Child care rebate, feeling concerned...

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In theory people are generally better off provided fees don't rise too much. but the problem with a REBATE is that you get it back at tax time. for alot of people it is nice to have lumpsum at tax, but not very helpful in meeting the day to day costs of living.

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it comes out quarterly, not annually

it's not ideal, but the logistics of arranging this weekly would be horrific from a processing standpoint. Child Care Providers only put in usage statements once a month to once a quarter - they only claim THEIR share of the child care benefit at that time. if it were changed to weekly for the half of usage fees, it would add extra processing for child care centres, FAO staff - and ultimately, it will hit the hip pocket of the consumer

i agree, there may need to be more places - but it's consumer driven and is, essentially, a private company - so if a business owner would prefer to increase fees rather than build another centre, the government can't do much about it. yes, centrelink/FAO help fund through CCB and rebate, and they will only do that for companies that have met a set of guidelines - but ultimately, child care is a private business, not a government run organisation, so they can't dictate what places go where.

Beatrix, the rebate is in place to help those that really have no choice. it's a way of encouraging those mothers that can return to the workforce to do exactly that. they may have no choice BUT to use child care, where a SAHP does. i can understand wanting to have some respite, and for some, to allow their child to socialise with someone other than mum and dad, but it's more of a want than a need (psychologically, it may feel like a need from the parents perspective, but i hope you can see where i'm coming from)

Its cool Bg i totally understand that..

It will actaully prob free up mor spaces for parents who need the care cause the SAHM will pull there kids out

The only reason Im bummed is cause i Have a good for nothign ex who isnt very consistant with taking th kids so it is my time off IYKWIM

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Beatrix, the rebate is in place to help those that really have no choice. it's a way of encouraging those mothers that can return to the workforce to do exactly that. they may have no choice BUT to use child care, where a SAHP does. i can understand wanting to have some respite, and for some, to allow their child to socialise with someone other than mum and dad, but it's more of a want than a need (psychologically, it may feel like a need from the parents perspective, but i hope you can see where i'm coming from)

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I think SAHM should be entitled to it. If you are a single parent looking after 3 kids under the age of 4 (like beatrix) that is a full time job in itself. Mums that work get time away from constantly having to deal with their kids ( even though they are working).
Single mums on the pension desperately need money and im guessing would love to work, but could you imagine paying for 3 kids to attend daycare full time, on a single wage?

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I think SAHM should be entitled to it. If you are a single parent looking after 3 kids under the age of 4 (like beatrix) that is a full time job in itself. Mums that work get time away from constantly having to deal with their kids ( even though they are working).
Single mums on the pension desperately need money and im guessing would love to work, but could you imagine paying for 3 kids to attend daycare full time, on a single wage?

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not arguing that psychologically a single parent will benefit - or any SAHP for that matter - by having a break from their children - was just stating how it has been implemented. it wasn't an opinion, just a fact! i have no doubt sometimes we all just need "me" time - even if it's just to do the household chores without constant interruption.... there are other exceptions to qualify for the rebate (ie child with disability etc)

You can also qualify if you volunteer 15hrs a week.

Im lucky cause i am active at my local kindy and am a consultant online so I have spoken to centrelink and they said as long as i keep a record of my activities and its a average of 15hrs a week i am eligable

yeah, volunteering falls under the work/study/training test. as long as you have a record of it and can back up your claims if it's disputed, you're fine...

My sister has taken her son out of the ABC center he was attending when her fee's jumped from $43 to $77 a day. She is a single mum & can't afford that.
She was interviewed for the paper as well about it, she kicked up a massive stink about it & called lots of people .

there has been a massive uproar about fee hikes with the start of the financial year by that particular child care group. i honestly can't see how they can justify that - $10 a day, yeah sure, with the increase of costs to everything - but not $34 a day - that's just crap!

I heard that ABC upped their fees. That's just ridiculous! Nina's daycare fees are $51 a day, and they have no intention of increasing those in the near future either.

BG, the director at the boys' centre told me that they now have to submit their statements weekly as well, and that they will be paid the CCB in arrears not advance. Think of the extra work for them, and surely that will only encourage ccs to put their fees up. Sometimes the implications of things aren't really thought through. I'm really glad we are at a centre where it's not just about money!!

i hadn't heard that they were now expecting weekly processing of usage - it's a PITA for those centres that arent linked via a network to the child care processing teams as they will have to generate statements, forward them across, and then have the processing team upload the information to the system. it's always been a case of the CCB being paid in arrears - this is just adding extra pressure to them all. they're effectively going to have to commit at least one person for at least one day a week (or equivalent) just to process it all. i feel for the providers genuinely trying to be there for the families, not the bottom dollar - i'm guessing the small providers (so your community types, not your ABC's) would make little to no profit from child care...

This is going to be way OT, but I don't think many people realise the amount of admin work that goes into cc. Not just running the centre, but programming, preparing activities, cleaning etc. Most centres expect carers to do this in their own time. Our centre uses extra staff in the rooms so the group leaders can do all their programming, prep etc in work time and therefore they are more committed to it and they do a huge variety of activities, themes etc. They also update a journal for each child with photos, developmental updates, artwork etc. This must take so much time - in J's room there are 47 kids across all the days and 22 in T's room. I look at the boys' journals every few weeks and they are so amazing. Imagine how much time that must take the carers to update for every child!!

there is a hell of a lot of admin for sure MR - which is why i can understand the costs being more than what an in home carer might charge - and there IS a justification for some of the expense - but an increase of 80% or thereabouts, as is the case with some ABC centres - that's just ludicrous. that's more about making a profit for the owners/share holders - not using the money to ensure the best interests of the children in care.

NOT SAYING that ABC centres are in any way better or worse than any other centre - i just cant see justification for those sort of rate hikes - it's not ALL about improving services for the children that are in care at an ABC centre...

I totally agree with you BG. That wasn't the point of my post. There is only one word for what ABC are doing - profiteering!

Hey BG,

Just a qn - if the CCB was claimed in my name, but DH is the one with the tax bill, can he claim the 30% rebate on his tax?

30% rebate is paid through FAO now - has been since 06/07 financial year - so it doesn't matter if you doa tax return or not hun

I completely agree with what you said MR about how most people don't realise how much goes into running a centre for children (ELC or CC centres). I've written many posts to that effect. Most parents kinda expect the cleaning (for example) to be done at the same time as caring for the children BUT heaven forbid their child gets hurt while your head is down cleaning the floor etc. Oh and they also want every significant event (every poo every wee every feed every drink) documented please... for each child thanks. hmmm I don't think i'll ever return to child care for this reason... over worked, underpaid.

Back onto topic: the local papers are full here with parents complaining that all the local childcare centres have upped their fees in our area recently. So Kelly, your concerns seem to be justified. reasons cited are increases in food and nappies etc. They possibly mentioned staff wages. I agree that staff need to be paid more... but is it cynical of me to think that why is it only when the government raises rebates that staff are paid more? Hmmmm

I know this is an old thread, but I was wondering. Would the government ever consider public child care centres that are free like primary school instead of all the rebates and what not? Working parents would be eligable and SAHM would have to pay or use private centres ~ yes that sucks for the SAHM (like me), but it's not a necessity for children to go to day care. Just a thought. Would it cost too much to have gov run/public centres?