Free childcare extension until 12th July 2020
Dear Families,
Please see the recent announcement by the Minister for Education, Dan Tehan, about free childcare being extended until the 12th July 2020. This means for Vacation Care (June/July School Holidays), childcare (parent gap) will continue to be at no cost to families. For more information on this announcement please click on: https://ministers.dese.gov.au/tehan/return-child-care-subsidy
Based on availability of staff who are able to work over the June/July Holiday period, Wilston Kids Care can only offer 120 places per day. This is because double the amount of staff are required to cover an 11.5 hour day from 6.30am to 6.00 pm. Normally we take no more than 120 students on normal vacation care days and 100 students on days there is an excursion. If we can take more on the day, please check the My Family Lounge app to see if there are additional days available (green on calendar).
If parents require a position, please make sure you book in asap, to ensure you do not miss out. The Priority of Access Guidelines must be used by approved services to allocate available childcare places where there are more families requiring care than places available.
When filling vacant places, a service must fill them according to the following priorities:
Priority 1 – a child at risk of serious abuse or neglect
Priority 2 – a child of a single parent who satisfies, or of parents who both satisfy, the work, training, study test
Priority 3 – any other child.
Within these main Priority categories, priority should also be given to children in:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families
families which include a disabled person
families which include an individual whose adjusted taxable income does not exceed the lower income threshold of $43,727 or who or whose partner is on income support
families from a non-English speaking background
socially isolated families
single parent families.
Relaxing the Activity Test
The CCS activity test requirements will be eased for 12 weeks from 13 July 2020 to 4 October 2020 for families impacted by COVID-19, who can no longer access the same number of hours as before. During this period, impacted families will be able to access up to 100 hours per fortnight of subsidised care. This will assist families to return to the level of work, study or training they were doing before the COVID-19 crisis, or to do more than before. From 13 July 2020, families will need to update their activity levels to access the 100 hours. This can be done in their Centrelink online account through myGov or the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app.
If you have any further questions about this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us for assistance.
Kind Regards
Raeleen Wren General Manager and Nominated Supervisor Wilston Kids Care (Wilston State School P&C Association)
Phone: 33526753 Mobile: 0432 283 325 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wilstonkidscare Email: wkc.generalmanager@wilstonpandc.org.au Website: http://www.wilstonpandc.org.au/