EXCERPTS:
TONY Abbott's Coalition has promised the childcare industry it will not fund nannies unless they are as qualified as those who work in centres.
Opposition childcare spokeswoman Sussan Ley said yesterday education would be key to the Opposition Leader's pledge that the Productivity Commission be asked to assess whether the childcare rebate should be extended to nannies.
The Australian reported yesterday the peak childcare industry group warning that extending the 50 per cent rebate with a cap of $7500 to nannies would put "children at risk" and place them "well behind their peers by the time they go to school" .
"Nannies have no childcare qualifications. The nannies course available in Australia is a baby-sitting course and falls significantly short of the standard set in long-day care centres where carers are university-trained and have ongoing intensive training and all-day supervision," says the paper prepared by The Australian Childcare Alliance, which represents 70 per cent of the long-day childcare sector.Ms Ley says the paper, prepared by the alliance in response to the debate triggered by Mr Abbott, made "some good points", but the industry had to realise the lengths parents were forced to go to secure childcare.
"One of the main objections to in-home care seems to be that it is 'just babysitting' but the Coalition has made it clear we would not support a taxpayer-funded benefit for this type of care unless there was an accredited early learning component included," she said.
"It's high time for a reality check. Childcare costs are increasing and parents are putting their children in backyard care."
She cited an example of a family commuting to Sydney from the NSW south coast and paying someone in their street $75 a day to mind their three children.
"Every day, more and more children are falling out of safe, accredited care and into arrangements with people that are wide open to risk and certainly have no early learning," Ms Ley said.
"It is this government's one-size-fits-all approach to childcare which is pushing up fees and pushing more and more parents towards unregulated or so-called backyard care.
"Flexibility, the cost and type of care are exactly the issues we want the Productivity Commission to consider . . . Managing children a mortgage and two jobs are some of the most stressful and challenging times for families. I am determined that we actually get this right."
-reprinted from the Australian