Childcare centres reeling

CHILDCARE centres are threatening to slash the number of children they care for by more than half to stay afloat during the pandemic.

The Morrison Government on Thursday announced it would temporarily replace the childcare subsidy with free childcare for parents who need it. Under the scheme, childcare centres will receive payments from the Government but can’t charge parents anything.

Centres will receive 50 per cent of their fee revenue before the pandemic struck.

But some wealthier centres claim the payment is not enough to remain open.

Lachlan Walker, from Timber Tots Child Care in Brisbane, said he had to reduce hours of staff and slash the number of children attending the centre. He described the situation as “diabolic”.

“Families have offered to pay the gap but if the centre charges parents then we aren’t given the subsidy,” he said. “We have had to limit our service to bare bones, which flies in the face of what we believe in. Scott Morrison’s announcement takes us back to being babysitters.”

The Government said centres that lost money due to a reduction in fees would qualify for JobKeeper payments.

Childcare centre owner Nora Timpano said she was unsure whether the Wollongong centre she part-owns would be able to operate after the pandemic.

She said the centre, which charges more than $100 a day, would lose thousands of dollars a week under the new funding model.

“Our parents are rapt they are getting it for free but we don’t know what we are going to do,” she said.

“It will be questionable whether we will stay open after the pandemic.”

Labor’s childcare spokeswoman Amanda Rishworth said the new model had “unintended consequences.”

“The Government must work with all providers to ensure that the arrangements put in place enable centres to keep their doors open, both during and after the crisis,” she said.