COVID-19: Avoiding the impending clawback of Child Care Subsidies

The Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) NSW has written to the Federal Minister for Education (the Hon Alan Tudge MP) asking for his and his Department's assistance and intervention to avoid an impending unfair and damaging clawback of Child Care Subsidies during the current and extended lockdowns and restrictions in NSW.

This clawback of Child Care Subsidies arises primarily from Section 200B of A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999.

Having now experienced 9 weeks of lockdowns and restrictions across Greater Sydney (including the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour), NSW-based early childhood education and care (ECEC) services are extremely anxious of the consequences of when:

• children continue to be absent at the end of their fourteenth week (ending 1 October 2021) (due to the NSW Government’s stay-at-home messages); and
• children’s enrolments are terminated before their fourteenth week of absences and they do not physically attend their last day (due to the NSW Government’s stay-at-home messages),

ACA NSW has estimated that between $31m and $503m could be clawed back from over 2,000 long daycare services in the coming weeks. This may equate to at least $14,801 to $233,114 that may be retrieved from each ECEC service.

ACA NSW is asking ECEC services to urgently register their concerns via the survey form below so that it can communicate effectively with the Federal Government.

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Should you require any further information or clarification, please contact the ACA NSW team on 1300 556 330 or nsw@childcarealliance.org.au.

PUBLISHED: 27 AUGUST 2021