Child care hope but confusion remains
MORE than half of Geelong’s childcare centres could become financially unviable and be forced to close amid the coronavirus pandemic, educators fear.
But some hope was sparked yesterday with the Prime Minister’s announcement that around one million families would receive free child care during the coronavirus pandemic.
Mitchell Street Early Learning Centre director Kerry Lenoble said the COVID-19 outbreak had led to a 50 per cent drop in numbers at the Belmont centre and other sites.
Ms Lenoble welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement but maintained there was still a lack of clarity around what that would mean for providers.
“It is definitely a win for families, but is it a win for the industry? We don’t know,” Ms Lenoble said.
The educator of 27 years said the centre had been “left in the dark” and had already cut staff member hours as families pulled their children out of centres due to increasing economic uncertainty and health concerns.
Ms Lenoble said centres did not know how the new package would be administered.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced that from Sunday night care would be free, with the existing rebate and subsidy system switched off for at least three months.
Under the Early Childhood Education and Care Relief Package plan, the Government will pay half the sector’s fee revenue up to existing hourly caps, based on their operations before parents started withdrawing their children.
The Government has also heeded calls from childcare services to waive gap fees for families who keep their children at home.
The childcare sector is also expected to receive more than $1 billion in wage subsidy payments through the Government’s $130 billion JobKeeper scheme.
“Relief is on its way for around a million Australian families and thousands of early learning educators and carers,” Mr Morrison said.
“These services are vital for so many parents so they can provide for their family, and children need as much familiarity and continuity as we can help provide at this unsettling time.
“Priority will be given to working parents, vulnerable and disadvantaged children that need early education more than ever and parents with pre-existing enrolments.”
Meanwhile, Norlane childcare centre Kids World Geelong has seen enrolments and revenue drop by 60 per cent during the past fortnight, forcing it to stand down 14 staff members.
Husband and wife owners Karen and Kieran Armstrong said they understood the Government’s actions to help stop the spread of COVID-19, but were desperate for more clarity around how they could support staff and keep their business from collapsing.
“My wife and I took over this centre in February last year,” Mr Armstrong said.
“There were pretty much no children here, so we built it up and worked really hard to a point where we’ve had about 110, 120 children in every day.
“Then along came the coronavirus, and we dropped.
“Today we’ve got about 35 children. It’s just killing us.”