As all early learning services would be acutely aware, the government's new Child Care Subsidy (CCS) has now replaced the previous system (Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate).
The new system has meant enormous changes for the early learning sector, with service providers having to adjust to new regulation, a new reporting system to government, a new IT system, electronic sign in for parents at many services and a whole new process for families.
The CCS also means that some families will be better off with a smaller "out of pocket" fee, while others will be worse off, depending on their family income and family activities.
With about 1.2 million Australian children in early learning environments, the new Child Care Subsidy is the most significant change in up to 40 years.
The Australian Childcare Alliance is very interested to find out how service providers have been affected by the new CCS and report these findings back to the Federal Government and relevant Shadow Ministers, with a view to engage with them about:
- how to improve the new system from a practical, operational sense; and
- how to improve the new system to reflect that all children count and that all families should have access to a base level of affordable, high quality early learning services.
We would greatly appreciate your feedback on this very important issue.
The survey should only take you a few minutes to complete and does not require any personal information that reveals your identity.
Service providers can access the survey here.