After-school sector wants free care extended over winter holidays
by Jordan BakerThe biggest out-of-school-hours care operators want the federal government to extend its free care package to cover the winter holidays, saying there was uncertainty over how many families would still need their services despite students being back in class full-time.
While schools in NSW and many around the country resumed face-to-face teaching this week, the sector fears some parents will no longer use after-school care because they are working from home, and those who have reduced income will no longer be able to afford it.
Providers operate under the Commonwealth's Child Care Subsidy (CCS) scheme and have been included in the federal government's relief package guaranteeing 50 per cent of the centres' funding until the end of June.
The package succeeded in keeping centres open when school attendance fell to as low as five per cent due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, and provided free care to those families who did need after-hours support.
But it is due to finish at the end of July, just as holidays begin in many states and the cost of providing care jumps due to the long hours required during vacation care - up to 12 hours a day - and increased need for casual staff.
Sinead Ryan, executive director of Junior Adventures Group - which has joined a coalition of five major providers - acknowledged the sector should transition back to the old funding model, but called on the government to ensure it was managed slowly.
She also called for the full relief package to be extended to late July to cover the holidays, and for the safety net increased from 50 per cent to 75 per cent of revenue over that period, as the cost would jump but demand for the services was still unclear.
"[COVID-19] has changed the dynamics of pepole's working environment," Ms Ryan said.
"Underemployment and working from home will have an impact."
Ms Ryan also called on the government to extend financial support to vulnerable families.
The National Out of School Hours Services Association agrees the sector will need extra support to offer vacation care over the break - either a continuation of free care with a higher safety net payment, or extra support for families if the system switches back to the Commonwealth's scheme.
After the holidays, it would also like to see changes to the CCS system such as ensuring vulnerable families have free care, and abolishing the work eligibility test as many people will have lost their jobs but still need care, said association chair Kylie Brannelly.
"CCS was designed around a thriving economy with high levels of workforce engagement," she said. "Now we find ourselves in an environment where there is significant unemployment, so we are asking for consideration for how the sector will be supported, and families will be supported."
In Western Australia, where schools reopened two weeks earlier, attendance at out-of-school services was at 90 per cent of pre-coronavirus rates. However, that may drop when free care finishes.
A spokesman for federal Education Minister, Dan Tehan, said the government was continuing to review the package to ensure it helped parents get back to work and ensured children's wellbeing.