Coogee is among the top 10 suburbs in the country with the most expensive childcare fees but local parents can expect some relief during the Greater Sydney lockdown, following the announcement of a waiver from the federal government.
The Federal Government confirmed that beginning Monday, 19 July, families staying at home and not using childcare services should not be charged the gap fees but could still receive their childcare subsidies.
Despite the lockdown, childcare centres have been allowed to open, especially for essential workers. However, many parents have chosen to keep their children safely at home while the COVID-19 situation continues to impact Sydney.
Highlights
- The Federal Government waived the gap in childcare fees for parents during the lockdown.
- However, childcare centres in affluent suburbs said they rely on the gap fees to stay afloat during this crisis.
- Coogee residents pay the 7th highest childcare fees in the country.
Gap fees are the amount families pay for childcare services that are not covered by the government’s Child Care Subsidy (CCS). With the waiver in effect, families will still have their children enrolled at the centres even if they have not been using the service for weeks.
“When gap-fees are waived, families will not have to pay any out-of-pocket costs for those days that their children are at home during the current stay at home period,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement.
The statistic shows that 216,000 families stand to benefit from this initiative. However, the Education Department has no data on how many of the 3,634 centres across Greater Sydney will be waiving fees.
Whilst the waiver has been good news for parents, Chiang Lim of the Australian Childcare Alliance NSW said that some services in Sydney’s most affluent suburbs heavily rely on payment from the parents to remain open. Thus, their operational costs will be more dependent on the gap fees and, if waived, they will not be able to pay for staff wages, rent and other obligations. One operator said that they did not agree with the Federal Government’s decision.
It comes as a survey from KinderCare showed that Coogee families spend $159.36 a day for childcare services, the seventh most expensive childcare cost in Australia.
The waiver will be re-assessed after 30 July 2021 whilst the Australian Childcare Alliance NSW gathers more data from childcare services.
