Dear all,

My understanding is that our government has NOT made any real changes in the CCS scheme to deal with the COVID-19 situation. Under current Child Care Subsidy system each child has 42 allowable absences per financial year without any documentation required, this includes public holidays. Once these allowable absences have been exhausted a medical certificate will be required to be eligible for further CCS payments. If no, parents need to pay full childcare fee if still absences, but based on current situation we have left several choices, and I summarise their pros and cons:

1)      Keep sending kids to childcare.

·       Parents: receive CCS to support childcare, but suffer from anxieties and have to pray for their kids to be safe from infection.

·       Kids: happy in the childcare, but risky to virus (without knowing anything about it).

·       Government: keep supporting CCS, but the commonwealth is risky to pay much much more than CCS in case our kids are infected by virus.

·       Childcare staff: vulnerable to virus infection

·       Medical system: potential large burdens with more infected people

 

2)      Stop sending kids to childcare, but pay full childcare fee (at over $110 per day)

·       Parents: over-burden with the childcare fee (at full rate, without CCS).

·       Government: no loss, but benefit from paying less CCS

·       Childcare centre: no loss

·       Medical system: no loss, but reduced risk for spreading virus.

 

3)       If parents cannot afford full rate (option 2), then they may have to withdraw the childcare service

·       Parents: not paying any childcare fees, but lost opportunity to resend their kids to childcare after the pandemic (because the long queue)

·       Government: lost the childcare industry (maybe temporarily), so lost tax from this industry

·       Childcare staff: some may lost their income or even job (temporarily).

·       Medical system: no loss, probably less burden

 

4)      Kids stay home (if their parents prefer), but government keep paying CCS until the end of pandemic, and then kids back to childcare after the pandemic:

a.       Parents: happy, affordable.

b.       Government: no loss, just like no pandemic. Keep paying CCS but can receive tax from the industry related to Childcare industry (because we keep paying).

c.       Society: no loss, but reduced risk to spread virus.

d.       Childcare centres: no loss,

e.       Childcare staff: happy because of less duties but the same income (because we can keep paying).

f.        Medical system: no loss, no burden.

We would like to do this petition that request government choose the last choice.