergarten came from the results that showed developmental delays in preschoolers across 5
domains.
Please please do not allow this progressive policy to cease. Early years education delivered by
qualified teachers builds social outcomes far outweighing the costs.
Continue to build strong communities through early education, cost effective and nation building.
57. I have studied, worked in and used early childhood education and care, it has been a part of my
life for 20 years and I am very passionate about.
Recently we have moved to QLD and I have decided to keep my two young children at home and
find a carer to spend time with the children here in my home where I can oversee and ensure the
care of my children whilst I work from home.
We visited several services here in south east QLD and were very disappointed with the state of
he services. To provide an overview:
- 8 babies 2 educators one studying to gain cert III and the other studying diploma, 1 6 week old
baby who attended 5 days a week.
- 24 3-4 year old children with two educators... 2!
- children eating on the floor unsupervised
- school readiness program, As an educated person who has worked in school a school readiness
program is simply the beginning of the process of depleting creativity and imagination from our
children which continues when they attend school.
Quality is a very loose term to use when referring to services, we all interpret what quality is very
differently. We decided that we had the choice in the best interest of our children to not enrol
them into any of these services.
It surprises me that more parents do not question the 'quality' of the environments that they are
leaving their children in. Do they not have a choice... do they not consider the choice, or do the
think that these services are okay?
Who of you reading this would be happy to place their children in these settings? None I am
certain.
All centres should be community based with all profits going back into the services and
generating their own CCB money to provide to families and to pay genuine and interested
educators good money with nice conditions. Incentive should be provided for educators to
maintain their knowledge in current early childhood practices and to meet expectations of the
community board. Its a shame that strangers who run operations that are licenced to provide
education and care for our children who are also worried about profits and maintain regulations
and 'quality' motivate educators some of whom are really only staff and not genuinely interested
but advised by their careers advisor to try childcare... and RTOS who need to complete students
and are strapped by funding to provide adequate training!
I am not sure what is really important... Its a mess and we are all responsible. Government,
RTO's, communities, licensees, educators and parents.
58. This is against what was said before the election so therefore 'your mandate'! You can't build a
stable building without strong foundations. Stop trying to spread the gap between the haves and
have nots. I'm a have and am saying this as I am also an employer and want a vast selection of
educated people to choose from to employ.
59. My grandson requires this.
60. THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO TAKE CONTROL OF THE CHILD CARE SECTOR JUST
LIKE IT HAS THE AGED CARE SECTOR
61. Too much emphasis is placed on getting Mothers back to work. Govt's need this as it benefits
them financially. 1. Children under 3 need a good home and a loving family atmosphere for their
formative years, not stuck in a child care centre all day. 2. Teachers are trained to teach! Child
Carers should have different courses which focuses more on caring. 3. Way too much
documenting and planning to justify our day and what we are doing. We don't have time to have
any quality time with the kids. 4. Staff are disillusioned, and fed up with the administrative
burden. There is not enough time to do all the cleaning, paperwork etc etc every day. They put
down the child:staff ratios but usually 1 person is so busy with the paperwork and cleaning that
there is only ever 1 person looking after the kids. Lets get back to basics and remember why we
are there and what young kids actually need. This would take away a lot of the pressure off staff
and also justify the wage rate. Govt's are trying and trying to make everyone more qualified.
Remember the age group!!
62. I work with a Disability Employment Service provider, Employment Solutions - a division of the
Cerebral Palsy Alliance assisting people with disabilities and other jobseekers to find work since 2002.
Since the introduction of minimum 3 qualification into this sector - I feel this has significantly
prohibited a percentage of candidates who would like to work in the sector but are locked out as
academically they can not manage a C3. Thank you for considering this comment.
63. The best affordable and accessible child care in the grandparents of the children whose
parents need to work will be severely affected by raising the pension age to 70. If you
think child care is difficult now. Wait till this comes into effect. The other problem is of
course recognising that child care workers such as aged care workers need to be paid
better and their skill sets given more respect in the community. Raise the minimum raise
and attract dedicated people to the profession. The IPL has been giving really bad
advice. The budget is a shmozzle and the Abbott government is the worst thing to
happen to our country.
