Iman Alomari is a casual teacher, but when schools closed last term, so did her source of income.
It is now school holidays and she’s not sure how much work she’ll have next term, but she does have to start paying her daughter’s childcare again as fees return on Monday.
“It is definitely a hard time for us, as living off one income is quite stressful and bringing in fees, the full payments of whatever her childcare payments are, is an incredible amount,” she told SBS News.
“It is just that feeling of not knowing what is going to happen, is there going to be work, or what is going to happen with childcare fees?”
Iman is looking to cut two-year-old Nord’s childcare hours at Uniting's Dove Cottage in Bankstown, Sydney, to save money, but that also means she will not be available for last-minute shifts.
Early Childhood Australia CEO Samantha Page said stories of financial distress are worrying childcare managers, as they need to maintain 75 per cent occupancy to make money under the transition program that starts on Monday.
Two-year-old Nora attends a childcare centre in Bankstown twice a week. Source: Lucy Murray
“It is very difficult to predict right at the moment, while childcare is free, what the demand will be when fees are put back into place,” Ms Page said.
“We recently surveyed some services and more than half were concerned that families were going to reduce their hours or withdraw children altogether.”
in response to families rapidly withdrawing children as COVID-19 lockdown orders came into place.
Under the scheme, the government paid early childhood services 50 per cent of their pre-pandemic government subsidies, plus JobKeeper allowances.
Averil Flint from Angel Babies in Parramatta said the program was desperately needed at the time.
“I think for childcare as a whole, we really needed that package because all the children were leaving, we were down to five enrolments a day and we were looking at closure,” she said.
Averil Flint runs the Angel group of childcare centres in Parramatta. Source: Lucy Murray
“The downside was when they announced it was going to free, everyone wanted to come back, but we weren’t financially viable to take all the children back.
“In one of the centres I was only getting $440 a day but I had 12 babies that needed to come in.”
Ms Flint had to let go of half of her staff as they were not eligible for JobKeeper.
“Half of my workforce weren’t eligible for JobKeeper because they were migrant workers, so I lost half of my staff, and it only covered about 25 hours of my staff wages anyway,” she said.
Childcare centres run by some charities such as the Uniting Church
Uniting NSW was not eligible for the JobKeeper payment. Source: Lucy Murray
“We had some very significant concerns about our ongoing viability,” said Uniting’s service development lead Melisa Giles.
“We did talk to staff about taking some leave and we did, unfortunately, have to stand down some of our admin staff.”
Both centres are cautiously optimistic about the new system that comes into effect on Monday. It will see the payment halved to 25 per cent of the pre-pandemic government subsidy, but parents will start paying fees again.
The 25 per cent payment will continue until the end of September in place of JobKeeper, which will end for the sector on 20 July.
“The new system will be better for us, we are getting 100 per cent of our revenue back in, but losing JobKeeper will be difficult because we are back to paying full staff, full wages will be back out again, so it is just finding that balance,” Ms Flint said.
Ms Giles is worried children from vulnerable families will be left behind.
Melisa Giles works for Uniting Early Learning. Source: Lucy Murray
“We welcome the changes as that means we can keep our doors open,” she said.
“Early education should be equitable for all children … we welcome the transition period, but it is not equitable for some families.”
Sharna Dennis's first child, Wolfe, is almost two. She says she is hoping to go back to work.
“I come from a retail background, I do have a lot of experience, but there is not that much work out there,” she said.
Wolfe started in childcare during the free period and Ms Dennis is hoping he can continue two days a week while she looks for a job.
Shana Dennis says it is tough to find work in the current climate. Source: Lucy Murray
“During the week you need to be available and we don’t have family around that can take him, so it is hard to be able to say 'I can come in anytime',” she said.
“We are going to see how it works with our finances and see if it is do-able because it might take me a while to get work and regular work.”
For families that are working less, or not at all, the government has suspended the activity test until October.
In a statement, Education Minister Dan Tehan said: “These families will receive up to 100 hours per fortnight of subsidised care during this period”.
"This will assist families to return to the level of work, study or training they were undertaking before COVID-19.”
Some relief has been given to families living in metropolitan Melbourne that are currently under lockdown, with free sessional kindergarten available for term three.
