Nurses, farmers, police, emergency service employees and other parents who are struggling to match their work hours with conventional childcare options are invited to participate in the Australian Government’s new Nanny Pilot Programme from early 2016.
Minister for Education and Training Senator Simon Birmingham said the pilot will provide subsidised care for about 10,000 children around Australia over the next two years.
“Tens of thousands of Australian families are already utilising nannies and au pairs because the standard hours offered by the current system do not meet their out-of-hours needs or, in the case of rural and remote families, they cannot access a child care centre.
“Extensive consultation, including the Productivity Commission’s Inquiry into child care and early childhood learning in Australia, identified strong support amongst families for flexible care options like nannies.
“The $246 million Nanny Pilot Programme is the first part of our Jobs for Families package and will help us develop future policy for care provided in the family home.
“The Australian Government is investing almost $40 billion in child care over the next four years, including an extra $3.5 billion into the Jobs for Families package to make child care simpler, more affordable and more flexible for families.
“Our Jobs for Families child care package, including the Nanny Pilot Programme, will encourage an estimated 240,000 families to increase their involvement in paid work, including almost 38,000 jobless families.
“This policy will assist parents to make the career choice that suits them and their family, encouraging them into the workforce and, in turn, increase Australia’s productivity.”
Families are eligible for the Nanny Pilot Programme if they earn less than $250,000, both parents (or in the case of a sole parent family, the sole parent) work, train or study at least eight hours a fortnight, and at least one parent is an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
Family applications close 30 October 2015. Families can apply for the Nanny Pilot Programme at: www.dss.gov.au/nannypilot
Applications for service providers to deliver the Nanny Pilot Programme on behalf of the Australian Government opened on 10 September and close on 22 October 2015.
Service providers will need to demonstrate their capacity and competency to successfully deliver the pilot programme across a large region or a whole state or territory, and have at least two years’ experience in child care or community service delivery.
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