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| Nanny pilot program
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| Have your say
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Opportunity to comment closes tomorrow
If you want to have your say on how the new in-home care / nanny pilot program is structured then you need to act now. The draft program outline is open for public comment until 5PM tomorrow.
What's it all about?
The recent Productivity Inquiry into child care and early learning highlighted the need for increased flexibility for families and recommended nannies should be part of the mainstream child care system.
On 28 April 2015, the Australian Government announced the introduction of a "Nanny Pilot Program" to assist families who are having difficulties accessing child care services when working non-standard hours, studying or living in remote areas. The program will run over 24 months from January 2016 and aims to form the future of in-home care. It's estimated to engage around 4,000 nannies and 10,000 children.
The Nanny Pilot Program, administered by the Department of Social Services (DSS), will extend fee assistance to child care delivered in the home by nannies, with the intention that more families will be able to get back to or stay in work.
The program aims particularly to address the child care problems faced by families who need more flexible and accessible care, particularly if they are experiencing difficulty due to non-standard working hours, living in remote or rural areas, and other access issues, such as the need for multiple care types for their children.
The Nanny Pilot Program aims to provide eligibility to a broader range of families who meet work, training, or study requirements to access a nanny, with a focus on prioritising parents who work non-standard hours and are unable to access mainstream child care due to their family circumstances.
Eligibility
Families are invited to participate in this program and must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Must earn a combined annual household income of less than $250,000. Families on incomes above $250,000 will not be eligible for subsidies under the Nanny Pilot Program.
- Both parents are required to be engaged in work, training, or study for a minimum of eight hours per fortnight. This also includes reasonable travel time.
- At least one parent/guardian must be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident.
- Children in receipt of care must be dependents and under the age of 13 years old.
- All child care subsidies and support from 1 January 2016 will remain linked to immunisation requirements that will be strengthened under the government's 'no jab, no pay' policy. Children must have received all vaccines required for their age as per the immunisation schedule. The only exemption to this policy will be on medical grounds.
NB. Families must be willing to participate in the Nanny Pilot Program and assist with minimal data and information gathering activities. Families must also agree to their information being shared with the third party engaged to deliver the program on DSS's behalf, as well as the organisation engaged to conduct the evaluation of the program.
What is the subsidy?
Australian Government funding will be provided over a two-year period through fee subsidies for families associated with engaging a nanny.
The subsidies will be paid directly to service providers (nanny/child care agencies) who will then pass them onto the families, in arrears.
The subsidy will be paid to the service providers selected, who will receive two types of payments:
- An administrative fee, paid quarterly in advance, which is 5 per cent of the subsidy paid to the service provider.
- A subsidy payment on behalf of the eligible families paid in arrears.
It will be a proportion of the fixed hourly fee of $7.00 per hour per child, for up to a maximum of 50 hours of care per week.
The subsidy on behalf of eligible families will be based on the family's income: Families earning up to $60,000 per year will receive a maximum of 85 per cent (of the fixed hourly fee of $7.00), and the level of subsidy will taper to 50 per cent for families earning $165,000 per year.
The Draft Nanny Pilot Program Guidelines are now available for public comment until 5pm AEST, Thursday, 23 July 2015.
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Please note that these draft guidelines are provided for the purposes of public comment only, are subject to change and should not be relied upon as the basis for any decision to take action, or not take action, on any matter that the draft guidelines cover, especially in relation to participation in any future program.
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