VIC
64. I am shocked at the blatant bias in the recommendations that favour the commercial, for
profit sector by recommending the removal of the payroll tax exemptions for the not for
profit providers.
VIC
The not for profit sector often operates where commercial providers 'fear to tread' in
highly disadvantaged communities with highly complex children and families for
example. The unintended consequence of this recommendation will be the closure of
services in areas of greatest need.
65. Comments on the Productivity Commission Draft Report:
1) Recommendations Relating to Preschool Education
The Productivity Commission’s recommendation that governments maintain preschool
program funding as a priority area is to be commended. However, the removal of
“dedicated preschools” from the scope of the NQF, to be regulated by State and
Territory Governments under relevant education legislation, is of concern.
Here in Queensland, a year of free preschool education was introduced by the State
government in the late 1970’s, and I was employed as a preschool teacher from1980.
Purpose-built units were constructed on school grounds. The oversight of preschool
programs was the responsibility of a Regional Preschool Officer. These programs were
child-centred and play-based similar to those available in kindergartens for three to five
year olds.
Children who turned four before the end of February (later, the end of December of the
previous year) were entitled to twenty-five hours of free preschool education each
fortnight. Teachers in these preschool centres had to an early childhood teaching
qualification similar to kindergarten teachers. Colleges of advanced education provided
preschool education courses which aimed to prepare students to teach children aged from
birth to eight years.
In 1998 the Preschool Curriculum Guidelines were introduced in Queensland.
These were mandatory guidelines for a preschool year that was not compulsory. In
retrospect the publishing of this document paved the way for the abolition of dedicated
preschools, to be replaced by a compulsory prep class for children who turned five by
the end of July (just six months older than the age for entry to preschool).
Prep classes in some schools still occupy the purpose built preschool buildings but many
are in fairly standard school classrooms that look much the same as year one classrooms
did forty years ago. Teachers in these classes are not necessarily early childhood trained,
and the curriculum is subject orientated rather than child-centred.
On recent visits to a prep class (as a grandma helper), I was saddened to see the situation
these young children are expected to endure. They must sit for long periods of time, the
teaching is didactic and the content is inappropriate. My impression is that some children
in that class were learning only that they were failures.
Years of experience and research has taught us what best practice “looks” like in early
childhood education and care. My fear is that by removing “dedicated preschools” from
the scope of NQF and placing them under the regulation of State and Territory
Government education legislation, even younger children will be exposed to
inappropriate practices. And the dedicated efforts of many over the years to ensure best
practice in all early childhood setting will be compromised.
2) Recommendation to Remove Fringe Benefit Concessions to Not-for-Profit ECEC
Services.
The removal of fringe benefit concessions to not-for-profit ECEC services seems
unnecessary. Does increased competition improve the quality of services? Personally, I
don’t think it does. Not-for-profit services have an important role and should be
supported.
QLD
During the time that I have worked as an early intervention teacher I have visited many
early childhood services, here in Queensland and in New Zealand, both commercial
childcare centres and not-for-profit kindergartens, preschools and long day care centres.
The quality of these centres varied from quite good to really awful. Quality regulations
and the introduction of early childhood curricula (Te Whāriki and the EYLF) are
ensuring that the quality of services is improving in both countries.
When considering the recommendations of the Productivity Commission, it seems
important to ensure that they support continuing efforts to improve quality, and to ensure
best practice in all settings dedicated to the care and education of our young children. In
the long term society as a whole will benefit.
66. I'm a Dad and my wife and I would both rather have one of us stay at home to raise our
kids until they're of school age. We have a 2.5yr old son and 5 month old baby.
NSW
It seems that throughout this discussion of childcare solutions there's been little
encouragement or acknowledgement for parents to do this.
