Blog - Australian Childcare Alliance

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On 30 March 2020 the Federal Government announced the introduction of the JobKeeper Payment package, which aims to provide businesses significantly impacted by the Coronavirus outbreak with access to a subsidy from the Government, so that they can continue paying their employees. This assistance aims to help businesses to keep people in their jobs and re-start when the crisis is over. For employees, this means they can keep their job and earn an income – even if their hours have been cut.

An amount of $1,500 per eligible employee (before PAYG tax) can be claimed each fortnight from 30 March 2020 to at most 30 September 2020 (ie a maximum of 6 months).

PLEASE NOTE: The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has updated their website to include the JobKeeper Payment here.
The ATO has also extended the time to enrol for the initial JobKeeper periods, from 30 April 2020 until 31 May 2020. If you enrol by 31 May you will still be able to claim for the fortnights in April and May, provided you meet all the eligibility requirements for each of those fortnights. This includes having paid your employees by the appropriate date for each fortnight.

A. Which employers are eligible?

Any employer whose business has a turnover of less than $1 billion and their turnover will be reduced by more than 30% relative to a comparable period a year ago (of at least a month); or
Any employer whose business has a turnover of $1 billion or more and their turnover will be reduced by more than 50% relative to a comparable period a year ago (of at least a month); and
The business is not subject to the Major Bank Levy.

Guidance 1

Safe Work Australia (SWA) has produced specific guidance for the early learning sector about managing the risks of the Coronavirus to ensure the health and safety of their workers and others at the workplace. This includes specific advice for the sector on physical distancing measures available here.

We highly recommend you read the guidance here and apply these measures.

Additionally the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), chaired by the Australian Chief Medical Officer, provided the following advice for early childhood education services on 3 April 2020:

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If you have any staff, children or children's parents/guardians who have been instructed to self-isolate, it's important that they understand what this means.

The purpose of self-isolation is to protect the rest of the community from the potential spread of the Coronavirus, so it's not just a matter of staying away from the early learning centre - people who are self-isolating are also required to stay away from other public areas too, including the gym, the supermarket, etc.

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