Two of Gunnedah's child care service operators say free care from today is good news for families.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
From April 6, services can no longer charge fees and the federal government says it will make up the loss by paying operators 50 per cent of the government subsidy they previously received per hour, per child.
When the government announced the change last week, it said the Jobkeeper scheme would make up for any losses the operators would experience, which was met with concern by Mary Ranken Child Care's Cherie Ison and Gunnedah Family Day Care's Kerry Patterson.
But Gunnedah's other two child care operators - Goodstart Early Learning and Li'l Achievers - think that is a feasible way forward in the short-term.
Read also:
Owners of Li'l Achievers', Richard and Brooke Patriquin, said "at this stage we are sitting fine" because the the government relief package will bring in revenue, and the Jobkeeper payments will cover staff wages.
But long-term they will have to "wait and see".
"Moving forward, it's going to be interesting. We'll be able to keep the doors open, that's for sure. The government is really helping with payments," Mr Patriquin said.
"The main thing is that we can keep all staff on. That was our biggest concern."
Numbers of children attending the centre have dropped by more than 50 per cent in recent weeks but 25 out of 29 staff are still actively working and enrolments are steady.
"We're so grateful our families have supported us through all this. They haven't pulled their children out. They've been waiting. They have said, 'We want you to stay open and we will continue paying fees if it will help you out'," Mrs Patriquin said.
"We're just staying positive and taking each day as it comes."
It is a great move for our families and means kids still have access to early childhood education and care.
- Jade Brumby, Goodstart Early Learning director
Centre director Linda Gallagher said families were "so grateful" the centre was still open and had even offered to donate essential items if the staff had trouble sourcing them.
"There's a new appreciation for childcare workers and what they do," she said.
"[The new child care system] is great for parents because they were paying big fees but they need our service because we're a long day service. Shift workers can't get care unless they come to long day care."
Mrs Gallagher said there was also a silver lining for staff because quieter days meant staff could catch up on paperwork, up-skill and work on new programs.
Over in Bloomfield Street, Goodstart director Jade Brumby is hopeful the new system will draw families back to its centre.
"We have lost enrolments because people have lost work and are uncertain of the time they will be out of work," she said.
"We're hoping now that initiative is out, we will have families that felt the need to unenrol, to enrol again and continue on."
The centre is licensed for 66 places per day but about two-thirds are not turning up at the moment.
However, since the government announced free childcare, Goodstart has been "inundated with emails and questions".
"It is a great move for our families and means kids still have access to early childhood education and care throughout the situation we're all facing and we'll hopefully come out the other side still open," Ms Brumby said.
Out of the 18 educators, all permanent staff have maintained their working hours, but Ms Brumby is unsure whether they will be able to access Jobkeeper payments.
Goodstart being a national service provider, Ms Brumby said the new rules would affect the centres in a different way to smaller operators, but how remains to be seen.
Regardless, she feels the new system is "a great lifeline for centres that have lost significant enrolments" because the alternative is "potentially families leaving all together because they're paying for places they can't utilise".