Free childcare set to end by July but parents may be promised cheaper fees for the rest of the year
- In April the federal government temporarily made child care free due to COVID
- The policy gives most centres about half usual income as well as JobKeeper
- It is due to run out on June 28 and government is considering the next stage
The government is considering scrapping free child care in July but increasing subsidies to keep it cheaper than before coronavirus.
In April the federal government temporarily made child care free, guaranteeing services their taxpayer subsidies at late-February levels as long as they do not charge parents.
The policy gives most centres about half their usual income, plus any JobKeeper wage subsidy they might be eligible for.
The government is considering scrapping free child care in July but increasing subsidies to keep it cheaper than before coronavirus. Pictured: A centre in Helensburgh, south of Sydney
This system is due to end on June 28 and the government will announce on Friday how the new system will look.
According to The West Australian, the government is considering asking parents to pay once more but increasing subsidies so their childcare is cheaper than before coronavirus.
Education Minister Dan Tehan said ‘a decision will be made soon’.
Early Childhood Australia has suggested the government should guarantee two days a week of free care to all children under school age on a permanent basis.
Asked about that plan last month, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government’s intention had always been to return to the mixed subsidy and parental payment arrangements that were in place before the pandemic.
‘Suspending the normal payment arrangements and subsidy arrangements… that is not a sustainable model for how the childcare sector should work, and nor was it intended to be,’ he told reporters.
Education Minister Dan Tehan (pictured) said ‘a decision will be made soon’