Would the government consider some formal incentive for stay-at-home parents? This
might relieve some of the pressure for childcare places and achieve positive social
outcomes for families.
Spending more time with your kids is commonly recommended by family psychologists
like Steve Biddulph but the government is yet to acknowledge this. Is it because the
government wants us all working to drive the economy? Does our government
understand or value individuals choosing to stay at home and raise children themselves?
I'd be interested to hear this topic discussed.
67. I am appalled and distressed at the very idea that perhaps the hidden agenda is to do
away with not for profit care providers in favour of the ever increasing rapacious private
providers
VIC
Surely in a democracy there is room for both sectors
The not for profit sector has served children and families well and must remain tax
exempt to remain viable.
Not for profits rely heavily on volunteers and people of good will who seek not personal
advancement but work for the common good.
68. The draft report didn't address the scammer family day care centres established around
Australia after introduction of CCR. where educators hardly have any English, dodgy
given professional certificates, most of them on disability pension, carer or parenting
payment. These scheme in every state and most educators swap their kids while no real
work done and profit twice from CCB and CCR. if working families went there and
these educators find out the low rate of CCB they will receive they try to charge them
more or don't take the kids leaving real working parents struggling to find another care
providers.
69.
QLD
As I understand it, Indigenous people in our country receive free Pre-School education. NSW
A number of countries in the world provide free education for children from age 4.
Education should be provided for Australian children from the age of 4. This need
only be for 3 days per week but, as it has been proved children should be receiving
education from that age, it should be free to ALL children in our society - either at
Pre-School Centres - or at the Public Infants Schools throughout the country. This
would be fair to all in our communites.
70.
My spouse and I put our son on the waiting lists of five child care centres in north
canberra when my spouse was six weeks pregnent. Now he is eight months old and
we have secured nothing. The shortage of places available will mean that both of us
will need to work part-time.
ACT
Further to this, given the rebate as it is, paying for more than 3 days a week is
unaffordable. We simply can pay that much money, and we both make more than the
average income! How people on low incomes make ends meet beggers belief.
71.
how do you explain a day care centre that does not take eftpos and only cash? and how
do you explain the workers not watching the kid and condone bullying ing the play
ground the and the teachers are around a corner talking shit. how do you condone that
behourour I think you need a restructure of people you run your centres
QLD
72.
Despite the fact that I have over 20 years experience in my field I am working a part
time job at a café. Most positions in my field are full time and finding affordable,
available childcare is next to impossible. I have even turned down management
positions as it simply isn't viable for us as we don't have family close by. I am bored
and frustrated at my current position and would LOVE to work more hours and really
kick start my career again but until I we can afford childcare for our son it simply isn't
going to happen. Its the classic catch 2 situation. If I want to work more I need to put
him in childcare but in order to have the money to put him in childcare I need to work
more. I feel like I cant win
ACT
73.
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.
Vic
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.
74.
Equal pay for women has slipped 1% in a year. Women must have the right to equal
financial retirement rights.
NSW
Please retain gender reporting by businesses.
75.
I unexpectedly had to rerun to work and needed to find care for my 3 yr old. I would
only need 2 half days. I checked with both facilities in bungendore and they can't offer
me any spots. My son now has to go to my parents in belconnen 4 days of the week
and sleeps there 2 nights due to the travel and picking up my other son from school.
This is taking a toll on my whole family just because I can't get any care close by
NSW
76.
If we really believe that "our children are our future" then we should start acting on
that belief by ensuring that childcare and early education professionals are well paid.
Quality improvement in early years services has been on the national agenda for some
time; however, while we may implement various standards, they will not translate into
better services until we treat workers as the skilled professionals they are. With the
strong demand for childcare, we should be encouraging women and men to become
childcare and early education specialists with the best professional education available.
Then, we must encourage these professionals to remain in the sector, which requires
QLD
adequate remuneration and benefits. We will all benefit from improved early years
programs and we will all face the consequences of ignoring this sector.